daddy's girl

The sight of a pile of 'reject' City shirts was almost too much to bear. You see once upon a time these would have been stripped of their buttons and then shamelessly given to the charity shop or, more likely (given their threadbare condition), used for cleaning purposes or even thrown in the wheelie bin. Oh perish the thought!

Their only sin, a tatty collar beyond sensible repair, where they'd been worn away by a be-tied neck.

Nowadays though, they're regarded as a heavenly pile of boundless opportunity. A pile in waiting for something utterly creative. A reincarnation.

Upcycling! That's what they say across the Pond.

Obviously the collar was the first to go, after all that was the reason they were bequeathed in the first place. I then took an existing dress as my guide and pencil drew the neck and armhole shape, borrowing the pattern for the sleeves from one of my Japanese pattern books and tweaking it to fit. I left the side seams as they were and the front, complete with buttons, remained as part of the garment too.

And just like taking over an old period house I, too, wanted to retain yet more original features. So the company trademark inchie of pink at the sides gained a stay of abstinence and the label was preserved and reinstated too.

A length of narrow elastic tape in the neck to pull it all together, et voila. And Daddy's verdict? Very, very sweet.

Do you know what I think? Daddy is absolutely chuffed to bits!

So perhaps there is some mileage in the old adage ... charity begins at home! And, in any case, there are a whole heap more where that came from ...