Bierkeller Dress: A T-shirt to Halter Dress Refashion

Hi all! I know…I haven’t posted in a while. I’ll explain why later.

For now, let’s just take in a nice, soothing refashion. Doesn’t that sound nice?

When I was asked to volunteer for a friend’s Bierkeller Oktoberfest (you can learn more about Bierkeller Columbia right here), I of course said yes. Delicious Kolsch and an opportunity to help bring something special to Columbia? Heck yeah. When I was asked if I’d like a shirt to refashion, I of course also said yes.

I was given this one:

There are many many ways to refashion tees. But the one I’m about to show you is definitely one of my favorites. 🙂

First, I snipped off the bottom hem.

Then, I cut down each side and removed the sleeves and neckline as well.

Keep in mind that the big logo was originally on the back. But I wanted it in the front! No worries. I grabbed a dress from my closet that I liked the fit of…

…and I folded the two sides of my cut up tee in half, as well as the green dress. Then I laid them out like so:

This will help make sure each side is nice and even.

Remember how I said I wanted the big Bierkeller logo to be in the front of this dress? That meant the original front would need to be a little shorter than the original back. You can see what I mean here:

I stitched each side down…

Then, I pinned a casing to the new front and new back.

They both got stitched down…

…and then I used a thinly cut piece from the side scraps to make a drawstring, which got threaded through the front and back casings.

When I tried my new dress on, I decided it needed a little more tweaking to get the fit juuuust right. This is usually the make-or-break part of any refashion, and a step I try to never skip. A little extra tailoring goes a long way. 🙂

And just like that, I was ready to help my friends throw one of the most fun events of the summer! I chose to tie the drawstring off to one side, but you could easily do both sides, or just stitch the two ends together to make more basic straps.

 

Prost!

Alright…so…what’s up with my lack of posts? Have I given up sewing? Am I just a cruel person that led you on with years of blog posts only to abandon you now?

Nope, nope, and nope.

This pic might explain things a bit…

My central A/C has been on the fritz for over a month, and it’s just been way too hot and uncomfortable for me to want to sew. Plus, handling communications between my home warranty company and the multiple contractor companies who have failed thus far to fix the damn thing hasn’t exactly left me in the most creative of moods. :/

Oh yeah, I was recently robbed in the Publix parking lot. In the middle of the day.  :/

Grrrrr…

So bear with me as I traverse this speed bump in home ownership. Don’t get mad or impatient with me. I promise…I’m doing the best I can at all of the things right now. And ship SC some cooler temps, will ya? 😉