Upcycling Men's Shirts Into New Clothes

As a designer, I've been a snob.

I thought upcycled clothing looked sloppy, ill-fitting, and too weird to wear. But then... I found a thrift store that sells men's shirts for 50 cents each once a week. Whoa!

There's an awful lot of skill and time invested in men's shirts, actually. The collar, yoke, pockets, cuffs, buttonholes and button plackets are all piecework jobs for fairly experienced workers. I have a lot of respect for the classic men's dress shirt.

I didn't think I could make anything I felt proud of this way, but I gave it a shot. My first attempt was to create a crop top or tunic, simple.

And then I made a Baby Doll dress and one of those cool shirt extenders to wear under a big sweater over leggings.

Also pretty simple!

I created a tutorial with all the things I learned so you can try it, too. It's a really fun experienced beginner sewing project that costs almost nothing.

If you know how to use your sewing machine, or if you like to stitch by hand for the Zen-like flow, this project is perfect for you! 

It has a lot of pictures, diagrams, and explanations so you can see each step in the process in detail. I think you're going to like it.

I'm working now on a more advanced tutorial for sewists with intermediate skills. It should be ready to launch very soon! 

Here are some of the designs I've been working on to include in my next tutorial. I'm feeling pretty inspired by "cottage core" and "war core" fashion, lately. And I've always loved "Lagenlook." It's very unique! You can see how much I love layering, asymmetry, and mixing prints.

 Get started with my tutorial and then spread your creative wings!