maternity shirt refashion #1 TUTORIAL

here's the tutorial i promised for my Anthro maternity shirt refashion. i refashioned a maternity shirt, but you could totally do it on any type of shirt, doesn't have to be maternity. {unless you're updated your maternity wardrobe like me :}

 this is the shirt i started with. an old maternity work shirt from the first pregnancy. sad huh?

this was my inspiration from Anthro. LOVE it.

this is how it turned out. totally updated and pretty!!

and here's how i took the first from frumpy to fabulous:

first i cute off the top part of the collar to give it more of a banded collar look. the collar had a seam down the fold of the collar, so i cut right beside the seam keeping the seam so that the collar is still finished, but i did leave raw edge of fabric which will fray slightly when washed, but that will only add to the coolness of the collar.

then i cut off the sleeves at the sleeve seam.

and finished the edges of the arm opening.

then i cut off the cuffs off the sleeves. keep all seams in tact. {if you haven't noticed, i'm all about keeping finished seams and using them instead of creating new finished seams, if i can.}i used the cuffs to create the cap sleeves.

sew a basting stitch (long stitch, don't back stitch) along the top edge of the cuff and slightly gather. do both cuffs at the same time so that you can gather them to be the same.

next, find the center of the cuff and pin the center 3 inches of the gathered cuff to the arm whole of the shirt. do not pin all the way down.

then take the far corner of the cuff and pin it to the arm whole. this will create the cap sleeve. in the picture, you can see the triangle of cuff that is excess. sew the cuff to the arm whole then cut off the excess cuff (now cap sleeve). *this step is really hard to explain, stroll down to the next pic to see this step finished.*

this is what your cap sleeve should look like. repeat on the other side.

next, cut the sleeve tubes open.

you'll cut two 2 inch strips and two 1.5 inch strips. length will depend on how long the sleeves of your original shirt were.
cut each strip at 45 degree angle.

iron over all sides of each strip.
*i then forgot to take pics of the last few steps!! oops! but i'll explain. it's pretty simple.*

• sew a top stitch around each strip close to the edge to finish the edges. 
• then sew a basting stitch along one side of each strip and gather.
• layer one thin strip on top of one wide strip and sew them together. make sure the angles are the same on both strips and finished edges are down.

place the ruffles on your shirt and sew in place.

ta-da! this old maternity shirt just had some style put in it! good bye matronly, hello mama-liscious!
i'm working on a couple other maternity refashions so stayed tuned :)