Thrifty, practical sewing

Do you sew practical clothes or this which are fun/challenging to make?

I think most of us do a bit of both. In fact, I'm spending way to much time thinking about what to make lately, which usually means I should just jump into a new project and not worry about its practicality. It's hardly like I won't have anything to wear if I don't sew a pair of black trousers right now...

Sometimes one has to be practical though. Especially if it actually requires fairly little effort. And resques a well-loved item of clothing.

Resques? Yes. Like many other people who sew, I usually prefer to make something new rather than mend. But that is a bit of a waste, so, once in a while I do it anyway.

This time it was this shirt. It's vintage, I don't really know how old. It's a simple thing and I bought it very cheaply but it's 100% silk which makes it really nice to wear. But, recently, it developed a tear in the fabric just under the left sleeve. I think the fabric had just become too thin there because the shirt was so wide on me that I doubt I even put stress on that area.

Because it was so wide to begin with, I could do this. However, I couldn't just take the thing in normally at the side seam because the tear went on for about 7 cm into the front piece.

So, I improvised and moved the side seam towards the front. So, I kept the full width at the back but cut off the entire damaged area (and the corresponding bit at the other side) at the front.

It hangs better on me than on the dummy and I think I like this look better (even though arm movement is a little more confined)

P.S. Several asked about the skirt shown in the blue cardigan post. Of course I made that too, it was over a year ago and I blogged about it here.