Paris Inspired outfit for my daughter

Let's start with the befores of the new pieces. One pair of pants from mom (me!) and a button up shirt I thifted for this project (hey, it was 1€ only!). I wanted to create a Paris inspired look, and to complete it I also added scraps i still have from a white sheet. 

Here's what I got after putting my hands to work... 

For more, please visit my blog HERE. 

Tickled Pink!

The latest addition to my series, Retro Runway, comes from merging this dress and blouse together...

  

...to create a feminine dress with embroidered detailing at the waist.

Yes, you could say that I'm tickled pink with the outcome of this refashion!

For more photos and details about my inspiration, including a brief tutorial, you can visit my blog,

Second Chances By Susan.

Modifying a bathing suit

I've decided to revamp my bathing suits and thought I'd share as I'm addressing issues that some of us deal with when bathing suit shopping. I know when I'm buying a two-piece, I need two different sizes, which can make a one piece even trickier...how to over come this? Just give up bathing suit shopping, right? No way! I'm taking bathing suits that I've refashioned once, still had fit issues, and am now refashioning again. I'll start with this hand-me-down maternity suit. It went from a two-piece halter tankini style to a three-piece convertible high-waisted bikini set. But it still wasn't working for me. It flattened out my already small bust and I never felt comfortable or confident enough to wear it...ever. once. So, I got to work :).

I started off with the 'convertible' piece...

modified an old strapless bra...

And made a new flattering top!

Now, to transform the halter top into something just as cute so that I can switch up the look of this suit :). Here's a look at the before and after:

And if you want a bit more detail, take a look over here. Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think! I'm pretty much in love with this style of top and am glad that it is so flattering for my size...yay for a bathing suit victory! Would you or have you ever customized your bathing suits to work better for you? Keep an eye out for another post where I tackle too-small leg holes (another suit) and the halter top from this suit!

Peace,
Andrea

Sash Pencil Skirt Refashion

Happy, happy Spring!  It's finally here, which means summer is right around the corner!  And what represents summer more than this super bright and cheery Marimekko fabric?

I found this dress for free at a clothing swap and turned it into a summery sash pencil skirt.

To find out more about this refashion, visit my blog.

What Are You Waiting For?

This week we are going to give you a challenge!  (It goes along with our last post, and it involves prizes again!)  So our challenge involves a question we want you to ask yourself, “What are you waiting for?”  You see, we know you have something in your stash that you bought because you knew it would be the perfect thing to refashion!  (We know this because we have a stash too!)  So our challenge to you is to sew up that thing this week from your stash!  Seize the day!  Carpe diem!  What are you waiting for?  And then go link up what you made to Challenge Create: Adult Edition’s final week: Destash Week for a chance to win over $50 in prizes!  You can do it!

We’re not going to challenge you to do something we’ve not done ourselves, so we have a great refashion for you today that happened when we took a deep breath, took out that special thing from our stash, and sewed it up!

This dress was the most expensive thing we’ve ever bought from a thrift store.  We paid $8 for this lovely little beauty.  Now there was nothing the matter with it except that it was the wrong er, curvy shape! for my pre-teen who really wanted (and needed) a new skirt for an upcoming recital.  So we decided to be very brave and cut this thing up and make a new skirt for the pre-teen’s recital.  You can read about how we didit step-by-step here.  

 And we ended up with this!  I absolutely adore how the former ribbons at princess seam level are now at the waist with a cummerbund effect! 

So now it’s your turn to accept our challenge!  What are you waiting for?

The prizes for this week’s sew along winner are:

•  $10 gift certificate to The Fat Quarter Shop

•  2 FREE PDF patterns from Shop Onion

•  FREE copy of our refashion ebook, Not A Skirt!

Click here to go to Skirt Fixation and add your link!  You might want to stick around the rest of the week and see what the amazingly talented contestants are sewing up this week for the destash theme!  You will be so inspired!

See you there!

Audrey & the Skirt Fixation team