If you love it, why don't you Make it!

 I bought a cute Salmon colored shirt a while back at a boutique. I love it! It is sheer and comfy and just really nice. I'm a simple sorta girl and I love the idea of just throwing one nicer thing on and feeling a little more put together.

Since I purchased it at a boutique, it was completely hand-made by someone else. Yesterday when I was doing a little grocery shopping and wearing the shirt I thought, "If you love it why don't you marry it!" Ha ha I'm such a nerd. But that's what we always said as kids and I couldn't help myself. Ok, what I really thought was "If I love it so much, I should try and recreate it in a different color". And that's exactly what I did.  Believe it or not, it was surprisingly simple.

So I ran over to the fabric store and was shocked to find a bunch of sheer fabric in the bargain bin. My favorite place to shop!  So I grabbed a couple of yards of cream and came home to get started.

Just lay out your fabric and place the shirt you'd like to duplicate on top. make sure its laying smoothly and just trace around it and cut it out.

 In this case the shirt has a tie type thing running down the middle, so the front has 2 sections. I folded it in half and laid it on the fabric, making sure that the fabric was also in half, then I started cutting it out. Don't forget to cut a separate piece for the back and to cut out all the add-ins that your shirt has. In this case I cut out 2 rectangles for pockets and a long rectangle that I folded over and added interfacing to to make it stiffer for a collar.

 Once you have all the pieces cut out pin them together and sew them up. For this shirt, I sewed the front to the back and then folded over the 2 front pieces and sewed them creating the tie type thing.  Then I sewed them together so the front is just one piece.

 

 After that I just folded the sleeves up for the "folded sleeve" look. I added the pockets and collar, and I hemmed the bottom, and that's it.  I also love that it's cream so it will take on the color of whatever shirt I wear underneath. Fabulous! Wouldn't it be so fun in a striped or polka dot fabric? I'll be keeping my eye out.

  

Don't be afraid to sew without a pattern. Some of my favorite pieces are things I've seen and tried to recreate my own way. Haven't you ever seen something at the store and thought "that's so cute but it would be cuter without ________".  Or "it would be cuter with  __________" . Trust yourself and try it. You'd be surprised how easy it can really be.