Technically, this is upcycling week. Not daddy’s girl week. But I picked two of his shirts from the upcycling stash.
Decent quality shirt from a store in Montreal. Love the brown buttons!
From the Liberty of London collection at Target. So, faux Liberty of London?
I was originally going to improvise a dress out of them but I could not get the LoL Swing Top out of my mind. Had to do it. Especially since Liberty of London is the inspiration behind the Lol Swing Top’s name…
And… it was an exercise in problem solving! I was going to use the florals as the main fabric but the stripes had more possibilities. I loved the brown buttons and wanted to keep them. So the front was going to be stripes. But the pattern piece refused to fit. (Side note: why did I marry a guy who wears a size small?) I had to get creative with some “color” blocking. Or should I say stripe blocking? I cut up the pattern, keeping the same lines but moving the seams around. I lost 3/8″ at the sides at one point because I forgot to add the seam allowance back in. Even though I wrote it on the pattern piece…
Apart from the stripe blocking, I switched the gathering at center back to an inverted pleat, hiding the flowered fabric underneath. Well, sort of hiding. If I’d cut a simple rectangle of floral fabric, it would have been nicely hidden. But umm, size small shirts. I had to cut more of a pie shape. So right at the seam, the floral fabric truly is hidden but right away afterwards it flares out.
I skipped the rest of the gathering as well. I just used the lengths of bias tape as instructed and stretched them to fit the fabric. So it IS sort of gathered but you can’t actually SEE gathers. I also skipped the shoulder closure because I already had those shirt buttons down the front.
Speaking of front closures… I had to get creative. I forgot to lengthen the top center piece to create a button band and had to find another way to close it. Bias ties wouldn’t work because of the overlap. Instead I added 3 teeny tiny snaps. One at the seam at the top of the original buttons band and two at the top, right on the bias tape. I figured the layers of bias tape would help support the snaps. That brown button you see? Totally decorative.
If it looks a little big, it’s because it actually is. I sized up because sleeveless tops aren’t very useful come Winter. I meant for her to wear a T-shirt underneath. A T-shirt I haven’t made yet…
Like I said, I had planned on a dress but made a top instead. And a top does not an outfit make. I needed a skirt. And there we had one!
I have been planning on fixing up this skirt for well over a year. It was just too short and too tight for running around comfortably. And well, a year later, it was also getting a little tight at the waist. When she tried it on, souricette 1 informed me that the waistband was scratchy. I carefully removed the waistband and loops, undid the hem, and cut the front and back skirts apart. I added a 1.5″ strip of cotton/lycra jersey to the sides. That made the skirt a wee bit bigger and the lycra meant that it could stretch a bit with her as she moved.
I was going to just do a jersey waistband but changed my mind. The back is jersey (with buttonhole elastic) and the front is the flowered shirt. All interfaced properly. The button is upcycled from… I forget. I’ve had it for too long…
And then, the length… This was highly improvisational too. I just cut two 7″ x 18″ strips from the flowered shirt. One for the front, with a box pleat to make it fit. For the back, I decided to insert some of the striped shirt, hidden in inverted pleats. Honestly I just got three pieces however I could, as long as I could get one 7″ side. I ended up with the center one in horizontal stripes and the two sides vertical.
Once it got the pleats in and pinned it all to the denim skirt, I trimmed the extra flowered fabric off at the sides. Hem the whole thing and voilà! A skirt that souricette 1 can actually run in.
And climb!
An outfit that makes me think of her dad. As if that face wasn’t enough…
Creative mommy at home to two wonderful little girls, trying to juggle family, sewing, exercise, family, knitting, photography, and did I mention family?
Deux souriceaux 
Sew cute! I love the colors!
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Thank you!
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The prints look so great together, and I loved how you played with the direction of the stripes! Upcycling forces some fantastic creativity 🙂
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Thank you! I find that stripes often just demand to be played with. Why yes, fabric talks to me!
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Super cute. Love the shirt!
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Thank you!
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I love the shirt! I might just have to bite the bullet and purchase that lol swing top pattern…
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Thank you! I think the Lol Swing top would be great for hot weather! The swingy shape really moves in the breeze.
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So cute! I love the “make it work” moments of refashioning. That’s what makes it fun. You might be jealous of my 6’2″ size XL husband, until you have to feed him. Haha.
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Thank you! Yep, I’m thinking that I do appreciate my husband’s size those rare times I knit him something. It’s still a big sweater but at least it’s the smallest size!
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The thing I love about repurposing fabric in outfits is the creative brain workings that go along with the finished project. Your post reminded me of how much thought goes into an outfit like this, and how the finished project is special to us because we let go of the rules and just give it ‘a go.” Congrats…I really like the finished project.
Deborah @ Sew Much to Give
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Thank you! It certainly very different from my usual planning-intensive approach! I find I’m so impressed with people who do this kind of upcycling on a regular basis. Being able to see something new in an old garment takes quite a bit of vision.
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I love the shirts… I wish my hubby would wear some florals;) It’s really cool how you puzzled out the top! Looks very cute and comfy!
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Thank you! My husband hardly ever wears florals to work (he’s a banker) but they come out a lot on weekends. I confess I love them too.
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Love it! That’s a great use of two shirts. And she looks like she enjoys it. 🙂
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Thank you! She does love it. The grin on her face when she put on the skirt said it all but she did confirm that the skirt was now very comfortable.
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So sweet! Of course we love the skirt… 🙂
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Thank you! I actually thought of you as I made the skirt. It looks like the kind of thing you would make too!
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Great job! I love the look of those two fabrics together!
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Thank you!
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I love those two fabrics together, especially in the top! Good problem solving and stripe “blocking.” 🙂 My oldest is a complete daddy’s girl and likes to remind me all the time, sigh.
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Thank you! I loved them together at first, then doubted myself, then back to love, and on and on… I’m happy I went with my first instinct though. This one (the oldest) is the spitting image of her dad but hates when we say so. Because, doncha know? She’s a girl, daddy’s a boy, and there’s no way she looks like a boy!
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This is sooo sweet! I love the lol swing top pattern and you really made something awesome with it. The picture are so adorable too
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Thank you! I love the Lol swing top too! I’m probably going to make a few next summer. Oh! You know what? It might work with something like a sweater knit to make some sort of vest for winter! Or lengthened into a dress! Agh. So many ideas, so little time…
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I so love stripes and florals together….love, love! ~Elizabeth
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Thank you!
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Great job. Love how you used those tops for the skirt.
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Thank you!
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Really cute top! I love a good stripes/floral combo…
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Thank you!
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[…] from the list. Souricette 2 has a metric crap ton of tees. None of which are quite right for her Lol swing top. If I can get one done, I’ll be […]
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Ooh! I’m just now seeing this – so lovely! I love a good refashion and you really made this one work. Especially love the Liberty in it!
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Thank you! Now I just need to get my act together and make a T-shirt so she can wear it through Winter…
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[…] best. That’s a total of 12 outfits this year! Click through each and every link to see them all (or […]
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[…] 3: LOL Swing Top. Back when I made the PRP upcycled outfit for souricette 1, I prepared an old maternity dress of mine to make that top for her. Souricette 2 saw the fabric […]
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