How to Convert a Old Men's Party Shirt Into a Feminine DIY Blouse
Today, I'm showing you how I made a DIY blouse out of my dad's old shirt. This is a fun way of turning a men’s shirt into a more feminine top. This was my dad's party shirt, so it's a fun mesh fabric. Let's get started!
Tools and materials:
- Men’s party shirt
- Scissors or rotary cutter
- Ruler
- Seam ripper
- Sewing pins
- Thin sewing elastic
- Thread
- Sewing machine with zigzag foot
1. Mark the armholes in the old shirt
Put on the old shirt with a tank top underneath it. Now use chalk to draw the tank top straps onto the shirt. That marks where the armholes on the shirt will be.
Now mark a straight neckline at about the position of the second button on the shirt.
Trace the shirt’s existing armhole and upper arm on a sheet of paper.
Cut out the tracing and place it on the shirt at the new armhole markings you made. Now trace that new armhole onto the shirt.
Add a 1-inch seam allowance and cut out the new armhole.
Tip: when you are working with slippery fabrics, a rotary cutter is much easier to cut with.
2. Cut the back piece
Open the back yoke seam with a seam ripper and save the top part of the back for later use.
3. Cut the back piece
Cut off the second button at the top of the front piece and then cut off the top of the front piece at the new neckline marking you made.
Draw lines along the side of the shirt front to connect the bottom of the armhole marking to the bottom corner of the shirt.
4. Sew the back to the front
With right sides together, pin and sew the side seams at your markings. Cut of the excess fabric from the side seam allowances.
5. Hem the back and front
Hem the front and back necklines by folding the fabric in twice and pinning it down, then sewing with a straight stitch.
Sew the armpit seam.
6. Attach the sleeves
With right sides together, pin the sleeves into the armholes.
Sew the sleeves in with a 1-inch seam allowance.
Here’s what you should have so far.
The sleeves will be a bit loose at the top, so cut some narrow sewing elastic and sew it into the top inside of each sleeve. Use a zigzag stitch and pull on the elastic as you go.
Then fold the fabric over once and sew again with a straight stitch. With the elastic inside, you will again need to pull on the fabric as you sew.
Now the sleeves are secure around the shoulder.
7. Make bell sleeves
Remove the cuffs of the sleeves with a seam ripper and then hem the bottom of the sleeves by folding them in twice, pinning, and sewing.
8. Make a belt
Cut off the collar of the shirt, or any other strip from the leftover fabric.
Cut 1-inch-wide strips until you have enough strips for the length of belt you need.
Sew all the strips together to make one long strip. My final belt strip was about 65 inches long.
Fold the belt in half lengthwise and iron it flat. Then fold both long edges into the center and iron it again. Finally, fold it all in half lengthwise one more time and iron flat.
Sew the belt along the open long edge with a straight stitch
Now you have a nice thin belt.
9. Make belt and sleeve loops
Cut a 1-inch-wide strip of leftover fabric for belt loops.
Cut two more 1-inch-wide strips of fabric and use the same method as you did for the belt to make 8-inch-long sleeve loops, connecting the two ends of each sleeve loop.
Place the sleeve loops on your sleeves, 2½ inches from the sleeve hem.
Sew the sleeve loop to the sleeve where the inner sleeve seam is. Go back and forth multiple times to secure it.
Cut your belt loop strip into two 2-inch lengths.
Pin and sew one end of the belt loop to the side of the top.
Now fold down the belt loop, fold in the other raw edge, and topstitch both ends of the belt loop in place.
10. Hem the back of the blouse
Trim the bottom of the back so it’s ½ inch longer than the front.
Turn up and sew the back hem of the back with a straight stitch so it matches the front hem.
DIY blouse tutorial
Here’s the final transformation! I think this DIY blouse is very pretty! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to convert a men's shirt into a women's blouse. Let me know what you think in the comments below.
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