Tag Archives: fashion

How to alter an old blouse into a sundress top

This is one of the many tops that I haven’t used for a very long time. I actually got bored of it but, at the same time, I dreaded the thought of getting rid of it either. So, I thought, why not alter it into something wearable inside the house?

Since my sewing skills don’t lie (yes, I don’t have any formal training!), I don’t want to do a horrible thing and toss it out of the window. However, I took comfort in the fact that the blouse has a dark, printed material so I wouldn’t worry about my newbie-not-so-straight-stitchings! Lol.

So okay, here’s the blouse I was talking about, a short-sleeved version of the Indian tunic (kurta), except that I already cut the sleeves off before I took this photo:

short sleeved indian tunic

From this…

end result

… to this! It’s perfect for the hot weather here 🙂

I may sound like an apologist for saying this over and over but — really, I’m just a trying hard DIYer so please excuse if the end result doesn’t look that much 🙂 I actually based this on Heather Ross’s sundress pattern. But instead of a dress, mine ended up as a top because of the  original length of the tunic and I just left the slits on the sides as they are. With the current hot weather here, it is just perfect!

I’m not so much of a tutorial maker myself but, if you are interested, I created a slide show  below documenting the steps on how I altered the blouse.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

And so, this is my first attempt at altering my clothes. I had fun, really, especially with the shirring part. It’s actually my favourite part.

Sewing demands a great deal of skill, expertise, and patience. I have a completely renewed respect for the dressmakers and admiration for people who choose to remake their own, after doing this myself.

I also want to thank the countless talented dressmakers and crafters out there who selflessly shared their tutorial videos online for free. Keep them coming. They’re very, very useful for people like me.

And this is my entry for the following weekly parties:

Show-Off-Your-Shell-Button

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