The Dressed-up Button-down

 I didn't really have a fully thought out plan. I just figured it out as I went. I knew I wanted to use some purple knit fabric I had on hand. I thought the knit fabric would be comfortable and have some stretch. I also liked the colors together.

I cut out the back panel so I could replace it with other fabric. I also realized the sleeves were very long on me so I cut them off too. I kept the seam where the arm hole is. The seam is acting as a skeleton to keep my shirt in its correct shape. I left the seams in place because they will help me put it all back together later.

 I used the pieces I cut out from the shirt as a pattern to cut the replacement pieces. I had this purple fabric left over from a maxi-dress to t-shirt refashion. I cut out the back piece from the purple fabric as you can see here.

 It was easy to sew the new back in because I cut it the same size and shape as the original back. I knew I was going to sew a zigzag stitch right on the edge of the new pieces so I did not leave much seam allowance. I wasn't going to need any extra fabric for my new seams.

 I used the sleeves of the pink shirt to cut out new sleeves from the purple fabric. I wanted 3/4 length sleeves so I made the new sleeves shorter than the original sleeves. 

I stitched the sleeves into my new shirt. By using the old pieces as my pattern and keeping the "skeleton" of the shirt in place, this is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. The pieces fit right back into the shirt. 

The purple knit material will make this shirt comfortable because it has so much stretch to it.

I wanted add something more to my shirt so I got out some trim. I added some eyelet lace and a little ribbon at the hemline just for fun.

My new shirt was finished. I liked the blocks of color and the fun trim. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Chickie