Fabric find of the week!

I just found these used vintage 70s sheets yesterday in the newspaper recycling bin in my apartment building.  These will make great summer shirts.  After they're washed, of course.

All my early shirt projects were made with trashed vintage sheets, including the contest-winning flowered sheet in my blog header (that sheet was a prize find at the Salvation Army).

Making shirts out of potentially bed-bug infested vintage sheets is a great way to practice your skills, a lot more fun than working in muslin and a whole lot cheaper.  And if it turns out really nice, then you have a unique addition to your wardrobe, albeit one that someone slept on and Lord knows what else.

The operative word here is unique.

True pattern boldness!

Here are two more sheet shirts I made last summer.

In this one I combined two sheets: one for the torso and sleeves and another for the collar.

From Butterick 4712 - Blue sheet version

From Butterick 4712 - Blue sheet version

I used this vintage Western shirt pattern for the flowered shirt below. It has one of those one-piece collar and collar band combos I'm not wild about, but it's fine for a casual summer shirt.

From Simplicity 5048 - short sleeve Western shirt

From Simplicity 5048 - short sleeve Western shirt

Of course, the master of the sheet shirt is Brian of BrianSews, who sent me the sheet (he had two) I used to make the shirt above.   Check these out!  Have you ever?

I hope I've inspired you to hunt for some chucked-for-a-reason vintage sheets soon.

Or at least do some laundry.