Wild Kat's Semi homemade clothes

This project is inspired by so many things. First, I have been wanting to make a dress from a shirt ever since I saw a post on Lovely Little Things, next I saw an article about a woman who bought an item a week for about a dollar from the thrift store and made it into a dress, and the rainbow of shirts I see every time I go to the local Goodwill. I don't necessarily need to make it, since I don't have a daughter, but I gave in last time I visited Goodwill.
I saw this shirt.

A steal for only $5.99!

I love the combination of cream and black, and it has some silver mettalic pinstripes. There is cute ribbon detail at the back.

Lining up a pattern I had already.

I had originally planned to do a placket of ruffles on the front, and then it occurs to me that maybe I can do some pom pom trim too (I am just drawn to them, the fuzzy, colorful, spheres). However when I got the shirt out, I figured I would be less work to use the finished hems that were already there. I decided to keep the lower ribbon trim on the back for the front since it had a snap. So what to do with the cute lttle black pom pom trim I purchased? I decided to insert them in what was the back center seam and now will be the front.

My friend, the seam ripper, at work.

I used two lengths of trim and alternated pom poms.

A row of soft pom poms to play with.

Next I stitched the shoulder seams together, then side seams. Now for the sleeves, I was planning on just making a little ruffle on top but I think the current finished sleeves will work out great.

I used a pattern for a sleeve as a guide.

Next I basted the top of the sleeve and gathered it.

After attatching the sleeve, I finished the front neckline.

One side done, one to go!

Looking pretty cute! Now to finish the hemline, I will have enough material left to make a ruffle so I cut the sleeves in half,

and trimmed the ends and sewed them together, end to end to form a circle.

I then basted two rows of stitching , gathered it to fit the hemline and attached it! Ta da, total cuteness!

I made a headband hairpiece out of the leftover snippets, this was a very fun project. I apologize for no model, if I can find one I will be sure to post pics. Planning is great but sometimes you have to just go for it and trust your creativity to guide you. Happy sewing!