Ship 'n Shore - Refashioning a Man's Shirt For A Vintage Style Blouse

Refashionistas are everywhere. To see garments that are oh so blah and totally last year transformed into something awesomely today and actually wearable is a sight to behold. But not all refashion projects are created equal. Far too often I see transformations that look like a pillowcase with holes for head and arms and a belt holding it all together. Fine for a beach cover up but not a sustainable refashion and probably more wasteful than if it was just left to the rag bag. 

Would you attempt to make a cake without following a recipe? So why would you attempt to draft a garment without a pattern? Refashioning doesn't have to be the lowly cousin of couture design. Remember that every garment, whether in fashion or not is a potential resource - fabric. Consider the garment and visualize what sort of pattern you could apply to it to create a refashioned masterpiece.

I was a kid in the late 50's and early 60's. Nothing said summer more than the little cotton Ship 'n Shore blouses we wore. They remain a staple in my wardrobe for their easy wear and easy care. 

My husband outgrew one of my favorite shirts - a pinpoint cotton button down oxford. The fabric was in great condition and the tiny blue and white stripes would make a perfect little cotton blouse for me using the Advance pattern for a front button blouse. I carefully removed the collar buttons.

This shirt had one breast pocket and I very carefully removed it by pulling up on the threads and not ripping the seam to ensure a nice clean removal. The tiny stitches make this step a bit tedious but those tiny needle holes will vanish after a couple of washings so it is well worth the extra time. If however, you are making a blouse that has no bust darts and you want to keep the pocket, just skip this step.

Depending on the size of the shirt and the size of your pattern, you can cut the collar and sleeves off and cut the side seams. If you think you may need that little extra seam allowance for size you can carefully split the seams as I did here.

I folded the back of the shirt to resemble the fold of a length of fabric.

I laid out my pattern pieces, adjusting the position so the shirttail hem would be equal - I wanted a longer shirt than the pattern allowed. I used my nifty DIY Pattern Weights covered in Plasti-Dip. You can find the instructions to make your own set of weights HERE.

The front bodice for this pattern had a button band which I lined up with the seam allowances and pinned to the bodice piece. This helped me line up the buttonholes on the front of the shirt with the buttonhole alignment of the pattern.

Using tailors chalk I marked the front and back with cutting lines and markings for darts and tucks. Tailors chalk washes out easily and allows you to mark the entire stitching line which makes sewing straight darts a breeze.

And then simply follow your pattern instructions for sewing darts and seams. I chose to add armhole facings cut from the shirt sleeves.

But decided on white bias tape for the neckline.

 A single little snap keeps the front neckline intact.

The bias tape gives the neckline a crisp, finished look to a front buttoned blouse that didn't require any buttonholes!

This blouse buttons opposite of a woman's blouse. There are a couple of things you can do if you prefer a blouse that buttons correctly. One thing you can do is to find a much larger shirt than the size you require and simply turn the front of the shirt upside down after separating the sections. Another thing you can do is to turn the front of the blouse to the wrong side. (Inside out) For most plain weave fabrics it won't make a difference but you will have to move the buttons to this side of the shirt and be comfortable with the button band on the inside.

However you plan to refashion-up a garment, use a pattern as a guide. It may require a bit more preparation but the finished product will be something you will be proud to wear again and again. 

Find vintage patterns to pair up with your next refashioning project in my CynicalGirl shop on Etsy.

Simplicity Pattern Catalog March 1974

Simplicity March 1974

 

Simplicity 5556           Simplicity 6200          Simplicity 6081

Simplicity 6147           Simplicity 6198           Simplicity 5866

Simplicity 5957

Simplicity pattern pamphlet - March, 1974© Features these Simplicity patterns:

Simplicity 6250, Simplicity 5975, Simplicity 6198, Simplicity 5845, Simplicity 5750, Simplicity 6171, Simplicity 5802, Simplicity 5857, Simplicity 6147, Simplicity 5931, Simplicity 6101, Simplicity 5982, Simplicity 6037, Simplicity 6250, Simplicity 5866, Simplicity 6109, Simplicity 6261, Simplicity 6082, Simplicity 6140, Simplicity 6081, Simplicity 5452, Simplicity 5957, Simplicity 5379, Simplicity 5958, Simplicity 6027, Simplicity 5556, Simplicity 5336, Simplicity 6239, Simplicity 5483, Simplicity 5654, Simplicity 6249, Simplicity 6003, Simplicity 5806, Simplicity 6206, Simplicity 6200

Cone Thread Nets From Upcycled Produce Netting

I love garlic and buy it fresh at my local grocery store. The heads come packed three in a sleeve. It's not because I am OCD that I cannot throw anything away, it is that I often see something as a resource instead of a liability. Many things that begin with a particular purpose can be adapted to serve another. 

So it was no surprise to me that when I removed the garlic from these sleeves that I knew immediately how I would put them to use. I have purchased thread nets and though not expensive, these garlic sleeves were essentially free!

These sleeves are finely webbed with just enough elasticity to cover standard thread cones as well as these larger commercial cones. 

Just slip them over the top, pull the thread through and tuck in the excess on the bottom. Easy! And the best part is that you have just saved another piece of plastic from the landfill.

Pattern Weights - A DIY Tutorial for Covering Metal Washers

Whoever discovered using weights instead of pins for layout and cutting was a genius. Though it does not allow the pattern tissue to "stick" with the fabric after cutting, the ease of cutting alone warrants great praise. I have seen pretty weights at fabric stores and have seen tutorials for wrapping with fabric strips or Washi tape. Is there anything you cannot cover with Washi tape? It's the new duct tape. 

I found myself wandering the aisles of Ace Hardware one Winter day admiring the ingenuity of so many varieties of wing nuts and washers and happened upon these large washers and thought, aha! I have found my pattern weights. But the smooth side slides on the tissue and the edges on the perimeter and in the opening are rough and can tear the tissues. This is why they are normally covered. As I wandered down the aisles I came across Plasti-Dip, a liquid plastic that you dip the handles of tools into to get a better no slip grip. Light bulb moment.

They had red and black. It would have been fun to have more colors to play with but this would have to do. I lined a box with newspaper and placed a dowel through the handles.

I dipped the washers into the coating. It was kind of thick and there are directions for thinning it which I may try next time. 

These hang to dry for a couple of hours.

Dip again and allow to dry for about 4 hours and Voila! You have no slip sure grip covered pattern weights. Hmmm. I wonder what else I could dip.

Storing Vintage Sewing Patterns

The first time that a pattern is pulled from it's envelope, unfolded and cut to create a garment is easy. Putting it all back together is the tricky part. Some seamstresses neatly press the tissues and slip them back into their envelopes. It's not always a perfect fit and often the envelope will tear in the process. So seamstresses have searched for alternative storage methods for their used but precious patterns.

I have in my collection, numerous patterns where the seamstress has split the envelope and pasted the front and back onto a manilla envelope with the contents inside.

The flat envelopes card shops slide greeting cards into are fairly common for pattern storage. But storing patterns in waxed paper folders was a surprise for me. I had never seen these flat sheets of waxed paper before. But what a clever storage idea for the 1930's seamstress.

On the back cover of the Perkins "Sanigenic" folder they have imprinted a space for a letter to identify the contents when filed and even suggests filing patterns in the folders. These envelopes are constructed from a lightweight chip board with sturdy folds glued at the back and a wide flap.

The folders preserve the pattern envelopes nicely with no tears and help keep the tissues in good condition. This extra effort by the waxed paper manufacturers reminds me of how the feed and seed companies aided the rural homemaker by printing pretty patterns on what would have been plain white muslin. By offering another purpose for the folder they extend it's usefulness and ensure it's longevity. What a great idea!

My Twin Sisters - Vintage Toy Sewing Machines

If you have ever passed by one of these toy sewing machines at a garage sale or thrift shop, you may want to rethink this. Manufactured in the 1960's, Sister electric sewing machines were made in Japan. That's about all the history I know about them. There are, of course, many other brands of toy sewing machines that date much further back than my two little sisters. But many of them, though certainly not all, function primarily the same way ... they sew a straight stitch but have no bobbin. 

These little machines are made of fairly durable plastic housing and have an electric motor with a foot pedal and a light, just like mom's. The electric foot pedal is notorious for failing though the motor seems to hum softly. Not to worry! There is a hand crank that works without electricity that will get the job done. I wrap the cords up to keep them out of the way.

Though these are a breeze to thread, I have two so I keep one threaded with white thread and another with black. They are small so they take up very little space and lightweight so they can be moved quickly and easily should I require that space. 

The hand crank moves easily but the machine is a little jumpy. It handles various fabrics and thicknesses well and uses common 24 X 1 needles. I only use my Sisters for basting.

Because these machines have no bobbins they do not produce a lock stitch. They produce a chain stitch. I am a firm believer in basting before sewing and the ability to simply pull out the basting stitch with such ease has saved me both time and frustration.

There is a tension control but no stitch length control. The top of the fabric looks just like a lock stitch while the bottom is a chain. Just a little toy machine that does one thing really well. I picked these up at thrift shops some years ago for a few dollars. They have been trusty companions in my sewing studio for many years.

Do you baste before you sew and like the idea of a stitch and pull basting stitch? Look around, these little machines are out there for reasonable prices. And you can always let your own little one sew right next to you and get hooked on the fabulous art of sewing.

Missing the manual for your little Sister? Download a copy here for free.

Chunky Yarn - Repurposing Waste Yarn by Plying

My mother dabbled at weaving for a brief period of time, as many often do. The term "Handwoven" conjures images of a quieter, more peaceful time when quality ruled the day. That imagery is not a fiction. Hand weaving is an art and hand woven textiles are precious. But weaving is a slow art and one that takes a good deal of planning and a lot of tedious work before you ever sit at your loom to actually weave. My mother skipped most of those early steps and because of her back problems I was called upon to warp her loom, a process that I found much more enjoyable than weaving. 

My mother has been gone for almost 9 years and hadn't done any weaving since 1995, when my father died and she moved into an apartment. So imagine my surprise and delight when I opened this tub of yarn and found hanks of wool right off the warping board but never woven. Why, I wondered. Well, like I said, weaving takes a lot of planning and my mother was not very good at envisioning the process from raw material to finished product. She chose yarn that was simply not strong enough to use as a warp. So there it sat.

The yarn she purchased is wool and the colors are beautiful. Such a shame it was never used. I have been a spinner for about 25 years, a process that to my mind is as meditative as it is productive. I decided to join the 16 yard lengths and then ply them into a chunky yarn for my sister who is just starting on her knitting journey (and loving it!). 

I began by separating the strands and tying them together and winding them into balls. There were warm and cools in the tub. I began with the cools - the blues and greys because I just like blue and grey more than pink and orange.

This process took a couple of days, working when my little grey tiger Saskia was sleeping to avoid excessive tangles from her irrepressible need to play. 

Then to dust off my Schacht wheel. I honestly had not spun anything since I spun paper for the collaborative paper wearable project with Julie McLaughlin that I mentioned HERE. 

I packed the balls of wound yarn into a small enough box to keep the tension tight as I pulled the strands. In hindsight I might have been wiser to have wound the strands directly onto spools but I was going to be plying 2 each of the blue and 3 of the grey and only have one spool holder with tension adjustment for 3 spools. So this box would have to do.

After the plying was complete I wound the yarn onto a niddy noddy, an amazing little tool that winds your yarn into a hank in one yard lengths. 

The hanks are secured with string woven between the strands and removed from the niddy noddy. The hanks are washed and hung to dry with weights to straighten out the crimping, a result of the twisting while plying.

The result was 10 full pull skeins of my mothers yarn being used to make Christmas hats and scarves for her grandchildren. I think she would be pleased.