Tuesday, October 30, 2012

SHIRT INTO VEST - DIY

I had this one shirt lying in my closet. I didn't know what do with it. 
White-grayish, loose-fitting, old. I even thought about throwing it away. 

But then the gorgeous Casey Wiegand inspired me to try my hand on a little revamp. I just love how she pulls off those lovely vests and cardigans over some cool tees.




First I cut off the sleeves, then I cut the shirt down the middle and lastly I trimmed the bottom of the shirt creating round corners. 




Most of the shirt fell victim to my scissors. At this point I nearly gave up because it looked nothing like I wanted it to look. I thought I cut too much. But I just had to give it a try and and just cut it some more. In the end it shrunk down to less than half the size of its original form. I hemmed the edges and because the fabric is really elastic the hem became curly. Even though it wasn't on purpose I really love how it adds an romantic look.

Next step was to dip dye (ombre dye) the shirt.

All you need is a bucket full of (boiling) water (the more water the lighter the color), dye color (I used batik dyeing color which you can probably get at every craft store), 3 table spoons of salt, 3 table spoons of vinegar, a pair of rubber gloves and a long rod. The end of your fabric you don't want to dye needs to be rolled up on the rod and fixed with two clothespin on each side. Mix the ingredients and put on the rubber gloves. Careful - the mixture may be extremely hot so don't burn yourself (you can add a little bit of cold water). Dip the end you want to dye into the water. Raise and dip again to create that ombre look. Proceed to do that for a while until you're satisfied with the way it looks. Once you're done, rinse the fabric under hot water until the water runs clear. Let it dry.

And because I got some of that colored water left and didn't want to waste any I threw some lace doilies and crochet doilies in there. 
Just let them soak in there for a few minutes and 
then rinse off under hot water. 





After the shirt was completely dry I tried it on. The straps seemed too long so I just cut them and sewed them together a little bit closer.

And because I wanted to pair my new vest with something more casual and cool I choose to wear my vintage super man shirt with it.

Oh, and I know some of those pictures are blurry but in my defense I shot those photos using self-timer --- so yeah, just look at it as a creative intended touch.

Linking up here:
Creative Itch
New Nostalgia
Mad in Crafts

5 comments:

  1. That looks really cute :) 
    well done maybe I'll do that myself one day :D
    xoxo Minnie
    http://colourofthewinds.blogspot.co.at/

    ReplyDelete
  2. that turned out so cute!i love it!

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  3.  thank you :) and even though I originally envisioned the color to be much darker I think I like it better this way

    ReplyDelete

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