Loud 80s Shirtdress Refashion

I have had this loud 80s dress for a while now, just sitting, waiting for me to do something with it. Of course... I could not just wear this alone. It is terrible! Especially the shoulder pads... ugh. How I hate shoulder pads!

You see what I am talking about...

Here it is on my dress form: 

Please pardon the mess in the background. I took that picture several weeks ago when it was still snowy outside. So many shoes in the entryway! 

Anyway, I hate some stuff about this dress, but I thought it had a lot of potential, especially since this skirt length is actually in style right now! 

I began by grabbing my seam ripper, intending to remove the sleeves. I realized when I went to remove them that there were some weird little flaps that go over the shoulders (making them even MORE pronounced... as if shoulder pads were not enough!). I ripped those apart too, and took off the sleeves. 

Clyde "helped".

Those flaps left quite a bit of fabric once they were undone (since they were just folds), so I had to cut some of it off before sewing it so that I would not be left looking like I was wearing one of those 80s cut off sweatshirts. 

I then cut off the collar...

And began the difficult task of folding the fabric over to create a finished edge. That part is always my least favorite, as this fabric (along with many others) is slippery and can bunch easily. I pinned, sewed, and added a belt.

What do you think?

I hope you like it! I think this will be great with some sky high wedges too.

A Special Mother's Day Upcycle

Hello everyone, I have not been so creative lately. Well, I guess I should say I haven't been super motivated. I have been so busy... both with work and with May being the month that everyone seemed to want to visit, it has been crazy!

As many of you know, my beloved grandfather passed away in December. I was incredibly close to him, and of course my mother was really close to him. I traveled down South to grab some of Grandad's clothes to use for various special refashions in the future, and I thought my mom would like to have something made from his clothes.

...So I made some cute throw pillows from some of my Grandad's old button-down shirts.

These are not the shirts I used, because I chose two others at the last minute. However, you get the idea. I used these two 16"x16" throw pillow inserts that I got from Michael's.

I laid the shirts out, cut the sleeves off, and then cut the top of the shirt off. After that, I turned the shirt inside out and laid the pillow on top. 

After that, I pinned the fabric together about an inch or so larger than the outline of the pillow. Then I sewed it down on all sides (normally you would leave an opening to turn the fabric right side in again, and stuff, but since the front of the shirt still opens with the use of the buttons, I could sew all of the sides down.). 

Afterward, I unbuttoned the buttons, turned the shirt right side in again, and stuffed the pillow insert inside. I buttoned it back up and voila! I was finished. These are a really cute, easy project. I think my mom will really love them. 

Are you DIYing Mother's Day presents? What are you making? I would love to hear about it!