Wednesday, December 04, 2013

A little bit 80's


Now, I was born in the 80's, wore neon and animal print when I was a little girl, and love me some 80's rock...but the rewind on 80's fashion that has taken place (and perhaps hasn't ended?) never really caught my attention other than to remind me why certain things should be left well alone ;) BUT, this next refashion actually gives me a little of the 80's vibe!!! *gasp*

As soon as I'd removed the sleeves from this jacket refashion, I knew that I wanted to reuse them as sleeves somewhere else, and almost immediately decided it should be a black top. I had a black pocket t-shirt I could have used, but I wore it often and knew that I'd like to keep my basic black T a basic black T. Then I happened upon this Banana Republic long sleeved black t-shirt at the thrift store and bought it for $2 on half off day.


I started by seam ripping the sleeves off of the black T and proceeded to use them as a guide for pinning in the old jacket sleeves to fit the arm holes. The jacket sleeves had been a little puffed so I went with it, pinning them along the top into several folds that would give the same effect on the new shirt while making them smaller to fit.



I then sewed the new sleeves into the top (I left the sleeves right side out and turned the sleeveless top inside out, lined up my edges and simply ran it through my machine to close it up). Then, I turned the entire top inside out and proceeded to pin the sleeves where I had gauged they'd need to be taken in to give me the fitted look I desired. Ran that through my machine as well.


After trimming the excess, zigzagging (because I don't have a serger),  and picking out more loose threads from the seam ripping process (pesky buggers), I shortened the sleeves by folding over the portion to be removed and pinning them in place to preserve the cuff.


I cut away the excess fabric before running this through my machine slowly (for things like hems of pants they'll fit around the base of my machine and I can topstitch them down, but for this much smaller cuff, I laid it on my machine arranging the "bottom" of the cuff under the needle and slowly rotated as I sewed). Does that make sense? I'd never tried this before and I'm sure there is a name for it (always is). If you don't get what I'm saying, I know there are some amazing tutorials out there highlighting different sewing techniques (of which I should partake myself) that could explain/show this more accurately. Moving on.

Again, just had to zigzag the raw edges to avoid any fraying and that was that! Here is how it came out...





















I am a bit undecided on this one mostly from a style perspective. I think it could work with a pencil skirt, for sure and with dark skinny jeans too, but is the nod to the 80's too much or not a problem? I'm leaning towards not a problem...I think ;)

Thanks for viewing and hope you like it! There will be no waste as I am making myself a headband for keeping my ears warm as I run with the leftover black sleeves. Time to tackle the next project! Christmas presents, it is...

Peace,
Andrea



8 comments:

Saga said...

Definitely not a problem! I think it it looks like something from a high end fashion shop.
Great work!

Anonymous said...

Hi Andrea, I am not happy I left a long message about how i am inspired and how your refashioning is developing etc and I lost it. Just know that I am following you with interest and think you have a talent for refashioning.

I must learn to SAVE my messages before publishing!

Nout said...

I love this refashion - so perfectly 80s but still modern enough to wear now! xo

Andrea said...

Thanks all, for the positive feedback! I decided to wear it for a few hours to get a feel for it and to clarify how I feel about it, and it was nice because the t-shirt portion is so comfy, but the sleeves made me feel just a tiny bit fancy :) And for a stay at home mom who literally stays at home almost all day every day (especially in frigid weather), its nice to feel this way even on a daily basis!

StarryA said...

I love your top! I think it is a little bit dressy but casual enough to wear anywhere! I'm now thinking what I can put contrast sleeves on :)

IWOM said...

Hmm…how about a coupon?

'I will refashion one (fill in the blank) for you!'

Sweater? T-shirt? They get a new garment, you get to refashion! A gift for you both.

I'm just sayin'.

IWOM: EOD

Unknown said...

I love it with the jeans in the pic too! Very versatile piece! As always :P

Andrea said...

I like your idea IWOM :) I think I'll make a coupon book of mending/refashioning for my husband ;) He's always last on the list, poor man, though he deserves to be first!