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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!
Lee Meredith
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