Last year I bought a shirt pattern. It is one of those puffy shapeless blouses like a skinny Japanese girl would wear well. Destined to fail, but I dream. So the first one was so large and fat on me that I sewed in the side seams at least an inch each, and it was OK but not great. But I thought it had promise (because it's a very quick shirt to make, no buttons or collar, and I like pull-over-the-head shirts that aren't t shirts, so I had good reasons for buying the pattern in the first place.). Anyway, I made another one.
For fabric for the second shirt I used a dress I made when I was homeschooled which was oversized (because I was very body conscious in my teens and wanted to hide everything) and too homeschooly even for me. I was keeping it for when I get married and pregnant. But there is no immediate prospect of that and I would probably want to wear something less Amish anyway, so I washed it to get rid of the mildew and used the voluminous chambray skirt to make a nice shirt. Recycling! What a good Girl Of Slender Means I am!
I managed the right size perfectly, but it looked all wrong at the back because the gathers were now puffy at the top and pulled flat at the bottom. Hard to explain, but it looked like I had boobs on my back. If I was going for a more fitted shape, I didn't need gathers on the back anymore. So after 9 months I unpicked the back, undid the gather, recut the armholes and fit the whole thing back together and resewed it. Now it looks really good, and I've marked the pattern to update it, so I'm ready to make another one very easily, if I find another funky fabric.
I've also just rescued the fabric from the first shirt and resewed it, so that it is more wearable, because the fabric I used there is a good japanese design. I'll put photos up of that too.
I get good value out of sewing, because of all the recycling and refitting and resewing I do.
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