Stephanie brought me this tunic from Qatar. It's a silky fabric, fashioned like a caftan but short for wearing with pants. It fit when she first gave it to me, but let's just say it must have shrunk in the wash... so it hung in the closet, unworn.
Meanwhile, my sister Kathy sent me a hand knitted sweater that she made. It's a shrug type sweater in a salmon color.
I realized that I could refashion the tunic top to work with the new sweater. It's hard to tell in this pic, but the side seams are actually about 2.5 inches in from the brown border, so I knew there was enough fabric to let it out. I decided to make it into a camisole.
I used a camisole view from a sleepwear pattern. The tunic had a border of brown on all sides including the hem. I wanted to keep the hem as it was. I took apart the tunic at the seams and laid out the front and back pattern pieces on the tunic front and back, making sure the bottom of the pattern piece lined up with the finished hem on both pieces.
It was very simple to sew up this camisole, but when I tried it on, it was huge! I'd already sewed on the facings by this point, as well as the straps, so I wasn't turning back now. (Yes, I know I should have tried it on sooner) I stitched in some shirring with elastic thread on the front and back. That did the trick. It fits well and is very comfortable.
Sorry for the poor photos, they really don't do justice to the beautiful sweater my sister made, or the really pretty silky fabric of my "new" camisole.
I like this idea of recycling things I own into something new. Next upcycle project will be a corduroy jumper for Journey from a skirt I haven't worn since, well at least four sizes ago.
I HATE it when things just shrink like that! The camisole looks beautiful with the shrug. Hope you wear them. Your bedroom is gorgeous, like a magazine! Very nicely done. Kathy
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