RE-Cycling a Patriotic Top: A Creative Makeover

Up-Cycling with Love and Memories

Just like I up-cycle clothing into new garments, I figured I'd RE-cycle this blog post as well. As a patriotic American, I have cherished owning garments in our country's colors of red, white, and blue for years. My first (and only so far) real patriotic garment has been the red top you see in the second picture below. This was one of the last fabrics and garments I had from my retail storefront, Londa's Sewing Etc., which operated from 1990 to 2003 in Champaign, IL.

I loved this fabric, a cotton/lycra blend, because it 'hinted' at our American flag without being a direct replica. I've always felt that using actual American flag fabric can be somewhat disrespectful. So, when I spotted this fabric on a buying trip, I quickly added it to my order. Some quick math reveals that I have routinely worn this top on Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day for the last 18 years!

The Makeover Process

It was time for a makeover. I pulled the red shirt from my closet and dove into my 'Blue Stash Crate.' There, I found a plaid shirt that my late father wore often. I love how it still carries the essence of my dad within its threads. Below, you can see the result of my creative process, but first, let’s explore the steps involved in both design and construction.

Choosing the Right Design

I made a raglan-style, short-sleeved, cropped shirt from the pattern "Two for the Road" by Cutting Corners - Louise Cutting. The star buttons were set on the front in two groups of three, serving as decoration. I distinctly remember trying to make buttonholes for them, but I had no success. Instead, I used large transparent snaps to close the top.

Dad's shirt is a seersucker, all cotton, with some holes at the chest area because he wore it so often! I can still picture him in it vividly.

Gathering Materials

I always gather too many fabrics and materials when starting a project. Below is what I pulled to kick off this makeover.

The men's ties could have become piping, but I opted for the lighter-colored shirt you see on the right and used it for the collar instead. I keep in mind the 'Rule of 3' and almost always work with at least three elements. That lighter-colored shirt served as my needed third component.

Design Principles in Action

When deciding where to place different colors, I applied the design principle that dark colors recede while light colors advance and attract attention. That's why the dark shirt is at the bottom, and the lighter shirt is near my face in the collar.

Back Yoke Construction

Trying on my dad's shirt, it fit quite well, except for being loose in the arms and body. I decided to 'nip it in' using the red fabric on top.

One of my first ideas was to utilize the lower curved hem of the red shirt as the yoke for my new shirt. This worked out well! I added a strip folded as a 'flange' or cordless piping at the bottom of the red fabric.

To integrate the red fabric with the base shirt, I did some embroidery through both layers. At each star, I used the 'button sewing on stitch' to tack stitch. I also straight-stitched through the center of each white stripe. This approach worked beautifully.

Adding Shape to the Design

To create a more fitted silhouette, I looked for a part of the red shirt to use and came up with the curved shape from both sides of the center front.

Using a finished edge made this project quick and easy! To control the fullness of the blue shirt's body, I made a tuck in the center back by extending the box pleat of the body up at the yoke.

That wasn't quite enough 'nipping,' so I had to decide exactly where the band I was creating would land on the body.

In the picture below, you can see how much more attractive it is when I raised the band placement to a higher location, rather than dividing the body into two equal portions.

Here is the gathering row around the body at the established location. You can also see the box pleat extended from the yoke.

Front Closure Decisions

I decided that the front closure wouldn't actually 'close,' so buttoning wasn't necessary. Interestingly, I picked up a red tank top at Wal-Mart that morning for just $3.86! Although I had fabric in my stash, I chose to save time and just bought the red top to wear underneath. However, I will add some shirring along the sides of the top. I teach various shirring techniques in my Sensational Shirring pattern.

Look closely at the photo of the full front, and you can see that I cut the front bands off the blue shirt with a seam allowance on the innermost edge. I turned it under for a nice finish and topstitched them right on top. Even though the collar is shown in the photo above, I completed these center front edges before attaching the collar.

And here’s a back view all finished up...

Collar Details

I had seen a collar like this on a jacket worn by Kay Arthur during a Bible Precepts Study lecture, and I really liked it. So, I cut a large, double-layer rectangle from the lighter blue shirt, which was only about 2 inches longer than the V-neckline measurement I had determined and cut on the shirt at this point.

Since I knew that the seam of the collar to the jacket on the actual 'inside' would be seen more than the outer connecting point, I opted to set it on by placing the inside of the collar to the inside of the shirt. Then, I attached the outside of the collar down with hand-stitching after gathering it to fit. I used very small whip stitches for this task. It was a nice TV job!

A drawstring channel was created by stitching through the two layers of the collar, ending at holes in the front edges for where the red shirt cord would extend.

Sleeve Adjustments

At this point, all that was left was to bring in the hem circumference of the sleeves. I did that with a tuck and then used the sleeve plackets from the light blue shirt to embellish, along with two of the star buttons.

I'm loving my new 'shirt' type top! Whenever I wear it, I'll have fond memories of my dad and my 'old' USA shirt made new again!