I love the idea of clothing swaps. I just don’t love it in practise. The clothes are beautiful but somewhat ill-fitting so they lie dormant in the bottom of your cupboard.
One such item is this pure silk top from Trenery that I picked up at Greenpop clothing swap last year. Or maybe the year before. I think I’ve worn it once. The print is great but the cut is a little dowdy, it’s rather billowy. Add to that a squiggly neckline that sits proud, and you have a recipe for a wardrobe dud.
But… how to fix it?
Taking advantage of the diagonal semi-raglan line from neckline to underarm, I decided to turn the top into a sleeveless version of itself. Away with the fussy sleeves! Once I started unpicking, I realised that all inside seams were bound. With some careful deconstruction work, I managed to salvage most of the bias binding to reuse as straps.
I reattached the binding to both bottom armscye edges, before creating a circular neckline edge.
A very lucky find, all that binding inside the top. Take a peek into your clothing, you might be surprised what you can repurpose!