You Win Some, You Lose Some - Long sleeve oxford shirt to short sleeve - Mini Tutorial

I love it when I have an idea that I think is just going to be brilliant, but it turns out a flop.  It keeps me humble (and my kids too, since they usually have to wear my flopped creation or otherwise participate in its use.) 

Silas has just moved up a size of clothing.  Every time I do that I am surprised how dirty and worn the clothes are. I'm sure they weren't like that when I put them in the bins two years ago...  Eli wore the same clothes in the summer, so I don't have a lot of pants, but I've acquired a few hand me downs and giveaways, and so Silas's drawers are stocked.  One pair of GAP jeans, oh so cute, had a big stain on the knee that I couldn't get out.  It looks like whoever wore it before knelt in tar.  I didn't want to waste a pair of precious jeans, and I certainly can't afford to buy new ones when I've got perfectly good old ones around (albeit a little stained), so I decided that I needed to make them work, tar stain or not.  Unfortunately, this was one project that wasn't so brilliant. I 'embroidered' right over the stain, thinking it would look artistic, but now it just looks like he knelt in red paint.  But somehow red paint seems more acceptable than tar, so he'll wear them anyway. 

Tar stain.

Strange red stain.

Whatever, he thinks it's cool, and I'm pretty sure that Winston agrees.

On the other hand, sometimes I make things work and I love it!  

I did manage to come up with a creative solution this week. My boys wear white shirts and ties to church every week.  I love dressing them up!  However, after a long winter, both boys have only long sleeved shirts.  Silas has the sweetest little short outfit that would look much better with a short sleeved shirt.  So, I took one of his shirts with rather stained cuffs and made it into what I wanted.  I love not having to spend money on fresh, new stuff for my boys! 

 Step 1: Use either a short sleeved button up shirt or a t-shirt as a pattern to determine where to cut the sleeves off. 

Step 2: Cut the sleeves about an inch and a half longer than you want them to be at the end, parallel to the present cuffs.

Step 3: Fold the arms under twice and press. 
Step 4: Sew in a straight line at 5/8" around the arm (this is a little tricky, as the arm is too narrow to go around the sewing machine, so make sure you only are sewing through one layer while you do this).
Step 5: Sew around again at 3/4".

And there you have it.  A great use of a shirt you've been using all winter, for the upcoming summer!  Of course I did this 30 minutes before I had to walk out of the door for church, so there was no time for good pictures, but I assure you he looked darling!