From Dress To Top In One Chop!

The one thing I don't need more of in my closet is dresses (that won't stop me from adding more), however what I do need more of is cute tops that aren't tank tops. Tops that I can wear with jeans but also look good with a pencil skirt and blazer.

So just before I sent a bag of old clothes off to the thrift store, I pulled this dress back out and made new plans for it. Its cute but I was never going to wear it as a dress. I would probably wear it as a top though!

You're getting a second chance!

So after taking this before pic I measured how much I wanted to cut off the bottom, leaving enough extra length for a new hem. I placed a pin where I would need to cut

Then I folded over so when I cut both sides would be the same length.

I rolled the lining up first and pinned that. Then I sewed the new hem.

Next I pinned and hemmed the lace.

Here is the result. That white spot is my thrifted painted hutch reflecting light. I lost day light right as I started this project. Im pretty happy with the results!

For pictures of the process and more details as well please check out my blog post about this refashion. 

A Very DIY Kids Pouch

So this isn't my best refashion but I really liked the idea. I think with some refining this could be an excellent use of old kids clothes. I had an old onsie and pant combo that I didn't want to give away because it was stained. I also didn't want to throw it out so I thought about what I could do with it. My three year old is really into purses right now so I decided I would turn the two things into a new purse (well actually its more of a pouch!)

I love the monkeys!

First I cut the legs off the pants.

Then I cut up one side of each pant leg.

Then I pinned the two pieces together on the bottom and both sides leaving the top open.

I sewed these sides together. Now its nearly a pouch!

NextI folded and pinned and then hemmed the top.

Next I cut the monkey out of the onsie to use as a patch on the side of the pouch without a monkey on it.

So cute!!!

I pinned the monkey on and then chose a stitch to sew it on with. I didn't want to use a straight stitch- I wanted something a little more fancy for the patch.

This will do!

Ok its not perfect.....

I had a little fold in the patch when I was done sewing as you can see above. Normally I would redo this but this is for my 3 year old and she won't mind!

Next I wanted a way to close the pouch so I cut the snaps off of the crotch of the onsie. I pinned them to the inside of the pouch and sewed it on.

And here is the finished product:

OOPS! Its sideways!

So Im not the best straight line sewer and certainly there is room for improvement but this is my first attempt. I thought about straps but found my kid liked it the way it was so I called this project done! Next time I will refine this process for better results!

An Easy T-Shirt Refashion!

I love a good t-shirt but I don't like the way the standard t fits. I want something a little more creative or stylish. I have these three band t-shirts I got at a concert and so far I have not worn them because of the straight boring fit. So today I decided to do something about that! It requires very little sewing and only a little cutting.

You need:
t-shirt
scissors
chalk or fabric pencil
sewing machine or needle and thread.

Here is the before of my shirt:

This refashion has to be quick because my toddler is into everything!

First I cut the neck line into a boat neck:

Then I cut the neck line trim from the excess shirt fabric after cutting it down each side. I have a plan for that left over neckline! This is where you need chalk or something washable to mark  on the t-shirt.

First halve them!

And now they are straps!

I wanted to cut a V down the center of the back. My plan is to use the neckline as straps in the back. Scroll down if you aren't sure what I mean. Here is an image where I have laid the neckline down to plan where the straps will go. I turned the shirt inside out BTW, because I want to sew them onto the inside. Once I have that figured out I drew a V down the center of the back of my t with pink chalk:

I cut the V out of the back:

Give me a V!

CHOP!

Now I pin the "straps" to the back of my t where I want them so I can sew them down:

I also cut off any excess strap after sewing them on.

Here is what it looked like when I was done sewing them down. My sew lines aren't that great but this is supposed to be a DIY look so thats ok!

Then I turned it right side out again. Here is the final version (I will need to use a dry sponge or wash the shirt to remove the pink chalk):

Yes Im wearing a pink bra and sweats- no time for big changes or any styling with a three year old hanging around!

The back.

This look may require a special bra or one that goes with the look!

Im pretty happy with the outcome. It has the perfect rock and roll, DIY, rough look I was going for!

To see another one of my t-shirt refashions that requires no sewing click here.

T-shirt refashioning has sorta been my thing since my early twenties. Here are a couple of the many  super old pics of me wearing t-shirts that I refashioned:

Thats me on the left in a large mens sized shirt that I made into a mini dress.

This was a men's size large shirt I found at a thrift shop. It had a cool detective /romance novel picture on the front. Oh thats me on the right btw.

Thats all I can find at the moment but there were so many great and different styled ones!

Here is a link to my original post in my refashion and crafting blog.

Halloween Refashion Repurposing Unfashionable Material!

This is an old "refashion" I made a couple years back. I wanted to share it because its a Halloween refashion and it is an example of what you can fashion out of old unfashionable material!

I made this bacon and eggs costume using old upholstery material, foam material and some felt I had leftover from my past burlesque and performance costumes. When I originally made it I stapled it all together. Since I know how to sew now I went back over it with my sewing machine. Its still a little rough looking but its a Halloween costume after all! Here are some pics of what I did:

I started with this. 

I simply cut out the shapes of bacon and an egg. Then I made some shoulder straps for the bacon so I can hang it over my shoulders. I also cut out some holes for the arms in the front of the egg costume. I used glue to attach the yolk and the bacon fat.

The staples were falling out so I sewed the egg back together:

I did the same for the straps on the bacon.

It was easy and cost me nothing since this is old material I had laying around that would never get used for anything else.

Thats me modeling both costumes. My husband will be the egg!

Here is my original blog post: Bacon and Egg refashion!

Refashion Fail

So I was hoping to have a great refashion to tell you about but instead I had my first refashion fail. Maybe you can learn from my mistake about what NOT to do!

So I have this cute vintage dress but the problem with it is that its the color of Kraft macaroni and cheese. Its ok but not exactly my thing. Here it is:

Has potential maybe?

I thought a dye job might be just the thing it needed. I tried navy blue. Well it didn't go so well for me. The lining took to the dye really well but the dress.... well let me show you what I ended up with:

Upside down and not looking so hot

It ended up with splotches of color and purple armpit spots. Yuck. So the only saving of this dress would be if anyone has a good Halloween costume idea for this! What do you think? Zombie? Doll? 

Not So Little White Dress

I know its been a long time since my last post and its partly because I have been really busy this summer. But it is also because I have been a little lazy and loungy too. I have been reading a lot of books this summer and trying to limit my screen time. Because of this I have a back log of blog entries and refashions to post about.

Im going to start with the most recent one. My images are tad dark or hazy for this one so I will also show you this picture of it that someone else took. Its a Libertine for Target dress and its super cute and comfortable. Problem is that the one I found at a thrift store was also a size large which is too big for me. Here is a picture of it on my dress form:

I don't have a before image of me wearing it but it hangs off of me the same way it hangs on this dress form. So I got to pinning.

I pinned in each side about 1.5 inches. After sewing in the sides it wasn't enough so I had to sew the sides again just a little further in. Then I chopped off the excess with my pinking shears.

The dress was almost ready to wear except for one detail- the straps. They were all crinkled up and not looking so hot.

So I got some thick white ribbon to sew underneath the straps to flatten them and reinforce them as well.

Here is the results!

For more details about this refashion and more images of the process please visit my blog entry here.

Kids Refashion- Jumper To Sweater!

Its been a busy June for me so I haven't had a lot of time to post my new refashions. I have several just waiting so I will start with one I was pretty happy with. My kid has this jumpsuit that is super cute but got too small. Its fleece and has cute polar bears on it. So I decided to get one more winter out of it (I hope!)

First thing to do was chop it just above the crotch, leaving as much room as possible to create a new hem.

Next I folded the edge over once and pinned it down.

Then I sewed a new hem. I used a triangle stitch to allow the material room to stretch.

Here is the end result:

She wouldn't stop moving for a picture!

I did my best to get a picture of her in it, but the kids moves so much! I also threw it on over the onesie she had on so it looks a bit twisted and ill fitted. It turned out great and it only took me a couple minutes to do this!

To see pictures of the process please visit my blog post right here!

Make Kids Clothes Last Longer - A Refashion

My kid has a lot of clothes but she grows out of them so fast that they barely get worn. This makes me sad when I love an outfit she can no longer fit into. So I had an idea. Maybe I can refashion some of these things and make them last longer! I love NOT spending money on new kid clothes and I love refashioning so it seems like the perfect solution. We will start with this cute little number:

I love rompers!

I love this little romper and she only wore it about 3 times before she got too tall for it. So I decided it would make a great summer top! I started by cutting off the bottom where the leg holes and the crotch snaps are:

SNIP!

 Then I used pins to fold over the bottom to make a new hem:

Then I sewed that new hem down and ironed it when I was done:

It took me less than 10 minutes total to refashion this romper into a super cute summer top. Now we will get more use out of it!

Before and after!

I have many more kids clothes refashions coming soon! Check my blog here for this post and upcoming kids refashions!

No Sew T-Shirt Refashion

I have done so many t-shirt refashions! If only I had pictures of them all. T-shirt refashions were my go-to fashion in my twenties. I would search for mens size large t's and turn them into everything from tank tops to dresses. There are so many options! Recently I acquired 4 new t-shirts that just wouldn't do as is. All of them are standard style t's- really straight large mens style. Kind of boring in my opinion. So instead of not wearing them I decided to refashion them into something I love. The first one Im going to show you is the shirt I got at the Blazers playoffs. Its way too big on me but I would like to be able to wear it to the next game I go to so I can show my support for my favorite basketball team! Here is a before- and these images won't to get too fancy guys, as Im battling an epic cold!

The first thing I did was lay it flat and make the neck hole larger:

Next I turned it over and cut a V into the back and a straight line down the center. Then I cut from the straight line in the center two inches towards the sides all the way down on both sides, about two inches apart:

I tied those pieces together, which causes the back to gather. The results look like this:

If I wasn't sick and exhausted I would style this up with a cute tank or bralet underneath. I have a band t-shirt that I did this with that ended up being much tighter. So the results may vary depending on the shirt. To see more images and description of the process please visit my blog post about it here!