Weekly DIY Roundup: Button Down Shirt Projects!
The other day I tried out an idea I'd seen on a blog using button down shirts and it was so fun that I went on a thrifting spree for more shirts. Now I have a ton of them and I needed more ideas for things to make, so I got searching and found some great projects!
The one I tried out is this skirt idea, which uses 4 sleeves so that the sleeve cuffs with the buttons go around the waist. Mine was pretty messy, but I learned from my mistakes and plan to make more! The blog that gave me the idea was Capital Sew and Sew, with this cute red and plaid skirt, and there's another version over on Burdastyle.
Capital Sew and Sew also shows a clutch made from other parts of the shirts:
Speaking of bags, Deb's Going Green has a tutorial for making a big tote bag from a button down shirt...
...and Rags to Bags has another how-to for shirt bags.
If you have a little girl in your life to craft for, check out cheytown's dress on craftster, adorable!
Gatling gun was so into cheytown's dress that she designed a "big girl" version for herself. I love the buttons going down the back!
Also on craftster, MrsBowles made this dress from a blue oxford shirt:
If you want to just dress up a shirt to make it your own, you can replace the fabric on the cuffs and collar like this one on Burdastyle:
TurkishVAnn on craftster took a way-too-big shirt and gave it puffed sleeves and a fitted shape, so cute!
Kayster turned her boyfriend's old shirt into this cute sleeveless one for herself, with the buttons going up the back:
I absolutely love annam42's flowy white shirt! And she made another awesome smock-style version from a blue shirt...
Over on the sew and sew blog, Becky made this amazing "Doolittle Blouse". If you go back through her older blog posts, you can see how it was made.
So now I have some ideas for using my pile of thrifted shirts! I hope I gave you some inspiration too! If you come up with any other projects, or want to share your take on any of these, be sure to post in the comments or the forums!
I'm making a pair of gauntlets out of the sleeves of a shirt. :)
Thanks for the mention! (The last project was mine.) Lots of other fun ideas on here too!
omg those are so creative! thanks for shairng :).
Great article (especially since you mentioned my bag). I'll be linking back to you so my readers can see the other great ideas for using an old shirt.
Deb
these are great projects! thank you!
I found another great shirt-dress project on burdastyle: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=235416.0
so easy and so cute!
Really great. I especially love the "sleeve skirt" and annam42's flowy white shirt.
OMG! im so going to make a dress just like MrsBowles's ! they all kick major ass...:D
I've been looking for this blog my whole life and didn't even know it. I love the shirt sleeves skirt!
ahdore the doolittle blouse :)
All of these are wonderful ideas.
Blessings from Costa Rica
I have made a corset out of a old fitted skirt. It came out pretty cool.
Hey! I also made two dresses from shirts!
http://www.burdastyle.com/creations/show/8455
http://www.burdastyle.com/howtos/show/783
Great ideas! Am interested in more!