Daddy’s Shirt Refashion – Scirocco

For some reason I was thinking this week was the final week of Project Run & Play so I was planning my signature look.  Then Tuesday morning I realized it was Men’s Shirt Refashion week and I had not a single clue what I would make.  Luckily Bean’s daddy has a few old shirts in the reuse pile so I had something to work with.

It also just so happens that this week the Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle Sale is going on.  This is an amazing chance to get a ton (18 I think) of great patterns at a ridiculously discounted price.  (I am not an affiliate, but there are lots of blogs out there with affiliate links so consider clicking through one of the them to help out your favorite blogger)  I decided to get the bundle since there were three patterns I’ve been eyeing and their combined cost would have already been more than what the bundle is going for.  So that’s 15 patterns free, hehe.

One of the “free” patterns was the Scirocco dress.  I knew I wanted Figgy’s Banyan top and pants, but this dress is adorable and will be fun for Bean up to size 8/9. 

When I saw the pattern up close I immediately thought of using the front button placket from a men’s shirt instead of the pleat down the front.  And so the inspiration came.

I took the button placket off the front of the shirt and ruffled it between the buttons.  I thought it would be cuter if there were at least four buttons showing on the front and the bodice was too small to fit three without ruffling.  It was not easy ruffling that thick placket, but I’m happy with how it ultimately turned out. 

I made some cute buttons and sewed them where the button holes are in the placket for decoration, but they are not functional.  The placket is sewn down to the bodice.

I used the same bottom weight fabric that I used to cover the buttons for the bodice lining and skirt lining.  This was mostly because I didn’t have enough shirt fabric to work with.  All those skirt ruffle layers took up a lot of fabric, hehe.  Although it was worth it because I think my favorite part is how the striped fabric makes perfect chevrons where the seams meet on the skirt. 

The bodice top came together fairly easily and the twisted knot in the back is done in a neat way.  I will definitely use this pattern again.  Especially with the hot Maryland days we’re sure to have this summer.

I made a size 2/3 which is very big on Bean right now.  Since it’s still winter here I wanted to make sure we can get some warm weather use out of this dress. 

Hopefully it’ll fit a little more snugly by summer.  I was worried if I made the 18m size it’d be way to small by then.

This was one of my husband’s favorite shirts and we were sad to see the collar fraying.  But this turned out to be such an adorable reuse that he was very happy to hand it down.

And this last picture of Bean made me laugh so hard.  She looks like she was crying or at least pleading with me to stop, but really she was happy and fine the whole time.  I don’t know how I got this shot without even realizing it, hehe.

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