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The Cat’s Meow: How to Add a Shirt Pocket to a Dress

An Over-Oversized Oxford
[title of refashion]

Woo hoo!  Guess what?  Today’s refashion has not one, but TWO starter pieces!

Meet Piece #1: A Thrifted Dress:

refashionista Add a Shirt Pocket to a Dress before
Like my little tree in the background?

Aaaaand, Piece #2: A Thrifted Shirt

women's dress shirt with cat pocket
Me-Ow! ๐Ÿ™‚

You’ll notice I’m not wearing Piece #2.  Let’s look a little closer at it to see why.

Closeup of stains on shirt
Eeeewwwwww! ๐Ÿ™

That shirt is stained mess of pure grossness!  There was absolutely NO WAY I was slipping into it for a “before” pic.  I hope you understand.

Both of these pieces were $1 apiece.  Even though the shirt was pretty much junk at this point, I just had to have that awesome cat pocket!  ๐Ÿ™‚

Eager to have that nasty thing out of my life, I quickly separated the shirt from the coolest pocket ever.

using seam ripper to remove cat pocket from shirt
Pick!

I showed it to Spock, who seems to like his new pal!  ๐Ÿ™‚

cat looking at cat pocket
Mrow?
cat playing with cat pocket
Kitty High Five! ๐Ÿ™‚

Now for that dress.  

I quickly snipped out these guys:

removed shoulder pads from dress
Your services are no longer needed.

Then, did a little chopping…

cutting off side ties from dress
Byeeee!

…and a little more chopping…

cutting off bottom hem of dress
Chop!

A few of you have asked me how I cut my hems evenly.  Hopefully the above pic is helpful.

While cutting, I fold over the cut-off part and use it as a guide.  No extra measuring needed!  ๐Ÿ™‚

I pinned a hem for the bottom raw edge.

pinning bottom hem
The Seam Gauge is your friend!

Then, I stitched it down on my machine.

sewing bottom hem
Whirrrr!!!!

I sewed those two side-tie thingies together to make a sash.

sewing side ties into a sash
Easy!

I’m not done yet!  

This dress is looking much cuter now, but it still needs a little pizzazz!

Time to add that shirt pocket to the dress!

First, I figured out the desired alignment for my new pocket and pinned it down.

cat pocket pinned to bottom of dress
Pin that pocket!

Then, I stitched it on with my sewing machine, going around the pocket but making sure not to sew up the top!

sewing cat pocket onto dress
Don’t worry, Mr. Kitty! This’ll only hurt for a sec!

I rocked my cute & catastic new frock for a fun afternoon of wine tasting at Cellar on Greene!

refashionista How to Add a Shirt Pocket to a Dress after
Sans Sweater!
How to Add a Shirt Pocket to a Dress after with cardigan
Pinot Noir is my GoGo Juice! ๐Ÿ™‚

I styled my new dress with this fabulous thrift score I stumbled upon a few weeks ago for only $3.00:

thrifted Coach Willis bag
The Thrift Store Gods are smiling upon me! ๐Ÿ™‚

Yep…that’s a sweet vintage Coach Willis Bag! ๐Ÿ™‚  Can you believe it????  I just hope I didn’t use all my thrifting karma for the year on this one purchase!  ๐Ÿ™‚

I soaked up all that wine with some tasty Bee Bim Bop! All in all, it was a perfect afternoon!  ๐Ÿ™‚

Jillian eating bowl of bee bim bop
More like Bee Bim NOM!!!! ๐Ÿ˜‰

Cheers!

refashionista How to Add a Shirt Pocket to a Dress before and after
An Over-Oversized Oxford
[title of refashion]