WIWW: Blouse refashion & printed denim

This weekend I went back to my fashion college roots and refashioned an old shirt that I've had hanging in my closet forever.  As I chopped off the sleeves, I had visions of creating patterns for paper bag pants and showing off with my straight seams in sewing class (yeah, I was that student). It's been a long time since I used my sewing machine to fix up my clothing; I generally hate hemming, mending, and sewing clothes. But I have had this H&M shirt for a couple of years now, and I was getting really bored with it so I decided it was time for a change.

The loose silhouette of this blouse made it kind of shapeless and the 3/4 length sleeves hit me right at the elbow - which not only looked weird, it was also uncomfortable when I tried to bend my arms. I decided short sleeves were definitely in order.

After I chopped the sleeves off, I used my knit serger stitch on my machine to finish the edges of the sleeves. This was awesome because it took me about 90 seconds and I didn't have to do any hems – whoopee!

I also decided to sew three rows of elastic threading onto the lower back to gather it and hopefully give it a little more shape. That was the first time I had ever sew with elastic thread... it was kind of a pain, but luckily the seams I had to rip didn't leave holes in my shirt (yes, that happened twice).

I paired my new top with some printed jeans from Target. I've been seeing these all over the place and several of my favorite lady fashion bloggers were sporting them; so when they went on sale for $20 a couple weeks ago, I finally snagged a pair. I think I love them. Yup, I definitely love them.

Blouse: H&M | Lace tank: H&M | Jeans: Target | Sandals: Madden Girl