This started with a men’s shirt that I tried to refashion into a women’s shirt. I put darts in, moved em up, moved em down, took em out… took the sides in little by little by… too much. I finally had to accept it was too small, and needed a dose of extra fabric.  How about… roses?

The check print and colour of the shirt put me in mind of gardens, and trellises – and therefore - tumbling roses.  I think princess seams are one of the best ways of mixing fabrics in a garment, so over to the tried and trusted Sewaholic Pendrell pattern.

It was pretty experimental, so I didn’t take pictures, but basically I cut the front and back centre panels as one complete piece (so I could keep the collar of the original shirt).  Once I’d worked out where the natural shoulder seam should be (by hanging it on a wire coathanger and marking the line) I folded down the shoulder seam allowance on the pattern pieces, lined them up and cut them.  Then the rose sections were just cut as per the pattern.

I had enough fabric to do the ruffly bits, but once I’d started sewing them in…

… it looks a bit like a frilly apron, doesn’t it?  Argh.  It went in the UFO pile (that was back in June 2011 – yes, it was supposed to help me out with Me-Made-June!) and didn’t come back out again til April 2012.  I ripped out the ruffles, and this time I kept the seamlines clean.  And added the pocket back on, to cover the little hole I made when I over-enthusiastically ripped it off in the first place.

So it’s a little crazy – those roses hit you straight in the eye – but I’m pleased.  And hah! I reclaimed something from the UFO pile at long last!  I will eventually be victorious, and conquer all of those sad half-projects loitering around…