Altered: Sleeveless Bias Tape Top

I picked a blouse to do my first alteration from the mountain of clothing I got at the last estate sale I went to. I chose this white blouse that I had no desire to wear as-is; it was too large on me and had a slouchy high neck that I didn’t like. Since I wasn’t attached to this blouse (in any way) and had bought it for 50 cents, I didn’t feel bad cutting it up (because usually a part of me will worry that I’ll “ruin” a garment in some way if I try to alter it).

When I looked at this blouse I saw some potential. I liked the lapped front that covered the buttons. I also thought that the polyester material it was made from wasn’t bad. I thought about different altering possibilities and decided to use black satin bias tape (that I’d made a lot of some time ago) to finish my edges.

So first I cut off the sleeves and took out the shoulder pads. Then I cut around the neckline, along the base of the high neck neckline. I cut the sides open and sewed them in and then I finished all my edges with my bias tape. It wasn’t hard (although it did take me longer than I anticipated). But I think the result is pretty good. It’s a very simple black and white top that will work well with a lot of my skirts.