Refashioning: Oversized Shirt into Separates - Shirt and Skirt (V Shaped Body Type to Pear Shaped Fix)

I got this shirt in Thailand for around $1.60. I just liked the cartoon print of it and knew I could do something with it.

Actually, at this point, I've already taken in the back neckline to bring the shoulders closer together. It used to be a huge scoop neckline. Also, the sleeves were way too big for my arms. Obviously, it was made for someone who had much broader shoulder and thicker arms--maybe a ladyboy? Who knows. Anyways, this sistah is pear shaped, so. . .I thought if I took in the neckline and sleeves, the problem would be fixed, but as you can see, I'm still not gonna wear it!

Another problem is that this shirt was just so far over the top, and what I call "Miami Chic" meaning "cheap and tacky." I feel like I should be wearing a ton of gold chains and hoop earrings with stilettos, and. . .that ain't my style.

Here you can see how I took in the back neckline.

All right, so if I was going to save this shirt, I was going to need to spread the love a little bit. So I cut it in half.

Using some black jersey, I cut out a three inch waist band for the top of the bottom of the shirt. 

It was about to become a skirt.

Then I cut out a 9 inch band of jersey to put on the bottom of the top of the shirt.

Here is the skirt band.

I finally found a bodkin! So...here I am using my bodkin to thread some elastic through the waistband.

Then, I stitched the elastic together and sewed the rest of the waistband seam to close the hole.

Skirt.

Here is the band going on the bottom of the top of the shirt.

Finished.

Okay, so...yes, there is still a lot going on, but at least now I can wear the pieces separately and not look as gross. Even just adding the wide black waist section breaks up the craziness a bit, if I wanted to wear them together. Adding the waistbands has now added shape to an otherwise shapeless garment. I may actually get rid of this entire outfit soon, but I wanted at least to show you how you could salvage and elevate some of those oversized T-shirts you may currently be wearing as pajamas!

The End!

Refashioning: Making Clothing More Functional - Fixing a Weird Trend

Sometimes, you find an item at the thrift store and you go, "Now that trend must've lasted about five minutes!" That's how I felt about this dress. From the front it's super Minnie Mouse cute. . .

. . .but from the back, it makes you go, "Crap!" and put it back on the rack, because. . .you can't wear a bra with it!

Fortunately, it's a simple fix.

The first step was to cut the twisted part down the center. To do this, I worked the fabric so that I could fold the bottom of the twist in half like this:

Then, I made a small cut in the fold.

Then, I worked the top part of the twist and folded it in half like this:

And I made a small cut in that fold. (I'm pointing at it).

Then, I worked the fabric so that I was looking at the untwisted band, flat, with my two cuts.

And I cut down the middle.

This cut allowed the twist to lie flat.

I sewed up the middle. Still a problem, because of that hole. If you don't mind the hole, you are done here, but I didn't want my bra to show.

I found a piece of fabric that was slightly larger than the hole.

I pinned it to the inside of the dress around the hole.

And I stitched it up. 

You may like the "before" look better than my fix. It's seriously a preference thing. Anyways, I hope it gives you an idea!

The End!