From a maxidress to ... a better maxidress

I found this maxidress at the thrift shop recently. I knew the top would be, let's say, immodest on me, but I loved the colors and the pattern. So of course, I bought it to refashion it.

I chopped off the skirt of the maxidress just above the waist line. I took a plain white t-shirt that fit me well and cut a few inches off the bottom of that. Then I put the t-shirt inside the skirt, right sides together. I was going to match up the raw edges, but the parts fit together better around the waistline with the skirt up a little from the end of the shirt. Once I had the top and skirt nicely matched up, I stitched around the waistline with a straight stretch stitch.

After that, I serged the raw edge and my new dress was ready to go.

The skirt is a lightweight, t-shirt cotton, so the whole thing is cool and comfy even on very hot days.

Thanks for reading! -Amy

Red sweatshirt refashion

Once again, I started out with a sweatshirt that was too big on me and set about to give it some shape.

I started by removing the front pockets and the zipper through a lot of careful, tedious seam-ripping.

I stitched the zipper edge back together once the zipper was removed. Then I set about taking in the sides a bit. I basted it where I thought it needed to be stitched then used my serger to finish the seam. Alas, these pictures only show the first round of taking in the sides - a second round was also needed.

Once it was finally slim enough, I added some large buttonholes to the left front flap and folded under the right front flap at an angle before adding my big red buttons. 

And here it is - warm and cozy. 

With this up and down weather, I'm sure to get some good use out of it before it gets too hot. Yay!

Thanks for reading!  -Amy

Shibori dye technique

This large hooded shirt came into my possession some time ago. I knew I would never wear it with SO MUCH PINK. I'd been thinking about dyeing it, and when I found this shibori dyeing technique, I thought it would be fun to try. If it didn't turn out, it would be no big loss.

Following the dyeing instructions, I folded the top accordion-style the long way.

Then I folded it accordion-style the other way. It ended up in rectangles about 4 x 6 inches.

Then I bound it with rubber bands. I tried to space them out evenly and bind the fabric tightly.

I put it in the washing machine with royal blue dye. It might have come out with more contrast if I had used actual indigo dye. I'll try that next time.

The pattern came out well, but now it was all pink and purple, and I still wasn't crazy about it. Fortunately, my daughter thought it was great, so I passed it along to her.

I'm glad I tried this technique. I'll definitely use it again in the future.

Thanks for reading!  - Amy

Sleeveless Hoodie

Recently, my mom gave me a few sweatshirts she no longer wanted. They were a bit too big on me, but this one had a cool pattern on it, so I decided to take it in.

I decided I wanted a sleeveless hoodie, so I started by chopping off the arms. I saved those to use on another project some other time.

I took in the sides with my serger, then finished the edges of the armholes, too.

I folded the edges of the armholes to the inside and stitched them down. I decided the sweatshirt was just a bit too long, but I didn't want to mess with replacing or shortening the zipper. So I just folded under the bottom band and stitched it down most of the way around near the edge. Then I tacked it down at the seams and behind the front pockets. Near the zipper, I just didn't stitch it, so it looks like this on the inside. Not super professional, but it allows me to zip it.

And here it is. It's perfect for wearing under my winter coat or when doing housework around the house when it's chilly in here.

Thanks for reading!  -Amy

Denim overall dress

For a while now, I've wanted an overall dress, sort of like this one. When I saw this huge, lightweight denim dress, I knew it was the perfect based for such a dress.

I started by chopping it in half so that the bottom part was the right length to be the skirt.

I decided to gather the skirt, since that's more flattering on me. I also thought a waistband would look good, so I removed this one from an old pair of too-big jeans.

I used the top part of the dress to fashion the front and back panels of the overalls. It was a bit challenging to get my stitching to match the existing stitching, but it was worth it.

I cut the waistband into a front piece and a back piece, then started to put the pieces together, like so.

I wanted to look of the patent leather straps, but not the risk of them being destroyed in the dryer, so I opted for removable straps. I took two belts I bought for $1 each from the thrift shop, cut them to size, and glued big snaps onto the undersides of both ends. 

 

After hand-sewing the other halves of the snaps onto the dress, and a few small snaps at the waistband, my new overall dress was ready to go. 

Front view

Back view

I started this refashion way back in November, when it wasn't so cold, but I hope to get some good use out of it when it warms up again. Or I may just wear it with fleece leggings and a sweater!

Thanks for reading!   -Amy

Nerdy, ugly Christmas sweater

My husband's work was planning an ugly sweater contest for their holiday party. Normally, he wouldn't participate in such an event, but I offered to make him an awesomely ugly sweater. He went for it. We looked for ideas online and found some Star Trek themed ones. Then we bought this truly hideous, synthetic-fiber sweater from the thrift store to decorate.

He wanted Captains Kirk and Picard on the sweater, and I wanted them to be recognizable. I used this tutorial to print their pictures and a few other images onto fabric using my inkjet printer. I love learning a new technique, and this one worked really well. I added some glitter paint for pizzazz.

I glittered all the letters, too, and used fabric to make little Santa hats for the Captains. 

Then I glued it all to the back. Here's how it turned out.

  

This is used an image of the Star Trek insignia pin and decorated it like a Christmas tree. 

Then I put it on the front in the place it would go on a uniform. Here it is.

   

Thanks for reading!  - Amy

More of a fix than a refashion

I got this great fall dress at a thrift store. The label said it was machine-washable and dryer-safe, but...

on the first wash and dry, my dryer ate the fake leather buckle!

Everything else about the dress was great, so I set about to replace the buckle. I cut the fake leather one off and used it as a template to cut new shapes out of actual brown leather. I cut two layers for each side of the buckle.

Using a leather needle and some heavy duty thread on my sewing machine, I sewed the top layer to the bottom layer for each side of the buckle. I stopped just short of sewing all the way around, though. I cut the leather of each layer of the buckle near the hole where it attaches to the fabric. I staggered the cuts, so that a small flap of leather overlapped on the 2 layers. Then I glued a snap on those flaps, like so.

The flaps and snaps will allow me to take the buckle off for washing, so I can wash the dress with no fear of ruining the buckle. I used the existing hardware to finish the buckle. Here's how it turned out.

Then I threaded each side of the buckle through the fabric loops on the dress, snapped the ends together, and buckled it up. Here's the close-up of my new buckle.

And here's the dress! I love being able to use my sewing skills to rescue things that would otherwise be ruined! Thanks for reading.  -Amy

XXXL Men's dress shirt to dress

At the thrift shop, I found this men's XXXL dress shirt from Eddie Bauer. It was made of a nice medium-weight fabric with a slight sheen to it, and it looked like it had never been worn. It was huge on me.

I cut it apart in the middle to make a top and a skirt, and I removed the sleeves.

I cut the ends off the sleeves to create a elbow-length puffed sleeve that would retain the original cuff and buttons.

I took the remaining sleeve fabric, cut it open, and used the widest part to create strips for my waistband.

After that, I pretty much stopped taking pictures. Sorry about that! I used a gathering stitch to take in the skirt to the right width. I used the strips cut from the sleeves to create a waistband that I attached to the skirt. I created some bust darts, then sewed up the sides of the bodice before attaching it to the skirt. Finally, I reattached the new shorter sleeves. Here's the final look.

I like how the curve on the sides of the bottom hem shows the dress's origins as a men's shirt.

The sleeves turned out so cute, with the original buttons, and I liked the back pleating, too.

And the before-and-after shot. A perfect fall dress!

Thanks for reading!  -Amy