How to Alter Shirts

Dear Theresa,
It was fun seeing you, if only for a little bit this weekend. You weren't around to see all the doings (but thanks for giving feedback about our test recipes), especially our craft-fest on Saturday. Getting together like-minded friends to craft together makes projects finish themselves: in my case, sewing up a 40s dress and altering this shirt.

It started out as a classic boxy blouse bought at Geoffrey Bean 10 years ago. Obviously, it seriously lacked style, but was good enough for office work. When I ripped one of the sleeves, I decided to turn it into a short-sleeved version, slenderize it by adding darts, and spruce it up with some decorations.

I've been asked countless times how to alter a shirt, usually by making it more fitted. The process really is quite simple. I like to start with a shirt I already own that is well-fitted as an example.1. Turn your example shirt inside out and examine the darts. How long are they and where are they placed?
2. Turn you shirt to be altered inside out and replicate the darts on the example shirt. Pin the darts instead of sewing them.
3. Now, try the shirt on (still inside out). See where the darts need to be let out, or taken in. It helps to have a friend at hand to make sure everything's even (and adjust the darts back).
4. With your darts all set, sew them in place with a sewing machine (or by hand if you prefer). That's pretty much it for making a shirt form-fitted.
5. For this shirt, I saw a cute blouse at Anthropologie with pinwheels sewn on the front. With the leftover ripped sleeves (which I saved of course), I quickly made some and tacked them on.