Off-the-Shoulder Refashioned Blouse Tutorial

Do you have an old button-up that's been sitting in your closet for years? Now is the time to dust that drab blouse off and turn it into your hottest summer look with this crazy-simple Off-the-Shoulder Refashioned Blouse Tutorial! Learn how to upcycle old shirts in seven easy steps, turning a restrictive button-up into a shoulder-baring, sensual statement piece. Never worry about this DIY off-the-shoulder shirt slipping down your shoulders or pinching your skin. The top of the blouse is fastened with a personally fitted elastic band, so your shirt is guaranteed to stay in place all day.

Project TypeMake a Project

Time to CompleteUnder an hour

Sewn byMachine

Easy

Materials List

8'' Fabric shears
Button-up shirt
Sewing machine and thread
Pins
Tailor's chalk
3/4''-Wide elastic
Iron and ironing board

Instructions

Lay the shirt flat on your work surface.
Using tailor's chalk, mark a horizontal line across the front of the blouse 1-1/4” above the desired finished height. Then draw vertical lines that run parallel to the sleeve seams of the shirt and connect to the horizontal line.
Use the 8'' fabric shears to cut along the marked chalk line.
Fold the cut edge of the shirt over by 1/4” and press with an iron. Fold over again by another 1” and press again. Stitch the edge down, leaving a 4” opening on the shirt to insert the elastic.
Insert the elastic through the opening and thread it through the entire top.
Adjust the elastic length to size, cutting off any unneeded elastic and sewing the ends together.
Stitch the opening in the shirt for the elastic closed and you're finished.