Show Tell Share: From Button Down Shirt to Peasant Blouse (GREEN challenge)

I have a few white button down shirts. Most of them are fitted, but there are a couple of loose fitting ones. One of them has been sitting in the bottom of our to-be-ironed-at-some-point-in-my-life basket for a good year now. It was time to either donate it or do something with it. Since I really did not care if I was going to ruin it, I decided to do a little experiment. See if I could turn it into a peasant blouse, with minimal work and resources. (Just trying to be GREEN!) I have to say, it worked beautifully and I am really happy how it turned out. Ready? You need 1 loose fitting button down shirt. Unless you are directly related to the Great Houdini, do not attempt this with a fitted shirt.

The picture tutorial follows, I hope it is clear. If not, or you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. I attacked the shirt without much planing and I did try my best to document all the steps. Hope it helps you.

1. Figure out where you want the button down part to end and get rid of the buttons you do not need.

2. I think the picture explains it well.

3.(I am repeating myself here, just ignore it please. This next picture is really about cutting off the section with the button holes.)

4. Start sewing.

5. Just to show you how things looked after step 3.

6. A little prep work.

7. Sew, where the needle was and some more prep.

8. Done, this is how it looks.

I did the middle row first and as I added a row to one side, I made sure I mirrored it on the other. I only picked 2 different stitches I felt were nicely complimenting each other. Of course you can do whatever you like. For me this was a great opportunity to try a few of the 99 stitches I have on my old Pfaff 1471. Today, most sewing machines come more than just the basic straight or zigzag. Have fun, try something new!