Made with Moxie: Upcycle Men's Shirts

Refashion a man's shirt into a fitted style for you. An upcycle challenge || I'm so doing this to all my husband's nice shirts! lol

There's something about men's dress shirts that I find irresistible. Be it oxford or fine spun cotton, it's the hand of the fabric that gets me first. Such lovely textures. The stripes and patterns are most often woven in instead of stamped like women's clothing which is a sign of a nicer construction as well. I personally love a man's dress shirt for it's length too since I have a long torso. But most of all there is a sexiness to a man's dress shirt. Maybe I shouldn't have watched Flashdance as a kid, but it taught me that a woman in men's clothing can be damn fine looking. Also, Jennifer Beals taught how to take my bra off underneath my shirt. But that's another story.

The trouble with men's dress shirts is that they are boxy and a woman's body is anything but. All you need is a few nips and tucks and your husband's dress shirt can be YOURS!

Start by putting your shirt on INSIDE OUT. Yes, buttoning a shirt on inside out is challenging. You'll be a pro by the end. You shirt should be large enough to button over your breasts, but not super large.

You're going to make four double pointed darts in the shirt, two in the front and two in the back. Pinch the front of your shirt directly under your breasts where your waist is its smallest. Place pins at those points in the pinched fabric. Next, slide up those folds until you are just underneath the curves of your breasts and place pins out on the very edge of the folds. Then slide down the folds and determine where you want your darts to end. I stopped mine just above my hips so the fullness of the shirt curved over my hips.

Take off your shirt. Straighten out the two folds of fabric you made so that they are both going perfectly straight up and down and are both equal distance from each side seam. This is fairly easy to do with plaid and striped shirts. Use a straight edge to draw a diamond shape along the fold connecting your three pins. Stitch those double pointed darts down. Press your darts. Try on your shirt, right side out. Move around in it. Make any adjustments in each dart length or rise.

Put your shirt back on, inside out and pin two more darts in place in the same manner. Yes, bring your darts up higher, since you don't have breasts on your back. Yes, stop them a bit sooner if you have a nice round buttocks you've got to account for. Yes, this is a bit more challenging, but it's not an exact science. Just a little trial and error. Straighten your dart folds out, draw your lines and stitch in place. Press.

Try your newly refashioned shirt on. Make adjustments as necessary. Then roll up your sleeves, pop that collar and you're on your sexy little way!

My husband should be afraid. I'm starting to go shopping in his closet! Totally kidding. He really loves it. He just wants me to accessorize it with only a pair of panties. MEN!

New to upcycling and refashioning clothing and afraid you're going to screw something up? Don't be! Head on out to the Goodwill and grab yourself a practice shirt. I got this gingham one for only $5 and it's from Johnson & Murphy. Before you know it you'll be going through your closet and everyone else's.

Got the refashion bug and need some ideas? Check out the rest of the Refashion Blog Hop!