Dipping into the ol’ bag of toss-outs I took out an old polo Tshirt of my husband’s. He never wears it anymore, but the fabric is quite OK if not super duper beautiful or anything… It is made of a type of sport’s fabric which is really cool to wear in summer so I thought of turning it into a little summer dress.
First thing, it had an embroidered logo. Obviously that was not going to do…
So I unpicked the pocket and moved it up and over the logo to hide it. I also unpicked the neck facing and seam holding the collar in place and removed the collar, and cut off the sleeves.
Using an old favourite pattern Burda 8071, I cut out a dress body, keeping as much length as possible and keeping the original hemline intact to become the new hemline of the dress (hey, every bit helps). In lieu of the body darts stipulated in this pattern which would not have worked with this kind of stretchy jersey fabric, I simply removed a slice from each of the side edges that would have been the dart allowance…
I re-used the sleeves to cut out pocket pieces, constructed these and inserted them in the side seams.
Now as polo shirts button up at the centre front I was aiming to keep this feature and use it for the dress’s closure, rather than putting in a zip. With the very last leftovers from Craig’s striped shirt, I managed to get out the pieces for the bodice, cutting the back in one piece and the front with a button and buttonhole band for a centre front opening. I used a little scrap of piping cut on the bias to add some interest to the front opening. The lining was the last leftovers from my most recent white shirt…
The shoulder straps are just some cotton banding I had in my stash, and on the bodice I used little white shirt buttons matched in size to the navy blue buttons already on the polo shirt…
The inside seams of the dress are finished with overlocking, and the bodice lining is invisibly slipstitched in place.
Et voila! Not glamourous, but I think quite cute enough, and will be a very useful little knockabout dress for a hot working day around the house.
Which is what is on the agenda for today…
Details:
Dress; partly Burda 8071, partly my own design, refashioned from an old polo shirt and some scraps
Sandals; Micam by Joanne Mercer, Hobbs shoes
This is so cute! I can't decide which I want more, the dress or the sunny beach to go with it.
A very clever re style – perfect!
Very pretty summer dress!
Very good idea for a pretty dress !
What an excellent refashion – you new dress is perfect for a hot summer day!
Lovely! What a good use of an unused garment. And – no hem to deal with!
You asked me about hems on knits – I use a twin needle to hem knits. Looks like coverstitch on the right side, zigzag on the wrong. I always do a sample on a scrap to fiddle with tension, etc. And for your other question – I did cut the front on a fold to eliminate the seam. Not that you would want to be making turtlenecks at this time of the year!
What a wonderful ideal and very fun dress. I love it
What a cute refashion! I love how it's entirely things that were on hand, too.
What a great idea! You look fantastic! My hubby has a ton of these polo shirts around that I could experiment with.
Fantastically fashionable AND a reuse! Good work!
SO jealous of your view!
Okay, I am TOTALLY stealing this idea. I have a bunch of old shirts of Kevin's and needed an idea, and also some summer dresses. yeehah! Thanks!
Ha! What a fun idea! So eco and thrifty, too. 😉
What a good eye to see the potential in the polo! The dress is just perfect for hot summer, easy going days.
I LOVE LOVE the dress and the way you made such creative use of a "previously used" shirt. What a great idea. And as usual, gorgeous photography of the finished garment.
Great dress!! Very nautical hehe… I called past via WR. Xo Steph
Hello dear, your creativity amazes me, get a nice dress, recycle and conserve nature. Congratulations. Hugs and Happy Holidays to you and your beautiful family.
Eilan – Brazil
(sorry for any mistake, I'm using a google translator)
This is great! I never would have guessed that it was actually made from a polo shirt
How inventive! That turned out very pretty!
Beautiful – love this refashion
What a nifty piece of refashioning, very nice and summery!
Hi there! I'm one of the Co-Editors of Refashion Co-op and we're putting on a "Around the Wrld in 80 Dresses" challenge (http://refashionco-op.blogspot.com/p/around-world-in-80-dresses-challenge.html). I'm compiling some "inspiration" projects and was wondering if I could showcase this project? I'd use one of the photos you have here, credit you and link back to your blog.
Please let me know if you'd be OK with this, I think our contributors and readers would be really inspired by your cute dress!
Jessica
snowmanscraps // gmail
nice idea for your old cheap polo shirts.
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