Patchwork Effect Blouse/Shirt Remakes

Here's a couple of refashions/remakes that you might have already seen today if you check my blog, but I'd like to share it with the wider refashioning community because I'm pretty proud of them! These patchwork effect shirt/blouse remakes may look a bit crazy, but making something a bit crazy out of arguably the most boring type of garment out there (mens office shirts) fills me with glee! For these garments I used a really basic fitted blouse pattern as a basis and cut up several unwanted mens shirts from which to cut out the various pieces. 

I cut the front of the blouses from the back of the original shirts by placing the centre front of the pattern on the fold, and similarly cut the back of the blouses from the front of the shirts incorporating the buttons and button plackets so the final garments buttoned up at the back. The original shirt hems were also included to skip the need to hem the final garment. 

The sleeves are 1940's style puff sleeves with a wide sleeve band. The overall fit of the blouses is fitted with waist shaping darts on the front and back, and that combined with the puffy sleeves and self-drafted Peter Pan collar produce an overall very feminine silhouette and feel which contrasts nicely with the traditional, male-centric origin of the fabric. If you ever checked out any of my previous shirt/blouse refashions, you'll know that I like playing with these gender contrasts when refashioning garments. 

I love the idea of wearing a garment like this to a job that requires you wear smart attire. It could be seen as a cheeky nod to formal working environment, plus you'd be sticking to the dress code rules whilst also bringing refashioning, sustainable clothing, creativity and 'hand-crafted' to the type of working situations that are rarely associated with those things.