Heyhey,

so another upcycle idea with an old long-sleeve of my mum. I certainly like the look of it there is just one small problem: my mum is a size smaller of me, also 10 cm shorter and wearing xs, so normally I still would fit in most of her stuff as long as its elastic 😉 which I forgot to consider: through the braiding the shirt gets less elastic, so a lot tighter, as you can see I can still manage to get inside, but its a little trouble. 😉 So if you want to do something similar better use an longsleeve that fits right or is a little bit loose. 😉 As all upcycles with braiding this one does not require a sewing machine and is easy to do, because of the amount of braids it took me 2 evenings instead of just one. I hope you have fun with it! (The dress I am wearing under it is by H&M)

put the long-sleeve on and mark the middle and then around and under your breast on one side, wear it for a little, moving around to make sure that line does not move up (so much that through the later braiding you can see anything you dont wanna show)

pin side-seam on side-seam and pin your markings through both layers

then draw lines 1.5-2cm next to each other, you might have to change the angle a little bit, so it is parallel to the centre front, side-seam and centre back

then start with the centre front and cut into 1cm wide strips

then take the third line as middle for the next cutting fold both layers and cut into 1cm strips again

repeat that all around always leaving one strip in between

lay front on back again and start braiding, take the first strip up

put it over the second strip

then pull the second strip up, the first laying over it

then take the third strip

and pull it through the loop of the second

repeat that the whole line, sorry for the blurry pic

when you reached the last strip cut it in the middle

then put one end under the hem and the other above

then knot both ends

then do the same to the other lines you cut into strips

the sleeves are still boring, so fold the sleeve seam one one fold, then cut the fold into strips and mark another line in the middle of the sleeve, fold it and cut into strips again

and braid same as the bodice

Finshed!

its a little tight and I should have done the braids longer at the back its looks like a small ribbon of lace 😉 well I do it better next time with a bigger size 😉 maybe I even braid the whole back?

how do you like the idea? if you have any questions please let me know 😉

keep sewing and smiling

your TailorFairy