Geometric Shirt Refashion for Penelope

15 Comments

I’ve been so lazy recently. I have a gigantor pile of clothes next to my sewing machine that are begging to be mended, refashioned or updated. I also have an enormous pile of laundry to be folded and put away from my trip to the East coast. That pile has been sitting there for the last 8 days. YUP. I’ve got practically zero motivation, currently.

Yesterday, when I had a short burst of energy, I thought I’d go through my old maternity clothes & see if there was anything I’d like to reintroduce to my wardrobe. I might reuse a couple of things, but it’s so hard to think I’ll look cute in something that only conjures up memories of an elephant waddling like a duck with a full bladder. Among those maternity clothes, I came across a few geometric maternity tops from Target. I like these shirts but they fit horribly. They’re huge in the arms, too wide in the neck & far too short for a growing belly (darn my dryer!). Thankfully I can still appreciate these tops if I refashion them into something Penelope might wear.

I love this print & the fun jewel-toned colors. Penelope’s pretty happy about the dress, but she doesn’t like the sash I made her wear. Whatever. Here’s what I did  in list form:

  • cut off the bottom for the skirt & set aside
  • took in the sleeves & bodice about 6 inches on each side
  • pleated the hem of the sleeve (3 inverted box pleats) to take in the sleeve even more
  • pleated the back of the shirt (3 inverted box pleats) to take up the neckline
  • took in the front of the shirt about 3 inches & turned it into a V neck
  • pleated the shoulders to take up the neckline (1 inverted box pleat)
  • attached the skirt to the bodice

This project took me 5 hours because I didn’t measure, the fabric is a little squirly and I watched 4 episodes of Friday Night Lights. That show can be pretty distracting. The dress turned out cute, but it’s about a 4T rather than a 2T (her actual size). I think it’ll fit a lot better as she gets older.

I’ve got two more versions of this exact same shirt which I plan to recycle into clothes for Penelope. I think I might do a skirt or a jumper. What are your thoughts? Do you like it? What should I do with the two other shirts?

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    1. Liz says:

      Super cute dress! I have a 1 year old daughter and I’m always looking for ways to repurpose clothes we both already have – your t-shirt dress is a good one!
      I have to know though, where did you get the boots?! They are way tooo cute on Penelope!

    2. Melanie says:

      Such a fun print. I love how she’s such a pro poser.

    3. that is way too adorable!!! what a great idea. that is one stylish chick!!!

    4. Jessica says:

      Genius idea! Darling darling!

    5. Laura chavous says:

      You could make a jumper for Penelope then wait until you find out what youre having and if its a girl make something awesome for the baby. Maybe a kimono or something mod like that…..

    6. I love the print on this and am so glad that you decided to repurpose it. Pen looks so cute!

    7. Rach says:

      I LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! It looks like a child-size Anthropologie ad. I love your blog…keep up the great (and inspiring!) work!

    8. Nina Designs says:

      Very cute! It looks much better on her!

    9. Really sweet work & better yet, she seems to love it!! She can rock that in 5 years as a top with jeans, love Posie

    10. Keshet Shenkar says:

      This is super cute!

    11. julie says:

      So cool! I want my kids to dress that way. I am in fact wearing those very same boots (in my size of course) today. So inspiring!

    12. i love it. you’ve got serious skills.

    13. Nikki CB says:

      That is super sweet. It’ll be so fun to see you create little boy fashions! (if you choose to do so :)

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