project restyle: oh, the places you'll sew

Today's Project Restyle entry may not look like much has been done to it. "So she cut off the sleeves," you might say. "So what?" Oh, how deceiving these appearances can be. The original shirt seems all innocent there on the dressform, but it was one of the worst garments I have ever restyled.

A boxy body shape? Matronly armscye placement? Odd slightly-more-than-3/4-length sleeves? All these things I could have forgiven.

Questionable hem placement? Steadily unraveling stitching?

All these things I could have forgiven.

No, what made this restyle so miserable was the sudden realization, about halfway through alterations while I was scratching my head as to why nothing matched up, that the whole thing was originally assembled crookedly. At every seam.

S...so many hours of pinning and cutting and pinning and re-cutting. This wouldn't have been a big deal if not for the huge woven pattern down the front of the shirt, which was next to impossible to get centered. (Turns out that's because it, too, is not the same size on each side! Even the neckline is larger on one side than the other! Oh, the things that would have been good to know before I started.)

At least the comedy of sewing errors is finally done.

(Well, at least until next time.)