#had to switch the bias binding tape before posting

[rthwrms]

DREAM PORTAL

a quilt for when u leave at night and return with the morning sun :-)

[asthecrowcrafts]

✂️ Upcycle Overview ✂️

Starting Item: Forever 21 white linen button down dress, size small (not my photo) Finished Item: White linen shift to wear under dresses

🧵 Summary 🧵

I bought this white button down at a thrift store a few months ago, but unfortunately it just was not working in my wardrobe the way I hoped it would. I bought it to wear as a layered item over long sleeve shirts in the fall/spring. However, it ended up being too short & sheer to really work for that. It also suffers from something that many fast fashion garments in this style do - ridiculously large armscyes. Being unable to wear it layered or by itself meant it needed to be cut, in some way or another.

I however have a weakness for linen, so I decided to upcycle it into a shift since I have been wanting a linen shift for some of my summer dresses. I became particularly aware of this need, as this summer has been the hottest on record in over 100 years.

First off, I removed the collar. My sister mentioned recently wanting a faux collar to add to the 'dark academia' wardrobe she's building. So I carefully picked it off, and then hand stitched the opening back together. She likes wearing gold jewelry, so I added a fun antique gold crest button.

This was a super easy accessory to pull out of this item. I was surprised how well it stayed tucked into the shirt I tried it out on. Honestly, I may need to make one for myself in the future. 😅

Once I pulled off the collar & cut off the button plackets, I serged the open front seam together. Thankfully, the garment wasn't very fitted (I did a check BEFORE cutting off the plackets) so I had plenty of room to still pull it on. I then tried it on with the lowest cut dress I have and marked how low I needed the neckline to be. I trimmed the neckline and bound it in some single-fold bias tape.

While sewing down the binding I did almost have a heart attack. About 1 cm from the last bid of bias to be stitched down, I ran out of bobbin thread. Thankfully there was enough of a tail that I was able to tie it off on both sides. But I was lazy (and needed to switch to red thread), so I decided that it was close enough and I didn't need to go back over it.

My one other mishap occurred when I was cutting off the placket and accidentally nicked one side. I covered the majority of it in the serging, but I stabilized the last little bit with a small patch of iron-on interfacing. A silly mistake, but not a huge issue for a undergarment.

I will not be posting a photo of myself wearing the final piece, but it fits great and is going to be a perfect addition to my wardrobe along with my silk and cotton shifts.

Happy sewing ✂️🧵 ✂️🧵,

~ Mrs. Crow