My $2 shirt re-do

I went to the Sacramento antique fair last weekend and scored this shirt for a whopping $2 bucks. I am normally not a digger, but I was feeling up to the challenge on this particular day. There are only certain things I am willing to dig for at an antique fair. Those piles of jewelry sitting out all tangled on a table... LOVE! I am always certain I am going to find a hidden treasure.  Piles and boxes of clothing not so much. But on this day I went for it. So I tried the shirt on over the one I had on and briefly looked in the mirror they had and decided that It was worth the $2 the lady was asking and if I got it home and didn't like it no big loss. I knew I was going to need to shorten it because maybe it was a dress to a shorter person??!! But not  a very flattering length sooo here I go, don't be scared it was only$2!

I the tools  for this endeavor out,

1. self healing cutting mat

2. Rotary cutters

3.Quilting ruler

I put the shirt on and measured where I thought it needed to be cut to and then added a inch or so for messing up and then placed a pin. If it were a different fabric I would have hemmed it, but this was a really light weight see through type of fabric and even with my amateurish skills I'm pretty sure there is no "nice" was to hem this fabric. I lined up the side hems so that I could get a nice straight cut...

I made my cut..

and this I what I got.. I thought lining up the side hems would insure a nice straight cut , but I got some sort of scallop in the front and back. So I just eyeballed it and cut the scallops to line up with the side hems.

 

Then I sewed up the side hems about 1/2 an inch to make the shirt a little less flowey is the term I'm gonna use.

and here ya go! I added a yellow belt that came with a dress I bought at target to brighten it up a bit. And I'm in love. Not bad for a $2 bucks  huh!

OK so now I need your help! I bought this other shirt against the wishes of one of my friends who I have known since the beginning of time! it may have just been spite, I like it but she hated it! So of course I bought it and I plan on wearing it the next time I see her for sure! 

My question to you is do I keep the ruffles or cut them off?!?! Here is what i thought in my head when I bought this shirt..

If you didn't know already I am a cardigan hoarder. this heat has been killing me, I cannot even think  about cardigan over my t-shirts without breaking into a sweat!! I hate it! So cute yes!?! do you agree?

 But in rummaging through my closet I found option #2 but it would require removal of the ruffles in the middle of the shirt ..take a look

Not a cardigan, but still very cute... So I'm putting it to a vote. Place your votes in the comments below and in 2 weeks from today I will tally and announce the winning look.. I am so excited for this, and hopefully in 2 weeks it will be cool enough to wear this outside! I know I'm a dreamer but one can hope!

Thanks for looking Remember to vote for which one looks better below!

~ Bianca

P.s I'm linking this up to some linking parties for the first time! Hope this works!

And Here  to the SO YOU THINK YOUR CRAFTY BLOG