Double it Up!

I started on an ambitious shirt mending project at the cuff.  The elbows of my favorite denim shirt had ripped yet again.  It would seem the fabric is getting so thin that it has been a challenge to mend.  The arms had suffered the worst, so the idea was to cut the sleeve out of a shirt I didn't wear as much and re-enforce the entire arm. 

Once I had completely matched and hand sewn the seams of both shirts together.  I used small single stitches up the seam of the arm and matched both shirts together that way.

With the arm secure, I worked on the big tear.  Watching CNN for a couple of hours, I stitched around the tear and then sewed the edges to the shirt underneath.  It was easier to stay calm listening to the words of our President while I was stitching the two pieces together.  There's a metaphor there, I'm sure...

Once I got going, I couldn't stop!  I was able to match up all of the seams well enough, that I was inspired to stitch both blouses together.  This gives me a double layered shirt, without having to fuss and tug to keep the collars aligned or get annoyed with the sleeves bunching up.  As I had more time, I completely stitched the side seams, leaving an inch at the bottom, and also stitched up the seams along the arms.  I finished with one line of stitching along the back yoke.

The denim shirt is from The Gap, and the striped shirt is Brook's Brothers.  They were not a complete match, but I was amazed at how much of their construction could be sewn together.  As the denim tears, I'll just sew it down to the striped shirt, and because both shirts have been laundered, I won't have to worry about shrinkage.

The result is not perfect or exact, but it gives me a way to hang on to the last threads of a favorite shirt.