Besides being a good title for a short story, today’s post is all about re-purposing and recycling. I got some nice blue and green and purple shirting fabric a year ago and tried to make a long-sleeved muumuu for fall, which just turned out to be a bad idea all around. And also too big.

All that good Italian shirting got put into the Fail Bin for a year, but I was sorting things to give to the thrift store last weekend and I just couldn’t bring myself to toss it. So I pulled out the trusty top/dress pattern I’ve made a few times

and I thought, “If I cut off the yoke and the sleeves, I’ll have enough fabric in the body of this enormous muumuu to make a top that I’ll actually wear.” And that’s what I did.


You can see I cut the yoke all in one straight piece instead of the diamond inset, and the sleeves had to be cut crosswise, but I did have enough fabric (it was a big muumuu). And now I have a cute top.

Yet another example of how muumuus, even when rejected, are a delightful garment.