DIY Christmas in July

Remember the green tank top with the red stripe that was too short for me to wear as-is?

Well, after months of careful crafting and at least a few weeks of reposing in my closet, it finally had its time to shine today!

But before I share the whole outfit photos, let's take a look at how I converted it from not-quite crop top to something of a more wearable everyday length!

It was really simple (so simple that I got carried away and forgot to take a before photo, but I think you can guess how it looked before by looking at the after!), but basically, since it started with a red stripe down the side, and since I happened to have red T-shirt fabric (from a refashion that I'll share later—promise!), it was logical to simply use more red to give the shirt a little length.

I laid the skirt on top of the red fabric (two layers of it) and marked a line that would continue the side seam of the shirt.

Then I stitched the two layers together down the line.

I used a glue stick to temporarily hold the green layer to the red while I worked. I thought this would be easier and more consistent than sewing over pins. In the end, I don't think it was.

Then, working as close to the original bottom hem as I could, I stitched the red fabric to the green.

I tried it on, but it needed a little something more. I had neglected to consider the way the red band made the original hem slightly uneven, which didn't jive well with the very straight-edged red adddition.

 The fix for that was pretty simple; I just loosely ran some thread down the length of the red layer at the point where the red strip attached...

Then I used the thread to gather the red up. Later, because these two simple strips of thread broke easily, I sewed the bunched area down with several rows of stitches.

To fix the uncannily straight side seams, I tried a lot of things involving re-sewing the seams, but ultimately none of them worked. I finally just snipped up the side seams so that they had a little breathing room.

The finished product!

I wore the finished product today to a friend's birthday party at the park, where a lot of gallivanting on playground equipment ensued.

Naturally, I had to have my headband match my shirt, so I made one out of the remaining T-shirt fabric, and then tried out a brand new pair of navy blue boat shoes, which I was pleased to learn really pulled the whole outfit together, since they reflected the color of the jean shorts.

No, no, I take that back. What actually pulled the whole outfit together – for real this time! – was the green oversized cat-eye sunglasses, which happen both to be new and to complement the green shirt! Who could ask for anything more? I dare say this Christmas-colored outfit was a present from myself to myself. What good taste I have!