Remembering Grandaddy- upcycling a Man's dress shirt.

This post is going to be full of the usual me, but with that is going to be a ton of emotion. Grandaddy died last October, This has by far been one of the worst deaths I have had to deal with, not because I loved him more than any of my other family members that have passed but because I am so much older now, I have kids that are too young to remember who Grandaddy was. Walker will and Avery might, but Gavin will have to be constantly reminded (I don't mind doing that, but man, they have missed out on some awesome greatness) Anyway. When Grandaddy died, I got a hanker-cheif which I carry with me everywhere, at first it smelled like him After awhile the smell dissipated and I was left with just the memories. And I have a shirt of his. When I got the shirt I shoved it in the closet and thought, what am I going to do with it? Grandaddy was TALL I could never wear the shirt...or could I? I can, but in a whole new way.

I grabbed the shirt down yesterday, looking it over thinking, brainstorming. Finally I remembered a skirt I had seen this past spring. I picked up the shirt and just in-case I smelled it, it smelled like him, I don't know if my mom or my sister or one of my cousins sprayed it, but just under the neck on the shoulder it smells like Grandaddy. Normally that piece would be scrap but It is in a plastic bag in my Jewelry box, sure time will take that smell too, but for now, it is mine and I am keeping it. Did you know that smell is one of the biggest links to memory?

Anyway onto the DIY upcycle.

This would work best in a solid color, My shirt has memories attached so that is why I chose it.

Now the one I saw this past spring used the arms as a belt, which would be fine if my skirt wasn't already so busy with stripes.  SO although I will add the belt loops I most likely will use the sleeve belt on something else.
yes, this is a picture of me standing on the tub from the mirror, I am sorry.

First you need to lay your shirt out and cut off the 

sleeves.

Now sew together your sleeve holes

Then you need to fold it and make casing for your elastic:

Put a saftey pin on the end of your elastic and feed it through the casing. Your waist -1" is how much elastic you need, I will spare you my numbers.

Once your elastic is through sew it together and finish off closing the casing

I ended up with this little triangle piece that once the skirt was finished it kept sticking out like a pocket (or wide hips) I ended up sewing a straight line down and trimming that triangle off.

Four pieces for your belt loops, fold both sides to the center, iron then sew. 4 is sufficient. Then attach to your skirt.

And there you have it, a new, neat, unique skirt. 

you can change the buttons to pearls or add a lace edge I think instead of using the sleeves as a belt I may just make rolled flowers from the fabric and have a matching headband... I will keep you posted.