Refashioned Chambray Denim Top with Cherry Blossoms

It's spring. Trees and flowers are coming back to life. I love spring! The crocus that come back every spring were gifts from my mother years ago. She gave me other plants that are in my my small yard in front of and in back of my townhouse. When I see them come back, I am reminded of my mother's love living on. Even though she's been gone just a little over a year, it still hurts. I look for little reminders to help keep me going.

  

The cherry blossoms on the cherry tree are a time-honored symbol of the joy of spring. So, when I saw this chambray shirt embroidered with cherry blossoms, I had to find it. 

I found the creator of the shirt. It's Judy Rice, of Satsuma Street (on Tumblr). She sells cute things on https://www.etsy.com/shop/SatsumaStreet

The refashion I have done is inspired by Judy's design. It is not meant to be a knock-off or copycat.I have this great Levi's denim/ chambray top. It has great notched pockets and "pearl" snap-style "buttons" down the front and on the pocket, and fit very well. All I needed was the embellishement.

I found my embellishments when I went to a Goodwill Outlet store. They sell "by the pound". I found these sheer placemats that had holes in them, At .99/pound, they made the perfect "donor material" for the project.

I cut the cherry blossoms and branches carefully off the placemats and glued them with washable glue. Then I sewed every last bit of it on.... First the left side, all the way down to the pocket flap.

Then, I did the right side, on to the pocket flap and next to it.

This the front after it was complete. 

This is the back after it was complete. In all, I ended up using cutting up three damaged placemats and one damaged apron. I have nine placemats left for another project.