A Vintage Scarf Gets a New Life as a Top!

This is my first contribution to the Refashion Co-op community and I couldn't be more thrilled that I was accepted.  I am a Canadian thrifter and refashioner who has just joined the blogging community only 2 months ago, so this is an exciting challenge for me.  Unfortunately as I only recently started to photograph my refashions, I don't have a before picture of the project.


This top began life as a beautifully coloured and patterned vintage silk scarf that I had purchased at Value Village for $2.99.  I couldn't seem to find a way to style it with my wardrobe so I considered turning it into the top panel of a dress or a skirt before deciding on making just a top.  You can see the beautiful colours and patterns in the scarf.

Front, side and back view of top.

Luckily in my stash of refashionable clothes I had a silky mandarin collared long sleeved top for $6.99 at Value Village, that closely matched the mustard coloured flowers in the scarf. I carefully removed the whole front panel of the top, including the front of the sleeves.  I left the back portion of the sleeves attached at the arm seam and shortened the sleeves to match the width of the scarf including a hem allowance. Then I removed the mandarin collar and turned the two panels of the back yoke inside and stitched them neatly together across the neckline.

Shoulder and hem details.
Then it was just a matter of attaching the scarf to the back panel at the side and shoulder seams.  I finished the back sleeve portion to match the scarf. The scarf is a bit longer than the back panel, but I like how it turned out anyways.  It was a matter of working with what I had.


I used a piece of left over lining fabric to make an interfacing for the neckline to help it lay nicely.  I am super pleased about how this turned out and am on the hunt for more refashionable tops to make backs for some of my other beautiful scarves.  Check out some of my other refashions at vintagethrifter51.com.  Cheers, Michele