Have you guys seen Mia at Sew North’s #alteritaugust challenge for this year?

It’s all about refitting, refashioning or just making any kind of simple adjustments to existing garments to ensure that they get more regular wear in your wardrobe.

Confession: I hadn’t initially been planning on participating – even though it’s a great challenge!

This August has been a bit tough for my sewing habit, between some unexpected medical stuff, unplanned travel and periods where my sewing room/bedroom has been so sweltering hot that I can’t stand to be in it.

In fact, I’ve only sewn one garment the whole month! Not that there’s anything wrong with that – but it’s not my typical sewing output.

So, viewed against this background, the idea of using my precious sewing time for alterations didn’t sound so attractive initially.

But then…

The Great Wardrobe Clean Out

The other day, my significant other decided to clean out his closet. For the first time in a decade!!

And I found this.

It’s a men’s Kurta which he bought in India about 7 years ago. It hasn’t gotten much wear except around the house and is now too small for him, in any event.

But it’s made out of a lovely thick opaque quality Indian cotton and I decided to try it on.

With a belt added, it was almost wearable as it was, but it was definitely not quite right around the back.

But then I had a sudden thought about its #alteritaugust potential and decided to give it a go!

Now, all of this happened on 28th August, so I was pushing the limit to do this by the end of the month. (Incidentally, this tight deadline explains the abundance of the very poor quality ‘before’ photos in this blog post. I’m combining #sewinginreallife with #alteritaugust here!!)

But the joy of alterations is that, well, they don’t actually take that long!

As I was contemplating how to make this wearable, I initially wanted to unpick the sides and add in some extra fabric there for a bit more wiggle room.

But as I was doing so, I had a sudden thought.

My RTW shame…

In all honesty, it was more of guilty voice inside my head…

Hang on, but don’t I already have a white RTW linen shirt dress that I’ve never worn? How can I justify adding to the panoply of shirt-like dresses in my closet when there is one I have never ever worn?

The RTW culprit which has sat in my closet so unloved was a Uniqlo dress. I bought it online because I really wanted a white linen shirt dress but didn’t have time to sew one. When it arrived, however, I was profoundly disappointed. It looked like a nurse’s uniform. Or perhaps a lab coat. It was so transparent that it came with a separate cotton slip for modesty.

Speaking of which you only have to take a brief glance at the men’s shirt here compared to the women’s dress to see that the level of opacity (or lack thereof) of white garments designed for women is totally absurd! Yet, you never see a man walking around in a white shirt which shows his nipples. Cuz yeah, they use proper fabric to make men’s clothes.

But I digress…

So this RTW dress was so transparent that it came with an elasticated waist slip. A slip which, of course, did nothing at all about the fact that the bodice was still totally see-through. Or that, on days when I want to wear a crisp white linen dress, it’s probably hot enough that I don’t really want the elastic waist of the slip digging into my squishy bits. Oh and the arms were borderline too tight on me.

In sum, it was the kind of total RTW disappointment which makes me wonder why I ever thought turning back to RTW for a garment would be a good idea.

But, I’m ashamed to say that I was so fixated on the idea of a white linen dress that I thought “but, maybe I’ll still wear it…”.

I know, I’m sorry. We all have bad days.

So I didn’t return the dress and it has hung in my closet unworn!

#alteritaugust light bulb moment

I tried it on and had a revelation.

The bodice of the hubby’s garment and the skirt from my unloved and unworn RTW shame would make my perfect crisp white sunny day shirt dress.

#alteritaugust, we have lift off!

Once the plan was in place, it was all simple smooth sailing.

How to…

OK, this part is pretty no-brainer level simple.

I cut each garment at the waist line. I cut off the elastic waistband of the slip and attached the slip directly to the skirt, to treat that as a single layer. I then gathered the skirt very slightly so that I could attach it easily to the waistband of the shirt.

I thought about adding darts to the bodice of the men’s shirt for a bit more shaping but I actually liked the vibe it had as an oversized garment. Further, I knew my vision for styling this would always include a belt.

For the record though, here is a crappy mirror selfie of it unbelted:

I removed the buttons from the shirt sleeve and the top button of the shirt so that I had enough buttons to use the original buttons from hubby’s garment all the way down the front of the skirt.

I then rolled up the sleeve into a cuff and gave it a few stitches in a couple of places to secure it at my perfect length and proportion. I didn’t want to actually cut the sleeve as I feel that the genuine look of a rolled up sleeve is more casual than a proper cuff.

And so, voila, a brand new surprise garment for my wardrobe!

The Awesomeness of Alterations

I couldn’t be happier with this sewing surprise.

The joy of altering or refashioning in this way is that all the difficult sewing is already done for you. Button holes done. Collar done. Annoying steps like hemming. So done!!

Oh and it already has plenty of built in pockets!!

It took longer coming up with the idea and playing with possibilities than to actually “sew” this dress! Still, this project has made it from idea to sewn, photographed and on the blog in two days – that’s a record time for me!!

Yes, it’s not perfect. For example, when you join a men’s shirt to the skirt of a women’s shirt dress, ummm, the buttons and buttonholes are on opposite sides!! But I don’t think it’s noticeable with the belt. And the bodice is cotton and the skirt is linen, but with the similar weights and identical color, this is definitely in the “doesn’t bother me at all” camp.

Plus, let’s remember the brief of #alteritaugust. It’s not to alter a garment to the point of perfection. But to alter it as needed (whether those changes are minor or huge) in order to bring it into rotation and make it wearable for you. These two garments, which were getting no wear at all, have now been brought back to life!

And I even got some real life complements on this dress’s very first wear so I’m feeling pretty #alteritaugustsmug right now!

So thanks for the inspiration, Mia!

The challenge now will be to remember this feeling. This feeling that, at the end, sometimes altering a garment feels just as rewarding as sewing a new one. Plus, the shiny new project irresistibly calling my name will likely be just as exciting and compelling a few evenings later!

Oh and, finally, a little P.S! If you like to get your blog hits through Bloglovin’, feel free to follow me over there: you can find me here. And you can find me on Instagram here.