Monday, March 26, 2012

Quick Fix: Button-Down Shirt

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So I've had this little button-down shirt in my closet for about a year, and even though it fits really nicely, I often wrinkle my nose and pass it over when I'm planning outfits because of these pesky little belt loops on the waist panel.

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They interrupt the continuity of the line to my eye, and on top of that, they're completely pointless: if I were to wear a belt with this blouse, it wouldn't be there.  I have a feeling it had a self-belt or black tie belt that came along with it that had been lost by the time it made it to the Goodwill where I bought it.

I also have a feeling that this is a super cheap blouse from K-Mart or the like.  But it's cute, and it fits, and it avoids the pitfalls of the usual button-down on a large-busted person like me: giant and yet still gapping in the bust, and huge through the waist.  Instead, it's trim-fitting and has lovely puff sleeves.  I got it for something like five bucks, so "almost perfect" is totally acceptable, especially when it's something I can fix so easily.

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So this morning, I grabbed my stitch-ripper and went to town.  I removed the loops by cutting through the stitching on top, being careful of the stripes - they are black thread, not printed, so I had to make sure I didn't cut any of them in the process of removing the belt loops.

When they were first removed, they left little pinprick holes where the stitches had been.  However, a firm scratching with my thumbnail took them from this:

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To this:

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I think that with a washing to set the fibers even more, you won't even be able to tell that they were there.

And the results?

Before

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After

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They're not dramatic, but sometimes the best tweaks aren't.  The shirt reads cleaner and less busy to me.  Up close it's a little more noticeable.

On the left, before; on the right, after.

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It took me about 15 minutes, and has taken the shirt from a closet dud to something I might actually wear.

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