Monday, February 21, 2011

Hello, and an introduction

Hi, everyone! I’m Becky, also known as Sew-and-So, and I’m hailing from the tiny state of Delaware. Like many of you, I’ve been sewing since I was a kid (taught by my mom at first, and self-taught later), and eased naturally into refashioning as a teenager and college student, before I knew there was such a word. (Costume parties on the cheap, anyone?) I started really getting into it a few years ago after stumbling across Wardrobe Refashion. I’ve really enjoyed the creative challenges of altering and remaking with limited fabric! And I’m glad I have the opportunity to be a part of this community, because that will encourage me to make a dent in my refashioning pile!

To be honest, the majority of my sewing at this point is still from-scratch. What can I say, I like working with patterns too! But I'm challenging myself to work only with fabrics from my (way too big) stash rather than buy new whenever possible, at least until I get it down to a manageable point. I'm also trying to find some more creative ways to use up scraps and the yard or so of fabric I often end up with at the end of a from-pattern project, so I'm hoping that I can get some ideas for that from this community as well. Other than sewing, I also make a lot of my own jewelry (some of which is also refashioned), and I'm currently trying to teach myself to knit, so don't be surprised if I end up grabbing thrift-store sweaters and recycling them for yarn at some point!

Just wanted to share a few of my reconstructions before I go--my two most recent, and my two all-time favorites (so far). The most recent first:

Some homemade-looking Indian dress...tunic...thing that I found at the thrift store--chopped it shorter, added ties to cinch it and slits in the sleeves for comfort, and fixed the wonky neckline.

My last-minute Christmas Eve dress this year--again, shortened both the skirt (which was 2 layers) and the sleeves. Still might shorten the sleeves further. And I also made a scarf from the hem of the lace part, shown over the lining dress.



I absolutely love this shirt--a thrifted men's button-up turned into an Anthropologie-inspired blouse with an asymmetric front.

And I was really proud of this one--a 2-piece bridesmaid dress that my mom wore in an aunt's wedding while I was in college, converted a few years later into a much more fun dress for a New Year's Eve party.

That's all for now--I have an in-progress reconstruction going on, so I will hopefully have something more current to post soon!

8 comments:

Jenni said...

Hi Becky! What a great collection of "new" clothes. I especially adore that men's shirt redo. Loving that it is special, without being patterned. I wear a lot of funky jewelry, and wear too many plain tees to provide blank canvas for them. Will be trying your solution asap! I have a Jhane Barnes men's shirt that might be perfect for this. Which did you reposition, the buttons or the collar? Thanks for sharing!

Jenni said...

Oh my! I just super zoomed on your shirt and you did A LOT to that one! I vote for a tutorial...hehehehe! Kudos! (and yes, a stripe *is* a pattern...)
Jenni

Refashion said...

What amazing refashions! That asymmetric shirt is SO inspired, I would not even know where to begin trying to try to mimic this =).

And I love how you refashioned the old bridesmaid dress. The multiple layers in the skirt, the one shoulder top, it's so unique and fantastic.

Such fantastic refashions, I'm looking forward to seeing what else you come up with!

Jessica, EOD (Editor on Duty)

Unknown said...

These are fabulous! Can't wait to see what's coming up!
Pxx

poet said...

Love them all! Welcome!

Helene Agerskov said...

Please do a tutorial of the asymmetrical shirt, it's wonderful!

Lovenicky said...

What a great men's shirt refashion! Love what you did with the bridesmaid dress too!

Becky said...

Wow, thanks for all of the comments, everyone! It's been a couple of years since I did the men's shirt one--to be honest, a lot of it was a huge experiment in draping various pieces of the completely dissected shirt, since I was fortunate enough to have access to an old store mannequin-turned sewing dummy. But I did find several in-progress pictures as I was looking for the before and after last night, and I may have some blog posts I wrote as I was making it, so I'll see what I can do for a tutorial. Or I might just have to get another shirt and do a second version...oh darn.