Scarf to Tunic Refashion

I found a beautiful ikat scarf at Goodwill and mixed it with a button-down shirt to make a tunic using Simplicity 1461.  Here's a look at the before:

Everything was sewing up beautifully until I decided to hack the back and add a matching scarf panel.  I guess I got overconfident with my pattern drafting and didn't do a reality check because the princess seams don't line up at the shoulders.

Argh!!!  It's not like I'm a smidge off -  I'm 1" off on both sides.  I don't have enough fabric for a do-over.  That's the bummer with refashioning.  You can't run out to the store and get more fabric.

At least the front and the sleeves are cute.

To learn more about my scarf to tunic refashion, check out my blog Trevor Loves Mommy

The Split Overskirt

I wasn't sure whether there's an official name for this skirt I refashioned, but I have decided to call it a "split overskirt!" I based it on several dress-over-pants looks I've seen on the red carpet recaps over the past several months.

It started out as a semi-sheer skirt I didn't much care for.

I tried a couple of things with it, including putting a black liner underneath for a little more interest...

...but that wasn't enough interest for me either.

For my next trick, I decided to slit it up the front and wear it over pants! I opened up the back seam, finished the raw edges with a rolled hem, removed the entire skirt from the waistband, and reattached it so that the front 1/4 of the waistband was left open.

Here's how it looked when finished.



I don't know if it will ever be my favorite skirt (I like to think I might enjoy it more over shorts), but in any case, it was a little something different to add flair to my work khakis!

More pics, more process over at my blog post!

--The Unfashionista

1 Dress 2 Refashions Part 2

YAY we have made it to Part 2 of this refashion! I am so excited for you to see what I have done with the bottom half of this dress!

Let me refresh your memory,

The original dress:

Part 1:

Now onto part 2!

With the elastic in the back it was a little tricky to make this into a snug skirt. First, I had to sew the front the skirt to the back on each side.

Then I folded over the front material of the skirt and stitched that together.

Once my skirt was done I slipped on a black tank to and the hubby and I were off the Sea Life Aquarium and then dinner!

Not too bad for Part 2!

Happy Refashioning!!!

Check out my stash of refashions on my blog!

1 Dress 2 Refashions Part 1

Welcome to Part 1 of this refash!
The dress I chose to use was too cute to not utilize every part of it.

How is this not the cutest back ever!?

Love this pattern!!!

Okay, so I said this was Part 1 of 2 for this refashion. So here it goes!

I cut the dress right at the waistline. This dress had elastic on the back but not the front.
I found this skirt in the to be refashed pile and it matched the color of the palms on the dress, what luck!


I wanted to use this skirt as the bottom of  my dress and used the top of the palm dress. I used my seam ripper to open the seam of the skirt and separate the elastic waist. This gave me more room to work with the skirt since the elastic wasn't bunching up every time I moved it.
I was actually not going to use this elastic as part of the dress but I did need it to keep the skirt together for this next part.


The top that I cut off of the palm dress was SUPER short, like shorter than an acceptable crop top, just sewing that top to the skirt would make the new dress itself way too short. I decided to add this 3 inch elastic waistband! That would give me more length to the entire dress.


Once I sewed the elastic to the top I then sewed the skirt to the bottom of the elastic using the original elastic of the skirt as a guide.


Once the skirt was almost sewn to the top I realized that the skirt was too large. So I had to improvise.


I made a cut down the entire length of the skirt.


Then I sewed the 2 pieces together and cut off the excess.


Then I was able to finish sewing the skirt to the elastic.
I was so fortunate that my hubby took me to see The Beach Boys in concert!!! This has been something that was on my bucket list! I just adore The Beach Boys but my husband does not, but he was a trooper taking me and sitting through the music. I think he actually had as good a time as I did!


The Beach Boys!!!




The front!

The back!


Happy Refashioning!!!
Check out my stash of refashions on my blog!

Removing Ruffles and Ripping Seams

 Hello Refashion Co-op. I really gave my seam ripper a workout with this outfit. But it was worth it.

 

I love hand-me-downs and this J.Crew blouse was lovely. Except for the slightly huge ruffled neckline. I couldn't handle all that material around my neck so I found where it was attached and removed it. I just used my seam ripper. I was left with this smaller ruffle that was attached separately, like a collar. Some of it stood up and some of it fell over.

     

 I used my machine to stitch it down so it was more uniform. It was off my neck and opened up the neckline. 

This tiered skirt has been sitting in the refashion pile for a few years. I didn't really like the tiers but I didn't have any ideas for refashioning it. 

Now I knew what to do. I used my seam ripper again and removed the lowest tier of fabric from the skirt. It made it shorter and more flattering. The colors and the smaller amount of ruffles in the blouse and skirt really went together well.

  

Thanks for reading this post, for more details and pictures go to I Can Work With That.