Homemade Flannel Shirt

I always have trouble finding the colors, fabric and designs I want to wear...call me picky. Really it comes from when I was a kid and Mom and Dad couldn't afford to buy my Barbie dolls clothes. I had to start making them myself...either that or my dolls would have been naked and hanging around with Ken like that...I couldn't bear to hear what my brothers would have called Barbie...so I made clothes for them myself (without any patterns). I had to learn to crochet and sew from left over fabrics and yarn that Grandma didn't want to use.

I guess that's why I still do it today.

I wanted a flannel shirt for the holidays but all the ones I could find were cowboy'ish - not the look I was going for. So I walked up and down the aisles at the fabric store, just touching the bolts and feeling for that one special material. And when I found it - it wasn't on sale - but I only needed a little piece - if I made a tank top. So, that's what I did.

I just pulled out an old tank top and used it for my pattern.

There was only one problem - I forgot that flannel doesn't stretch. So after I sewed the tank top together, I realized I had to pull out my handy-dandy seam ripper and tear the seams out and insert some stretchy fabric.

It wasn't hard to do. All I had to do was cut two evenly sized pieces (to be the same on either side) and then I pinned them in place and started sewing.

I even had a little left over material to make a head band...yeah, I'm dorky like that.

So this holiday outfit cost me about $7.00 - not bad for an evening out.