It’s always good to fix or reuse whatcha got already, instead of always going for new, shiny stuff. This is especially true with clothing, which actually takes up a big percentage of our waste these days.

I avoid using the dryer as much as possible to extend the life of my boardshorts and swim gear (just look in the lint trap to see all the fibers you lose every time with your clothes). I’ve started to discover recently that it’s worth reusing and resewing some of my surf gear because the prices have become crazy for material and for the finished garments themselves.

Remember in my last blog post when I used a too small rashguard for a project? Here’s what I did with the rest of it.

This is what the original too-small rashguard looked like:

After my last project, I was left with a sleeveless top with a collar that I removed with the seam attached:

Next, I wanted to trim the length of the top so the finished garment ended up around my ribs (with a 2″ elastic band). I don’t need it riding up on me, and I’m not going for skimpy. I cut across about 4″ down from the armpit:

I also wanted to make the neck a bit shallower and matching front and back, so I used a French Curve to make a slight scoop:

At this point, you may want to line the front of the top with some of the extra rashguard material, especially if you are using a lighter colored rashguard, or if the material is really thin. I didn’t bother lining this one.

Next, I cut the collar into halves. This creates a little tunnel I can feed cord through, and the seam keeps it shut.

I pinned each of these halves onto the front and back of the neck, and serged them on.

So next, I measured out some 2″ soft waistband elastic. The rule of thumb for elastic is, take your measurement (an inch or two below my bustline for this), then subtract 10%. However, since I’ll be surfing in this, I’m going to take 15%, just because saltwater breaks down elastic quickly. Boo.

I serged the ends of the elastic into a loop, pinned the band onto the bottom, and strrrrrretched the elastic as I serged it to the bottom of the top.

To make the loop strap around the shoulder, I cut a 2″ strip from the leftover rashguard material. I pulled the strip taut to make it curl onto itself to make a cord so I could feed it through the channels at the neckline:

I sewed the cord loop closed when I got the length where I wanted it. Remember that it will stretch a bit over time. I like the long length, since I wipeout a lot, adjusting my top is a PITA.

Here it is, front and back. This dress form is a little small, but you get the idea:

No, I’m not going to model it personally and post photos. I’m a modest Southern lady that enjoyed fried foods for some years now, unlike my healthy quinoa friends.

Don’t judge me.

My Favorite Disney Princess….