Remake: Slip to Blouse
Hi reader! If this is your first time here, I’m so excited and happy to have you join me. If you are a returning reader who’s been joining me on this blogging journey since I started in the fall, welcome back! Either way, I hope you’ll enjoy today’s post, which is about one of my favorite types of DIY sewing projects - REMAKES!!
You may have noticed the remake trend taking over the internet lately, with videos and posts of all kinds being dedicated to the concept of remaking items that already own, into something new and different. Right now I think this idea is so popular because many of us are limited to the supplies that we’re able to access during the pandemic.
Personally I have always loved this concept. I think that working with what we have on hand can force us to think outside the box, and try ideas that we may not regularly try. I had a lot of fun remaking things for years before I ever sewed anything from start to finish. To this day I always have a pile of potential remakes in my sewing room, just waiting for me to take the time to dream up a new life for them.
Here is the thing about remakes though - their success is unpredictable! Because I’m not usually using a sewing pattern or instructions to complete these projects, I’m working completely off of my imagination and pre-existing skills. This means that sometimes remake projects work out wonderfully, and other times…not so much. That’s okay! Usually the item I’m remaking is something I wasn’t getting any use out of anyway, so I don’t feel bad if my attempt to give it a new life doesn’t work out. I feel like it’s a ‘nothing to lose’ situation.
I think today’s remake worked out really well though! Let’s take a look at the original piece.
At first glance this dress is nothing special. Actually, I think it was the lining of a dress that I no longer have. Its fabric is a lightweight polyester, so it’s not anything special either, but I kept it because I really liked the rich mustard color, and it fit me well.
You can see that the front is a simple v-neck, with an elastic back, and is meant to be pulled over the head. When I originally set this aside I didn’t have any specific ideas for it, but recently I found myself thinking that it could be turned into a camisole top that would be nice for summer.
If you’ve read my previous post on my spring/summer sewing mood boards, then you know I’m all about gathers and ruffles right now. I thought it would be fun to try something like that with this project, and with only this vague idea to guide me I decided to dive in!
The first thing I did was to try the dress on to make sure I didn’t need to make any adjustments to the fit, and to estimate how long I wanted the finished top to be. I decided on the length, added a bit extra in case I changed my mind, and then put a pin at the approximate finished hem location. While I had it on, I decided I wanted to try and create a gathered waist as well, and put a pin in that location too.
With those pins in place to help guide me, I cut the bottom off the dress!
From the excess fabric left over, I then cut one long strip to use as my elastic guide for the gathered waist. In order to decide what size to cut, I took a look to see what elastic I already had on had, and then chose a size that would accommodate that elastic and still leave enough room on either side for stitching.
Using my placement pins for the gathered waist to guide me, I pinned the entire elastic casing on the inside of the top, across the front and back.
I then stitched both sides of the casing in place, all the way around, leaving one section open on a side seam so that I could insert the elastic. I put a safety pin on the end of the elastic itself, and then used that to work the elastic all the way through the casing.
Once I got the elastic all the way through, I made sure it wasn’t twisted, and pinned the two ends together. I tried it on to make sure that the gathered waist wasn’t too loose or too tight, adjusted as needed, and then stitched the elastic ends together. I stitched the casing closed, and the gathered waist was done.
From there it was time to work on the ruffles.
I have never made my own ruffles for anything, but thought it would be simple enough to add a little ruffle to the camisole strap, creating a little cap sleeve. I wasn’t sure exactly how big I wanted the ruffle to be, but decided that trial and error was the best way to figure it out.
I measured the length of the strap, added 2cm to the amount, and then used the leftover fabric from the dress bottom to cut out two rectangular strips that were that length. I made sure to place the already finished hem as the finished edge of my ruffle. I thought this would save me from some unnecessary hemming, which is never a bad thing!
When imagining the shape of the ruffle I wanted, I pictured something that was the longest, and had the most volume, at the top of the shoulder, becoming smaller and less poofy towards the front and back of the top (a style I thought would be flattering on my not so toned winter arms!).
It took me a few minutes of staring at my rectangles to decide how to try and achieve this finished look, but ultimately I decided to keep the finished edge straight, and curve the edge that would be attached to the strap (as you can see below). I wasn’t 100% sure that this would work, but that’s what remakes are all about - trying things out!
From here I had planned to gather the sides of the strips that would be attached to the straps, giving the flat pieces the ruffled shape. I had planned to stitch one long line of stitching along the sides that needed gathering, and then use those stitches to help me gather the fabric by hand. However, when I started sewing along those edges, a sewing miracle occurred - it gathered itself!! This has never happened to me before, but I think it occurred because the fabric was so light weight, and I was using a heavy duty machine to do this (yes, I was too lazy to switch machines for this project - it happens!). Whatever the reason, it gathered evenly without issue, and I couldn’t have been happier. This is what it looked like when I ran it through the machine.
Then I took these pieces, and just experimented with pinning them to the straps in different ways. I actually ended up liking one of the first ways I tried, pinned them both in place, and stitched them on. All that was left was to hem the bottom and it was done.
This was the final project!
Minus the wrinkles that I’ll have to steam out, I love it! I think the great color combined with the more feminine shape will be much more flattering to wear now. I can see myself pairing this with lots of pants and shorts I already own, and look forward to debuting it in warmer weather.
I hope this project shows you that you don’t necessarily need extensive sewing skills or concrete plans to try remaking things you already own. You mostly just need some imagination, and the patience to try different methods or ideas, until you get something you’re satisfied with. This entire process also took less than 2 hours, which also means you don’t always need to have a ton of free time to dedicate to remakes. A huge bonus for us all!
If you hope to tackle some remake projects of your own in the future though, I find that having a few generic supplies on hand (if possible), can be really helpful. For myself, I like to have various sizes of elastic, a few different types of zippers in basic colors, plenty of thread in lots of colors, and some very basic buttons. None of these items have to be expensive, and many can be found at most dollar stores these days. Having them among your stash can be so handy though. Nothing is worse than finally finding the inspiration and motivation to try a project, only to realize you don’t have everything you need.
If you’ve embarked on any remakes of your own, I’d love to hear about them. If there’s any particular type of remake you’d like to see, let me know that too. Until next time, happy sewing!
~Amanda