A Step-by-Step Guide to Refashioning a Ruffle Top Shirt from a Vest

Salvation Army had its annual 50% off day and that’s the perfect day to pick up some great finds for your refashion collection! But I find that most people don’t head to the new section — anything with a tag still on it is marked up about 40% more than the used stuff. At 50% off, though, it makes it worth it. This vest is one of the things I found and today, I’m going to remake it into something better.

Refashion a Vest Into a Feminine Ruffle Shirt

I love vests but a recent fashion trend (which I STILL don’t get!!!) is not to put buttons on the vest. Um, hello, cheap manufacturing?!?! My kids tell me “get over it” all the time, but it still bugs me. What if I want to close up the vest and wear it over a shirt, like, um, a vest is SUPPOSED to do? My solution to this vest, however, was to close it up permanently. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it the moment I saw it.

I don’t know if you can see the seam in this picture. It is part of the front panels. I am going to use these as a guide.

Here’s a better picture.

I tried on the vest, and put a blue mark on the inside where I wanted the shirt to start, e.g. the neckline. This will make a sexy “V” neck ruffle shirt. Sorry about my head shadow. 🙂

Starting at the blue mark, it’s time to sew the two panels together. This picture is actually flipped wrong, but I took it to show you. You will need to sew it right-side out. In other words, the panels need to protrude out to the front (don’t sew inside out, sew right side out). However, you need to sew along the front panel seams. I backstitched the first and the last stitch. As you can see, I hand stitched it, to give me better control.

Now, take the thread and push up the panels to create ruffles. And Voila! This is how it turned out.

I love my new top!! 🙂