dress shirt revamp

I saw this tutorial over the weekend, and knew I had to try it out:
And so I did.
I've been buying a ton of dress shirts from Goodwill for a quilt I've been working on, and decided to sacrifice one of the shirts for a cute dress (click to enlarge). I followed the instructions exactly as to how to deconstruct the shirt (a size large), but then amended the directions as follows:
Since I'm smaller than the tutorial's creator (5'2", size 0) I was able to get away with using both sleeves as the entire bodice without the complicated insertion instructions. I left the hem on the skirt as-is, hemmed like the bottom of the shirt it previously was. I also used my machine for the ruffles, using 2 long basting stitches on each.
The bodice on mine is a lot longer than the original posting, but I'm actually really happy about that: with the elastic at the waist, I can pull it up to make it shorter or pull it down to make it longer. I'm totally wearing it to work tomorrow with a cardigan.
Total cost: $2.00 at Goodwill, as I already had the elastic and thread at home. I could make this a million more times, and probably will!

spring ruffle top

As soon as I saw this tutorial, I knew I had to make it. I had the fabric in my stash, and followed the pattern exactly, except I didn't add the patch pockets. To me, it would've made it look too much like an apron.
Here's a better shot of the very top:I took this picture myself, awkwardly at midnight. But you can see the cute pleats, and hopefully see the ruffly detail on the straps. The best part about the pattern, in my opinion, are the directions on how to shape the sides-- I took in 1.5" on either side. Otherwise, when I tried it on, it looked a little too much like maternity wear. It's going to be nice out today, so I'm going to wear it! Hopefully I'll get some better daytime pictures of it, too.
Oh-- and my cutting table is finally cleared off! We'll see how long I can make that last.

summer blouse, in progress

I got my hands on a copy of Heather Ross' "Weekend Sewing", courtesy of my local public library. I appreciated all of the vintage Singer sewing machines-- that's what I sew on, and it's the best. I love just about everything in the book, and while I really want to make the shirt dress, I decided to ease myself in with the summer blouse. Here it is, without sleeves:
I don't sew garments very often, and part of the reason is because they end up much too large (I'm between a size 0 and 2). This is much the same-- but it's not a really tailored look. The picture in the book has it over a tank top, and I could see it over a swimming suit at the beach. The sleeves are long; I'll probably make them 3/4 length. I know that the V neck looks really deep, and that's because I haven't decided how low to make the placket.

Now, you may be asking why I showed you something like this in progress. It's because I didn't buy enough fabric (it was the end of the bolt, and I decided to buy the rest) to cut the sleeves properly, and so I decided to make them too skinny for the armholes. Luckily, it's just JoAnn fabric, and I'll go to a different and bigger store tomorrow to buy some more for the sleeves.
I'm in love with this fabric, though-- I think it'd be cute in a quilt.

Coming soon: my grandpa's quilt quilted, bound, and washed!