Refashion: Mock Neck to Belted Tunic

I am a HUGE fan of all of those who are good with refashion.  I love the idea of refashioning, but, I have yet to be successful at it, that is, until now (I think?)

My wonderful mother in law bought me this mock neck shirt a year or two ago but it just never fit right.  I had just had a baby, so my belly was a little round and the proportions were just not right for my body.  But, I held on to it.  Well the other day while perusing my closet, I came across it and thought I’d give refashioning another try.  The shirt is a great cotton-jersey type knit-in a really pretty mustard color.  I had a feeling I could do something to make it more flattering on me.

So here’s what I did, to turn this : 

into this:

Of course half of the pictures were taken after the fact, once I had finally convinced myself that I was on to something, lol.

First I decided to cut the neck and make it more scooped.  I left about 2.5 inches on each shoulder and just eye-balled the scoop neck.  I also slightly scooped the back of the shirt as well, so that the shirt would have a loose-fall off the shoulder style.

I then decided that I wanted the shirt to be short-sleeved, so I cut off the sleeves, parallel to the sleeves hem, but I used a another shirt for reference. Save sleeves for later use.

Now I tried the shirt on to see how it fit, I liked, but it was still kinda long and had no shape, so I took it off and folded about four inches at the bottom. (This pic was taken after the fact so it’s folded a little higher so you can get the idea).

This is the actual fold (2nd pic below).  I folded the shirt and snipped holes about 1 1/4-2” apart (I eyeballed this as well since I was experimenting here).

Next I needed a belt to thread through the holes. This is where the sleeves came in:

I cut 4 thin strips the length of the sleeve and then tied them together to make a long belt.

Then I snipped the ties from the knots.

Keep long belt away from playful kitty:

Thread belt down through slits weaving in and out of the shirt and tie in a bow. (this idea I got from Generation T beyond fashion book by Megan Nicolay).

The shirt was cute the way it was, but I wanted to add a little more oomph to it!

So I used the extra fabric from the sleeves and cut 4- 1 1/2 inch thick strips to make the ruffles.  I used some tips from make it and love it on gathering and stitches.

I gathered a few extra ruffles on one shoulder to add a little emphasis to the off the shoulder look. Here is the finished product.

          I had to do my own photo shoot because my seven year old wouldn’t cooperate with me.                

I hemmed one sleeve and then decided that I liked it better un-hemmed. I also left the back edge raw . . .

      So what do you think? Have you refashioned anything lately? If so-share your link, I’d love to see it!

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