Imitation Crafts: Tshirt Re-do

I've had this tshirt refashion on my Upcycling Pinterest board for a while. Then a few weeks ago I ran in a 5K and finally got the perfect shirt to try it out.

All they had left were larges, XLs and XXLs when I got to sign in. I had pre-registered for an XL, but I felt bad that all of these skinny runners were getting stuck with huge shirts, so I voluntarily took the XXL size instead. It is pretty roomy!!

Cut off the arms and the top/neck portion.

Turn the shirt inside out. On the top of front and back, fold down about an inch and a quarter to sew a ditch for running your straps through.

Cut off the reinforced band of the sleeves and use those as straps. Run them through the channel you sewed, then sew them together in one large circle. (Then I shifted the circle so that that sewed part was hidden.

Voila! The armpits are a little low for my taste, but I think that is because the shirt started out too big for me. But still...it looks really cute over a ribbed-under tank and some black running capris. :)

Upcycled Men's Dress Shirt Take 2

Yesterday's Upcycled Men's Dress Shirt Dress came out so cute, that I raided my husband's closet for another shirt.

Before:

After:

This one is a little bigger, about size 4T/5T (because I used my son's for sizing). And instead of making the top straight across, I decided to make little armholes. I think this will help better with the fit.

Upcycled Men's Dress Shirt

So, everyone knows I love:

1. Upcycling old clothes
2. Pinterest
3. Making dresses

So, brining my three loves together, this morning I made a toddler dress that I found on Pinterest out of my husband's old dress shirt.

Here is the original dress that I based it on:

http://www.madebylex.com

And here is my version:

I started with this shirt: (My husband is a teacher, and apparently he can't wear this shirt anymore, since it is the colors of the rival high school in town. My gain!)

Cut it up:

Repositioned the pocket:

I was going to do a full tutorial of what I did, because I did do it slightly differently than the original (for instance, I made the top portion buttonable), but I forgot to take pictures during the steps. Whoops!  So, just enjoy my little recipient and her modeling cuteness! 

DIY Maxi Dress

http://imperfectlypolished.com/2011/09/22/diy-maxi-dress/

I've had this dress pinned on my pinterest craft board for MONTHS.

I loved the look, and though it looked simple enough to do. However, I didn't know what tank I would use to make it.

But then finally...inspiration hit!

I have an old red and white tee I used to like to wear with navy blue capris, because it looked very nautical to me. But it had a stain on the stomach area.

And I had an old navy blue jersey dress that had a big oil stain on the chest. (And truth be told, was always too low cut for me to wear without something substantial underneath it.

I followed the instructions on ImperfectlyPolished and voila!

I completed the look by wearing one of my husband's white under-tanks and a white cardigan.