Hello? Yes, this is the 80s.

I bought two very 80s/early 90s blouses a few years ago, intending to alter them into ones that actually fit. These were like 4 sizes too big, and with the over-sized fit of the time, they seemed even larger.

It's pretty difficult to tell the difference without good "before" photos, but I wasn't thinking about it back when I bought the blouses and started taking them apart.

The first blouse had long sleeves and this cool ruffle collar. I also really liked the classic flower pattern on this fabric.

I liked this second one because of the awesome cravat thing it has going on, and the sweet pointy cuffs.

On the flower top, I took in the sides until it fit, removed the sleeves, and added bias binding to the armholes to finish them.

I would have preferred binding that matched closer, but this was the best I could find. It's not too noticeable when worn.

Hey, I have one before picture of the other blouse at least! The most obvious difference here is that the armhole seams are up higher on the arm/shoulder in the after.

I removed the sleeves, took in the sides and sleeves separately, then reattached them. I also shortened it a little bit because when I cut the front and back panels smaller the length no longer matched all the way around. To re-size these blouses, I found a plain blouse pattern, took the side seams apart, and re-cut the blouse panels according to the pattern.

I love how the ruffled front works on this. It's a separate pleated piece with two layers that buttons on. I'll probably be stealing this setup for other projects. This is one of the reasons I wanted to show off these blouses even though they're simple reconstructions.

The photos I took of this blouse weird me out a little bit for some reason. Maybe because it looks like I'm wearing all denim. I should have changed skirts, dang.