Downeast Shirt Hack

I love this shirt form Downeast Basics!

You can find it HERE

eek!  or not, I guess that was the spring collection and it's gone...

Anyway, I loved it, but couldn't bring myself to buy it!  So being who I am, I decided to try my best to make my own!

I started with an old, boring, navy blue t-shirt

And a small, navy blue and white floral print from the fabric store

I traced (like, laid the fabric on top of the shirt and marked with a pencil) the front and back, added 2 inches up from the line I drew and cut two of each!

I also cut some strips for the side detail.

Then I cut off the original neckline and opened the shoulder seems (trimmed off the seam allowance)

Then just pin and sew!

Then match the second of each piece and sew and serge along the not-shirt-side.

Originally my corners were square, then I decided to round them instead, more like the original!

Mr. A snagged my phone and took some artistic pics while I was sewing!

Say 'Cheese!' Mom!

Serge and trim corners and such!

The next part I mega fudged, but it worked!  Just pin it like you want it to look and fiddle around with the layers until it looks right!

Stitch and serge everything off!

Next, I snipped the side-seam and did essentially the same thing.  Just sewed on one strip to each side.

Sew, serge, then attach another strip, right-sides together.

Then, same thing, just pin everything in place where you want it and stitch across the top of the strips and serge!

Then I hand-stitched everything down so it doesn't dry funny or stick out without my knowledge!

Lastly, add some buttons (and button holes if wanted/needed/if you can) (my button-holer was not happy when I did this!).  I simply pinned everything where I wanted it and then sewed the buttons on to hold everything down.  Ideally you would do button holes to give you enough neck to get in and out of the shirt (the flower-fabric doesn't stretch) but my hole was big enough and I couldn't get my machine to do button holes that day.

Show me your creations!  What's your favorite clothing hack or upcycle??