Sewing challenges…I usually fail miserably at participating because I have a squirrel’s attention span when it comes to creating. But the Flashback Sewing Challenge from Faith St Jules and WinMichele was so fun, I just had to squeeze in a look and stay focused long enough to meet the deadline. So…on the final day of the challenge I present my 70’s DIY Look.
When it comes to 70’s fashion I always think of bell bottoms and cute little tops. While I know there are so many different looks included throughout the decade, I certainly would have been the same jean loving girl back then as I am today, so that’s the look I went after. I show you below how I would style this same top and jeans for today’s fashion. I also wrote an entire pattern review for the jeans, which are some of my most favorite pants ever! If you haven’t snagged this pattern, it is so much fun!
I have worn these bell bottom jeans a ton and knew they would be a great match for the 70’s top I was creating. Little did I know this top would provide me with so many fun little sewing challenges!
Things you should know about the top:
-You can wear this braless —whoop whoop (making it even more 70’s fab)
-This is refashioned from a men’s shirt so I had to work around the pattern a bit
-The ruffles are super cute and fun, but the pattern has you do some weird things that I wasn’t down with, so I made a lot of tweaks along the way I will explain below.
-And…I am obsessed with all things ruffles, so plan on seeing even more. My Sienna Shift Dress is still one of my favorite makes because of those flouncy ruffles!
**This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through the link a portion of the sales will be credited to me at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.**
Shown here with these super stretchy, soft and fun colored jeans from Amazon. I bought 4 colors to try and I love the darker ones (the lighter ones show a little too many lumps and bumps). But these are actually very nice which I was surprised at for the price. And these wedges…a huge thank you who donated these shoes to the thrift store. They are the softest leather and most comfortable shoe I have ever worn!!! Thank you for feeling like you needed to pass these on to my world.
Men’s Shirt Refashion Tips
- Find the largest size available for refashioning as this provides you with the most fabric for the new project. This is a Men’s XL long sleeve top and I barely squeezed out this top.
- Look for patterns that don’t have too many pieces that have to be cut on the fold, and will allow you to utilize seams that are already in the shirt if possible.
- For extra long pattern pieces that will not fit on to the clothing, cut the piece out in as many smaller sections as needed and sew together. This will create seams throughout that piece, so try to hide them when possible. For example, my ruffle is about 6 smaller sections sewn together rather than one piece. While this creates a ton of seams, they are hidden well within the ruffle.
- For some videos of the process, please see my instagram story highlights. For pattern modifications, please see below.
The original pattern is from the 1970’s McCalls Collection:
I decided to make the top, view C, with the the added ruffle. In order to make it work I had to cut the facing out of another fabric. I used a cotton white fabric for the facing. I had to use almost the entire top when cutting out my pieces. I removed buttons, unpicked plackets and pockets and worked hard to hide these “flaws” within seams of the pattern or the ruffle. Although I thought this top would be a quick and easy project, it proved to be a bit more challenging.
The easy changes I made were using an invisible zipper instead of a standard one, and taking a smaller seam allowance through the center front seam and side seams from the underbust to the hip. The pattern I had thrifted was my bust size but way too small for my hips and waist. I was able to make it fit comfortably with the smaller seam allowance. The issues arose when I attached the v neck piece. My center point of the V was originally about 1.5 inches longer and just didn’t look right. It also wasn’t how the pattern portrayed it, so I shortened the front area of the V. This took forever since I had stitched on the ruffle, including topstitch and serging! After working out that issue, I decided to change how the straps were attached. The pattern calls for adding trouser hooks and clipping them on the inside, but I just wasn’t crazy about that idea. I wanted a cleaner finish, and decided to open up the back facing from the back bodice to slide the straps. I thought this was brilllant until…
I realized that would mean crossing the straps would not work. Getting the top on and off would be too difficult (those silly trouser hooks made more sense now…LOL). So, I decided to keep the straps straight and attach them through the facing/back bodice opening. This proved to be a tad challenging and luckily my mom was here to help me. She wrestled the straps until the fit was right. Then the back straps stuck out funny, so I moved them closer to the center back and angled them slightly to help them sit better. I also had to take in the side underarm seam to give a more secure fit since I was not going to wear a bra with this. Finally a bazillion hand stitches later and adding topstitching to the v-neck area, the top was finished.
I hope you enjoyed this look and I plan on bringing you several more refashioning projects soon. Until next time,
Happy Sewing
About 18 years ago I decided to teach myself how to sew. Long before blogs and resources available today which meant it was often disastrous. But I never gave up because I loved it so much. Today I love helping others get started on their own sewing journey. You can read more about my family and I