Friday, March 20, 2009

Polo Player

All right, if I keep waiting for sunny days and good photos, I'm never going to get anything posted! How do some bloggers have perfect photos all the time?

Before: A men's medium polo, embroidered with advertising for Estrella Mountain Ranch.
After: A basic shell in a women's size medium.

I bought this polo at the thrift shop because I was intrigued by the fabric, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I'm generally not a fan of resizing polos, because you can't really resize the placket and collar, and, to my eye, they end up looking out of scale. Also, because this was such a lovely, silky fabric, I wanted to make something more refined. (Not to sound like I created a masterpiece or anything--I just mean the style is simpler.)

I had a root around in the pattern drawer and came up with Simplicity 4503, which is apparently out of print. No problem, I'll take a pic...be right back.


I bought this pattern for view F, the bag! I guess you just never know. Now that I'm giving it a second look, I might want to try that skirt too.

Anyway, the first thing I did was get the pocket out of the way. Pick, pick, pick with the seam ripper.


I know these manufacturers have to make sturdy garments and all, but geez oh whiz, that pocket was hard to get off! Dudes, ease up a little!


There are only two pattern pieces (front and back) and they fit nicely on the shirt, thank goodness! I don't usually try to do this with anything smaller than an extra large, so I was a little concerned!

The sewing was very straightforward, which was a blessing, because I have little experience sewing on knits. This wasn't a very stretchy knit, which also helped. To finish it off, I used one of the buttons from the original shirt, and made a loop from a little scrap of fabric that I just tugged on to make it curl up in a tube.

Don't forget to make yourself a thread shank for something like this! They suggest you use a pin or a toothpick...I went a little nuts and used a handy knitting needle.

Now, you might remember that I am not a sleeveless shirt fan, but in the interests of full disclosure, I am posting a picture of myself bravely showing my arms and wishing they looked more like Michelle Obama's.


In reality, this is how I'll wear it:

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, it looks great. I love to take mens shirts and turn thim into little dresses for my daughter. You have nothing to worry about with your arms. you should see mine. If I had yours i would never wear sleeves

Su said...

Wow, lovely! It was hard to tell when you had the sweater on, so I'm glad you posted the sleeveless photo.

Christy said...

so cute! I wasn't sure about the fabric in the first picture, but it looks great in the last picture.

Katie said...

I love how you did this -- I need to get my hands on this pattern -- your refashion looks great!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic workmanship as usual. Did you use a special stitch for the knit? I sometimes use a very shallow zigzag in the hope that it will give a bit more than straight stitch but I'm not sure it does anything.
It's also very becoming.

Raesha D said...

Very nice! It turned out great:)

Anonymous said...

Too bad it's out of print! The top is a lovely, classic shape, and looks very nice in that fabric. This is for sure on my list of things I would like to make.