Facing the fear

I love reading refashioning blogs and really admire someone who can take a jumpsuit and make it into a dress like this or transform a dress like this.  
I've refashioned bedding and curtains into clothes using patterns but that's really just like using new fabric.  I haven't actually refashioned  an item of clothing (apart from the shirt for my husband but that wasn't anything major).  I have a fear of cutting into something without having a pattern and instructions to follow, but at the weekend I faced my fear!


I started with this t-shirt of my husband's which he's had for years and never worn.

I thought about taking it in  at the sides all the way from the hem to the end of the sleeves but the shoulder seam would still be way too long.  Instead I laid a t-shirt that does fit me on top, with the shoulder seams together, and cut down the sides and along the bottom about an inch wider to allow for seams.  
I wanted it to have long sleeves, so I drew round a sleeve onto a folded piece of paper to make a pattern.  I had to piece the fabric in bands for the sleeves and I could have done each one with three bands.  I thought as it had to have seams across, I might as well make it look as if they were a design feature and decided  three seams would look better than two, so I used four bands.   I kept the original sleeves at the bottom so that I wouldn't have to hem them.  
I was going to make a V neck, but after I'd removed the original ribbing (which was very wide) I was left with a nice round neck which was already turned under so I just stitched it down.


and this is the result

I stitched the bands on the sleeves together so that the edges roll up like so

I'm pretty pleased with the result and now I've got past that first hurdle I'll be looking out for other things to refashion!