At first glance, beautiful is probably not the first thing that comes to ya'lls mind I bet.  I only picked this shirt off the Goodwill rack cuz I was like, What the hell is going on here? But when I looked closer a thing of beauty it quickly became...it was homemade!!  Someone made this shirt and wore it proudly. And proud they should be because they did a mighty fine job!  The inside was so neatly stitched and serged.  And just look at those gathers...perfection!

I examined the inside of this garment from head to toe for what felt like hours trying to find any imperfections to make me feel better about my own shoddy workmanship.  I could find none.  Lady, I'm impressed!  I know practice makes perfect and this person probably has years of experience on me (and a serger) but I hope to one day be proud of what my shirt looks like on the inside as well as the out.  

I really hated ripping this shirt apart but I'm sure whoever made it would be glad that I was trying to breathe new life into it.  I ended up making another Renfrew with it...a sleeveless Renfrew.  I had every intention of putting the sleeves back in and I tried and tried but they looked pretty ridiculous.  Because they were originally gathered sleeves they just didn't look right with the style of the Renfrew and I was too lazy to start from scratch.  After chucking the sleeves across the room I finished the armholes with bias tape. 

Any ideas on how old you think this shirt is?  The fabric reminds me of something my Granny would of wore in the 80's.  It's really a soft, cozy fabric and I will probably use this as a lounge/sleep shirt.  I really hope to find more handmade garments at the thrift shop.  It was fun remaking it and thinking about the person who made it.  What kind of person was she? How long had she been sewing?  Where did she wear this shirt?  Was she as proud of her workmanship as I was for her? Does she still sew her own clothes today?  I hope one day a piece from my homemade wardrobe will find it's way into the hands of a young girl and she will look at it as I did this piece and be inspired.