I think I'm happy.
Tuesday's post has all the pics of the original top and where it came from, but if you don't want to click through, here's what I started with (not sure if I mentioned it, but the tag said it was a 3XL):
And, if you want the reveal before the 'what I did'...here's the shirt, remade:
You have to look to see the godets I added to the side from a gray-and-black stripe remnant that I 'd kept in the scrap box, but you can sure see the difference it makes in the drape of the shirt. That stripe knit was a pricey one, actually, that I bought at one of the Sewing Expos I went to...I want to say it was Indianapolis in 2014, but that might not be right. I'd made a t-shirt out of it, that has disappeared (no idea how a t shirt could disappear, but I haven't seen it in at least a couple of years). I had a good bit left over, so I paired it up with an abstract print and used the stripe on the sleeves and neckband. The print was royal blue, black white and gray and I loved the way the stripes played with the print. But, over the years, the gray in the print changed from gray to a pinky-mauve color (I have another, entirely different print that did the same thing; now instead of grayscale it looks sepia). The pink kinda clashed w/ the royal blue in the print and it definitely looked odd with the stripe in the sleeves and neckband; it was still in the closet but I just didn't wear it.
So, with that backstory in mind, we return to the weird oversized shirt. I used my Vogue 9057 pattern for the base of the alterations. After unstitching the sideseams and removing the sleeves, I folded the shirt in half lengthwise. I could only cut one side at a time because the hem-to-hem length was longer than my table, so I cut the front first, laying the pattern with the center front along the fold and the intersection between the neckline and the shoulder seam at the shoulder seam/ neckline of the shirt. Where the waist shaping on the sideseam began to increase just below the waist, I laid my long ruler there to connect that line with the bottom edge of the shirt. Whacked it down, then carefully moved the shirt so that I could cut the back the same way. I cut something like 13" off of the shoulder seam, so it was enough to cut some cap sleeves from the scraps at the shoulder area...if I put the former shoulder seam down the center of the sleeves.
Then I carefully folded my little remnant of stripe and managed to get two godets that were 11" wide at the bottom and 15" tall. I didn't do any scientific calculations...that was just the size I could get from the piece I had.
I did that after writing Tuesday's post, and then I pondered what to do. I thought it would just look like I stuck extra fabric in it if I didn't do something besides just the godets...and I remembered the 'rule of three' from my days costuming school shows. Basically, the rule of three is that if you use an element in an outfit/ garment, you should use it in three places so that it looks like a part of the garment. But I was down to mere scraps of the knit...what could I do?
Then I remembered the top with the striped sleeves and neckband that didn't work anymore. I hustled up to the closet and took the sleeves and the neckband off before I went to bed (really late, lol). The faded remnants of the top went into the trash bin. RIP.
I thought I'd just put the sleeves on the new top...they were from the same Vogue pattern. But as I thought about what I could do while at work yesterday I realized that the long sleeves and the long godets would kind of compete. Maybe it would be better to use the cap sleeves. Maybe there was enough scraps left to get a couple of strips to use as a band on the bottom of the sleeves...bonus, then I wouldn't have to hem the sleeves. Hm. And what about the neckband? I didn't even know if the neckband that I pulled off of the faded shirt would fit or if I would need to add some length to it.
I came home, ate dinner, walked with my hubby, and then pondered what I could do and how I could do it. I finally measured the bottom of the cap sleeves I'd cut, then measured the scraps and found that I could get two strips 1 1/2" wide long enough to go around the bottom of the sleeves, and I matched up the neckband to the neckline of the shirt and saw that I would only have to stretch the recycled neckband a little bit to make it work. And...bonus...it would pull that really wide neckline into a better size for me. The only caveat was that I realized I would have to hand sew the neckband on; I just layered it behind the original finished neckline of the top (it had a wrap-around binding). Took a bit to sew it on, but now I have a double neckline that suits my narrow shoulders better than the original; not only did the stretched neckband pull it in slightly, but it extends about 3/8" beyond the original finished edge so it fills it in a bit.
From that point, it was just a matter of sewing it together and hemming the godets. I actually finished last night and wore it today.
I am sad that I wasn't able to keep the pockets but they would have looked odd in the godet seam. It's comfy and swishy and fun to wear. And the button back is cool.
But...my serger is still not cutting as nicely as I would like. It's not horrible...but it's not clean as it should be, either. We may have to make another trip west in the next couple of weeks. Sigh.
