I made sleeves!

I'll just start by telling you I'm really proud of this one.

It began as this dress which I bought at a thrift store for $0.99

It actually fit me perfectly but it wasn't my style.  What drew me to the dress was the adorable print.  You can't really see in the picture but it has cute little flowers.  I'm a sucker for a floral print.

For a long time I wasn't sure what to do with the dress.  Then I came across this blog post at Cotton and Curls.  I've been following this blog for a while and this lady is brilliant!  I was totally inspired by her post because our dressed looked so similar.  I decided the dress needed to become a top!

So the first thing I did was cut the dress in half.

I cut it just under the seam that connected the skirt and the bodice.  Then I cut the skirt into the shape of a sleeveless top.

I created a seam to connect the front and back of each strap and I removed the zipper from the back and sewed that part together.  After that I had to start getting creative.  I didn't want my top to look exactly like the Cotton and Curls lady so I pulled another skirt out of the closet.  Can you guess that I did with this?

I cut strips out of the dress to make sleeves.  

Hey kids, can you spot the puppy paws in this picture?

This is where I was so proud of myself.  I've never made sleeves before.  I wasn't quite sure what I was doing but decided the top needed ruffly, yellow sleeves.  So I pinned them and sewed them and they came out beautifully!

I finished the neckline just by sewing along the edge to prevent fraying.

I am pleased.  I wore the shirt to work and showed everybody who I thought would care...and maybe a few people who wouldn't :)