fitzfabulous

Remember this mess of a fit handed down from a cousin?

Boxy cut is too big in all the wrong places, stretchy fabric catches on tiny front hooks, red square sequins a bit much for most uses.

But it’s precisely those red square sequins that made this an irresistable keeper.

Enter Dolly Parton concert for inspiration. Dolly has no fear. She grew up dirt poor. She married at 20 and stuck it out. She takes all kinds of risks. She laughs it off when people are rude and tacky to her. And she loves to show off a bosom.

So take her moxie to heart, and give a big chop of something you know fits really awfully a try. Here’s how I did it (and it was a long time in the making):

1. REMOVE SLEEVES. I sliced through the shoulder seams to remove the sleeves whole. I also cut off the tiny hooks and eyes meant to hold the front closed because they caught on the fabric.

2. PULL IN SIDES. Fit to your body, pin and stitch well. What were boxy shoulders now are effortless cap sleeves.

3. CUT OUT A NECK. The front used to close all the way up - I wanted a loose V-shape, so I had to cut off the excess fabric from the original neck. Also meant pulling off, one by one, the sequins that line the edge.

4. FINISH NECK. Hem the neck by hand or with a binding. I sewed in grosgrain ribbon with the machine, then hand hemmed it over.

5. CLOSE IT UP. Tried a bunch of things to make this a top rather than a cardigan. Wrap-style with ribbon ties looked silly. Pinned the sleeves like a band to the bottom to hold the wrap felt too bulky. Finally - since I knew I wanted the sequins to stretch out into a design - I sewed two big snaps on the bottom corners.

The first set was sewn to the inside and a corner,

the other to the outside.

6. PULL OUT THE BOOTS AND GO. I’ll add a tiny ruffled cami top underneath, and a fitted denim skirt on bottom before going out in public.

and back

I used to turn t-shirts into tops by cutting out the necks and the bands at the arms and waist. Not always so flattering. So it finally was time to figure out what to do with the drawerful of shirts I never wore, except to the beach.

Take this giant orange guy, with my neighborhood ironed onto the front, a lovely Christmas gift from a boy with a big heart but no sense of size.

Bold, yet shapeless. Appropriately local, but inappropriately frumpy. Thanks to skinny elastic, I now have a top. Here’s one way to turn a giant T into a top:

1. PREPARE BODICE. Cut off original sleeves by slicing through stitching or by trimming off the seam. Turn shirt inside out and pin to fit. body. Try on, fit, baste, fit again. Sew sides. Trim seam allowance.

2. PREPARE NECK FACING Figure out what neck shape you want. Cut it out. If you have enough seam allowance to face the neck, use it. If not, you can trim from the bottom of the T or use other fabric. You need a strip a good 1.5 inches wide, and as long as the neck opening. You can sew smaller strips together to get enough length.

3. ATTACH NECK FACING Fold the facing strips in half lengthwise. Press. Start pinning from one side of the neck, raw edges of the facing strip to the right side of the shirt. when you like the **fit, baste and sew. Trim edges and fold them under. Now topstitch on the facing band, catching them under your stitching. If the T stretches too much, toss a strip of newspaper underneath to temporarily stabilize it.

** I ended up fishing elastic through my neck facing because I didn’t follow my own advice to fit before sewing, and the neck was way too big. Serves me right.

4. PREPARE SLEEVES To gather sleeves, baste a long running stitch along the top raw edge of the excised sleeve, about 3/8″ from the edge. Pull the underthread until the sleeve is bunchy enough. Stitch over the gathering to stabilize it. Pin the sleeve back on, right sides together, baste and sew.

5. FINISH SLEEVES Take skinny elastic or elastic cord and fish through the original serged hem of the sleeve using a giant needle. Pull until sleeve opening is the size you like, knot the ends and tuck underneath.

Nice top!