When I went to my first military ball with Michael, I was so surprised to see his formal, white Mess Dress shirt transform into this amazing pink skull and cross bone shirt when he took off his jacket.  Michael said he purchased the shirt in Korea many years ago. It was a tradition in his fighter squadron to wear these custom shirts during formal dining events. People were taken back by the colorful shirt patterns which showed how much a party person the pilot was at the event.

                            

       After years of wearing the same shirt, I decided to make him some new ones. It took me about eight hours to make one shirt from start to finish. The hardest part was ripping out the sleeves, cuffs  and back of the shirt without damaging the new shirt. Putting it back together is the fun part!   Believe that one?

                          Skulls and cross bones

              New shirts in progress (March 2011)

                

   Finished Pirate Skull Shirt                           Finished U.S. Air Force Shirt

 

My advice: Take your shirt and two yards of your material to a dry cleaner who offers tailoring services or find someone who can sew. Copy some of the pictures of finished shirts from above and explain to the cleaners that you want to replace the back of the shirt sleeves with your material. Shouldn't be a problem for them.

I found these fabric companies  that have the best material for these party shirts. Please make sure the material is cotton and not fleece when you place your order to them.

http://www.bearpawquilting.com/cgi-bin/Store/store.cgi

http://www.jandofabrics.com/categories.asp?id=4&viewallC=True

http://www.joann.com/joann/search/searchall.jsp?keyword=skulls and crossbones&catPath=All Products////Product Home////UserSearch1=skulls and crossbones&_requestid=450312

Cheers,

Sandra