New Blouse from the Rag Bag!

By The Pleasant Times Sewing Editor, Miss Thread
I was inspired by a post on Cultivating Home to try renovating a stained dress shirt. I used a small boy's shirt from the rag bag, the buttons already off, and tried my hand at turning it into a little girl's blouse. There was nothing to lose, because if I messed it up I could just throw it back in the rag bag:)

Since it is a blouse for a little girl, it did not need any shaping, just some bringing in extra fullness with some box pleats. The grand thing about the two pleats on the front is that they hid the stain! I left the neckline sort of high and it is just right with the little ruffle! I used pink thread, even finishing the edges of the neck ruffle in a pink zig-zag stitch, and put on new buttons.

Here's the back, with one big pleat to bring in fullness.

I really, really like the finished result! Sometimes, when I am finished constructing a garment, I am too tired to "embellish" my sewing with the fun details. And since I did not have to construct the blouse (no setting in sleeves or sewing in facings or marking buttonholes!) I had time for the extra decorative stitching. The coordinating skirt material came from the scrap stack and was super easy to make. A girl's outfit in an evening!