Wardrobe Refashion

Easy peasy poncho

Cross posted to my blog.

Okay, so now we're back from holidays time to get back to re-fashioning!

My MIL gave me some odd balls of wool and I had some bits kicking around from old projects. They were in a nice pinky/purple colour scheme, perfect for my daughter who is still pretty obsessed with pink, sigh...

I found a pattern in a library book (sorry can't remember the name) which showed how to make a poncho out of two basic rectangles - easy peasy! So here is the first half of the poncho. The second half is exactly the same size ( about 45 stiches wide on size 6 needles and about 55cm long) I just made up a repeating stripe pattern as it took my fancy.

To put together sticth at right angles then right angles again hmm, sound weird? Have a look at my terrible diagram! ;)

I will probably finish it off by putting tassles all around the bottom edge. You never know I might actually finish it before winter is over!

Not much on the home front here, folks.

I have not been up to much.  I converted another pair of pants, some black slacks.  Now I have five suits including the wool crepe I just tailored for work.  I did find that adjusting my method worked well.

First, I just cut a diagonal straight line across the fabric for the belly panel (so much easier to work in the ease!). Next I trimmed back the sides to a rounded point that goes a bit back to the bum, does not stop at the tush.  This does give a much better fit.  I just need to re-hem the slacks now.  Must have worn higher shoes before, even with the 1" I took off of the rise. 

I am working on a brown skirt to top refashion, hope to have the energy to get that done this week or next (or while it is still hot).  Right now I am loving those surplice flowy empire tops.  Just top them with a jacket and pair with matching slacks and you are ready for work!

I'm In Tiers

Well, because I am a bonehead and deleted my "before" pictures, here's an all-in-one:

It was just too long, so I removed the enormous bottom tier, cut a strip from the very bottom, gathered that strip, and sewed it back on.  Super easy!  Visit Darling Petunia if you'd like to see the additional shots!

Casual Wear

Two completed projects this week!  First off, a pair of lounging jammie pants from a vintage sheet.  The color in this picture is not so great but it's the one I look skinniest in!

I love these so much, I want to wear them all the time.  All I had was a pattern for pants with a fly, but I skipped all that, skipped the side seam, lowered the waist in front, and added a drawstring.  Don't tell anyone that I put the buttonholes for the drawstring on the back first!

And second, I have this bias plaid skirt.  Now, this may not seem like much to you.  It's faded and quite simple, but I love this fabric and this thing was a pain.  It originally was a dress with a zippered side.  I cut off the bodice and  fiddled with the zipper, etc. etc.  It would have worked but the back was longer than the front and it was too big.  I wore it around the house anyway, but the more I'd wear it, the more it seemed to slip down.  Not. Good.

So I cut it apart, remade it with an elastic waist (not a lot of bunch, yuck, just enough to hold it up), and redid the hem with the serger.

Anyone know if I can refresh a faded linen that has a design?

At Last, the Housedress (?)

Here it is. Made using the Anda pattern from Burdastyle. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. I started with some curtains from Goodwill, curtains I strongly suspect used to be sheets. The belt is also made out of a sheet (leftover from a different project and now relegated to the category "stash").  In the next picture, you can see the topstiching I did in white to match the flowers which were "stenciled" on. I stenciled them, and then went over them with a brush to get enough paint to transfer. That took a long time. My stenciling technique probably needs improvement. Probably less than two hours to assemble the dress, many more to finish the flowers. But I am happy with it. All I wanted was something I could wear around the house that would stay as far away from my skin as possible in this 90 degree (F) heat, but I think I may even be able to wear this one out of the house! Happiness.

The importance of measuring

I saw this dress in my head and just started cutting. I took the blousey top from a boring cotton shirtdress, and used a duvet cover for the skirt. it ended up a little more voluminous on one side, which is only partially remedied by the scrap of linen cinching the waist. Next time, I'll measure. :)

You can see the photos on my blog.

Over-dyeing Works

I'm very pleased to back working on a six month pledge.  Hope to be posting more this time around too as I've got a lot of projects in the works already.

When my favorite t-shirts get too stained or bleach-spotted, I'm now trying to overdye them before sending them off to the ragbag.  Sometimes it works and it is like getting a whole new shirt for practically free (since I'm dyeing fabric anyways for quilting).  This shirt was originally white with black sleeves. This was a light grey color and is now a more flattering to wear blue/green.

More on HighFiberContent

CleverGirl Refashion 4: Ruffled Collar Shirt from Mens Tuxedo Shirt

Before (blah):

After (cue angel chorus):

Refashionistas, I have to say that, after this experience, the only reason I would ever sew an entire shirt from scratch is if I loved a fabric and it HAD TO BE MADE into a shirt.  This refashioning from mens shirts thing is just amazing!  In a couple of hours I had a shirt, custom-made for me, and the most annoying parts (to me) were done before I even began -- that is, the buttons and buttonholes!  And I saved a shirt from a landfill.

This is not a perfect shirt.  I did not do a perfect job.  If you look closely you can see a non-functional buttonhole at the top of the placket, and not-so-subtle topstitching around the collar, and a couple of other little things.  But really, for $1 and a couple hours cutting and sewing, this is just as good as any shirt in my closet from Forever 21 or any other "fast fashion" store.  And I enjoyed the experience and learned a lot.

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by how blessed we are to know how to sew!  Thank you all again for sharing your inspirational projects and for reading.  More details on how this mens shirt refashion went down at CleverGirl.org.

Weekend Wrap Up

My new skirt from New Look 6637, stash fabric and even stash twill tape!  The fabric caught my eye around the 4th of July...I guess I was thinking red, white, and blue or picnics or something.  Unfortunately, I was in no mood for hemming, so it sat unfinished for a week or two.  Oh well, it's still summery and red is my favorite!  You can read and see a bit more at Darling Petunia.

Belated Introduction!

Hi fellow Refashionistas!

My name is Leila  and new to Wardrobe Refashion... so I thought I'd jump right in and sign up for the 6 month pledge. I from Brisbane, Australia and I just recently re-dicovered the joy of sewing  and crafting.    

I've finally finished something that is post-worthy:

My boyfriend's mum gave me this old long sleeve button up shirt...

      So I completely deconstructed it and turned it into this:

Voila!  I used the front and back pieces of the shirt for the main skirt pieces and excess material from the offcuts and sleeves for the waist band and pockets... plus added patches to make it a bit more interesting and to hide the embroidered emblems.