Deborah Devine

My sleepy granddaughter graciously modeled the men’s shirt, that I would be using to create my upcycled garment, so I could sew late into the night.  While planning this upcycled romper with button-on gathered skirt, my creative juices started flowing and I just had to begin sewing! All of my ideas came together when I challenged myself to use the original tailored finishes of the cuff and button placket from Grandpa’s shirt, as highlighted design elements on the romper… just like Candice suggested in her post about upcycling.  The romper features the upcycled solid blue shirting fabric and two new prints… a polka-dot and a cleverly hidden chartreuse frog in a very traditional pattern. I love how the prints add shades of lavender/blues, and chartreuse to compliment the solid, light blue men’s shirting fabric.  Some of the shirt details woven into the design of the romper include: cuff topped pockets, the button side of the button placket both decorates the waistline of the romper when worn without the skirt AND it serves as a way to attach the wrap-around skirt, and the button part of the placket acts as both a waistband on the skirt AND it serves as a way to quickly button on the skirt to the romper. Since I had a limited supply of shirt material, I cut four inch squares of the solid and prints and pieced them together to create the fabric for the skirt.

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