How To: Refashion a Silk Shirt

This guest post comes to us from the lovely Alli of One Pearl Button fame. She write about fashion, craft, life and her work in Italy on the regular. Pop over and say hello!

When I'm thrifting, I shop as much with my hands as with my eyes.  As long as you're at a reasonably priced thrift store, high quality cashmere and silk are always worth buying, so I'm on a constant hunt for them.  When I came across this silk shirt on the dollar rack, I knew immediately that it was coming home with me.  The fabric was thick, soft, and beautiful - it was clearly the highest quality silk, and I wanted to wear it everyday.  The only problem?  Um...it wasn't quite my style.  That's okay, though, because I know an incredibly simple technique for refashioning an outdated button-up, and today I want to share it with all of you!

What you'll need:
Iit doesn't get much easier than this one; all you'll need is a button up and some basic sewing supplies (you don't even need a machine!)

Step 1: 
Pick out a good Pandora station (I went with New Slang by The Shins).  Okay, I suppose this step is optional, but Step 2 can take a little while, so I recommend finding something to keep yourself entertained.

Step 2:
Use a seam ripper to carefully remove the sleeves and collar of the shirt, keeping the seam allowances as neat as possible.

Step 3:
Chose which side of the shirt will be the front (I wanted mine to button up the back, so I reversed front and back), fold the front of your shirt in half with the shoulder seams lined up, and draw on a new neckline.  I traced the neckline of another shirt to make it nice and easy.

Step 4:
Cut along your traced line.

Step 5:
Hem the raw edges.  For the armholes, I simply folded the original seam allowance over once and stitched in place (no need to press!).  For the neckhole, I hid the raw seam by folding over twice, pressed, and stiched.  I've been on a hand sewing kick lately, so I did this by hand, but you could easily use a machine.

Annnnnd done!  Now you have a pretty, modern shell, perfect for the hot weather that's coming or for layering on chillier days.  I wore mine to watch the Cincinnati Rollergirls destroy Dayton and Fort Wayne on Saturday night - fun!

(I realized after looking at this shot that I should tack up the back so it doesn't gape open - oops!)

I'd love to see photos, if you give it a try!