He likes it when I wear his clothes - A Smock

 Recently, Tiffany shared a blog (stitchandboots.com) with me she thought I'd enjoy.  And I do.  Sewing ideas, recipes, gardening inspiration ... Lots of fun stuff.  And most relevant to THIS post, a tutorial on how to make a Mushroom Smock.

Husband likes to wear his clothes until they literally fall apart.  And when a dress shirt falls apart he gives it to me to add to my fabric stash.  He has this grand idea that when he's dead (or donates enough shirts to the cause) I will make quilts for the kids out of his dress shirts.  It's a fabulous idea, but right now I only have 5 shirts to work with (well, 4 now that I've made this smock!) so it's a future future project.  I didn't mind taking one from the stash.  Plus, he likes it when I wear his clothes.

So I decided to pick out my favorite shirt and make it into a smock, thanks to the easy to follow tutorial.  And it was super easy (esp since I opted not to make the mushroom or any other applique on the pocket).  A few cuts and sew on some binding.  easy peasy.

First I cut the sleeves off RIGHT at the seams.  It leaves a nice big arm holes.  Which is nice for ventilation but also means I have to at least wear a tank top under the smock if I leave the house in it ... And yes, I've left the house in it!

Next, it was recommended I use a dress form or a willing model to cut the neckline.  Well, I have neither.
So ...

I picked a shirt that I LOVE the neckline on and traced the front and back neckline as best I could with washable marker. Then cut carefully and evened it up the best I could.

Next, I put binding around the raw edges of the neck and arms.  I used a light blue fabric of Nanny's that most closely matched the shirt and used RED thread for a little pop of color.

I was going to skip the pocket all together, but after I wore the smock around for awhile, I noticed I kept reaching for imaginary pockets ... so the next day I added one.

My model and I.  She wanted to BE in the picture instead of TAKE the picture so I had to resort to the tripod and timer.

I added this on the opposite side of the pocket.  Since it was his shirt and now it's mine.  And I love him and all. I need to work on spacing and lining up my letters better, but as a first attempt, not horrendous.

Some of the fancy stitch I did on the pocket so distract from the fact that I opted out of a cute applique.

It's fun and comfortable and easy to make.  success.  Thanks, StitchAndBoots!