You know what's really in right now? Silky tops. You know what's not? This.
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| Even Dante hates it. |
I found this 80s dream a couple weeks ago for $2.99 and have been hating it ever since I saw it. There's just so much to hate...the shoulder pads, the boxy shape, the sleeves. Need I go on? I finally figured out how I could fix it, but this monster resisted my efforts at every turn.
First things first, I took out the shoulder pads. I knew I definitely needed to do something awesome to this top, so I decided on putting an industrial type zipper down the back. I folded the shirt in half and cut straight down the back.
I sewed under the raw edge where I was going to put the zipper. Then, I pinned the zipper in and sewed it in place.
Here is where the shirt distinctly said, "I refuse to be tamed!" I could not get the rest of the back seam to sew together correctly. It looked terrible. I ended up having to take out half of the stitching where I had sewed under the raw edge. Very, very carefully so I didn't damage the fabric. This took forever. I finally got it fixed and the back seam closed. Looking good!
Next, I removed the sleeves so I could adjust the fit.
I, as usual, put the shirt on inside out and started pinning in the sides. Then, as usual, I sewed the seams. Again, the shirt refused to cooperate because when I attempted to try it on it was way too small. I have no idea why. So again, I had to remove the side seams very carefully and then redo them. Ugh.
I finally got it to fit. Finally. Now for the sleeves. I decided because of the harshness of the zipper, I wanted the sleeves to be a little more feminine to balance it out. I settled on a short cap sleeve. I found another shirt I have with sleeves I liked and used this as a template. Then, I pinned them in place and sewed them to the shirt. (I forgot to take a picture of this!)
There was still a little bit of a raw edge so I sewed that down, too. Except the fabric moved a little as I was doing it so I sewed part of it that didn't need sewed. Aaaand I had to remove that stitching very, very carefully. Gah!!
Eventually, I finished the shirt and tamed this 80s monster. Thank goodness!!
I actually love it now. :-) Black skinny jeans and some sparkly boots make this perfect for every single upcoming holiday party!
$2.99 for the shirt, $3.75 for the zipper, and I already had the red thread.
Total cost: $6.74.
Word.
