Hi!

My name is Theo and I live in New York City. I actually joined this blog a little while ago, but have had a pretty crazy April and needed the reminder about required monthly postings to finally prompt me to post.

I've always customized my clothing, using hand-stitching, Rit dyes, and the beloved queen of embellishing - the BeDazzler. This trend was kicked up a notch two years ago when I was laid off from my job and bought a sewing machine all in the same month. The dramatic decrease in income led me to discover the wonders of the dollar bin and refashioning! Here are some of my favorites so far...



Below is a jumpsuit I made out of the two skirts and skirt lining pictured above. I used a vintage pattern from the 1960's that I altered slightly for my thicker thighs:



This next alteration was incredibly simple, but made such a huge difference in how I wear this jacket. Plus, I'd finally learned how to sew a zipper from making the jumpsuit:



Finally, my most recent endeavor has been two pairs of underwear from shirts I no longer wear:



I have found inspiration in so many posts here and I can't wait to see more!

Colorblocking

Three sweaters condensed into one dress:

This is the before:

Not really my style after all but a definite learning experience. Details in my blog: http://reverseclothing.blogspot.com/

Ideas please!

Hi all!
I am almost 24 weeks preggers and while I have bought most of my clothing thrifted or at discount stores. I want to make some things. I have bought these two cute t-shirts several sizes larger than I should ever need thinking I could make a ruffle shirt for a preggo woman. (please ignore the messy background. We are working on merging my craft room with hubby's office and everything is in boxes or piles.)

I need some help deciding what kind of ruffles will flatter the baby bump. I could do something like this:
http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/2010/01/tutorialruffle-shirt.html
or this:
http://tearosehome.blogspot.com/2010/05/tutorial-ruffle-shirt-2.html
Bib style:
http://madmim.com/the-puffy-shirt/
Or Tuxedo/vertical ruffles:
http://www.copycatcrafts.com/refashioned-j-crew-copycat-ruffled-t-shirt/

Please help me decide! I plan to gather the bottom 4-6 inches with elastic so it will grow with my bump. But help me with my ruffle dilema! Which option will look best with a baby belly?
Bethany of MrsMulticraft

Men's Dress Shirt to Blouse

Just a quick refashion here! Diving back into the waiting stash last weekend, found this fun men's dress shirt with a fairly delicate floral print.


I cut off the sleeves and took in the sides to make it a more feminine blouse. (I started hoping for a dress, but there just wasn't enough fabric left either at the bottom or to add to the bottom!)


I could also wear this as a tunic top, but enjoy wearing it this way as a long fitted blouse that doesn't come untucked when I raise my arms!

More of my refashions on my blog.

Sheet to sleepwear, part I

I need sleepwear and loungewear. Everything I own is old, stained, falling apart. Worn out by late nights with small children and all they can secrete. (Sorry if that was too much info!) I've done one nightgown already and decided to tackle another, using an old sheet my mother-in-law gave me. Not one of the antique ones, but an 80s one. The fabric wasn't bad, actually. One hundred percent cotton, in light blue with little dots and diamonds scattered across it and this pattern around one edge.

I also had an old stretched-out pink tank top to hand. So I decided to combine the two, much like the tee-shirt + fabric = dress projects you see on many blogs (including mine). It was very easy to do and I'll post a full account on my blog this weekend, but in the meantime, here's the result:

Sorry about the blurry picture - taken with an iPhone and late, by a sleepy husband

A word about the ruffle I added. I just found the fabric and colour combinations so very 80s and then while sewing, the news ran a piece on the royal wedding, complete with pictures from Charles and Diana's wedding back in the day. I saw all the ruffles on her dress and thought, a-ha! I want one of those on this! Et voilà - a very 80s nightdress. 

A little ruffle close-up

Another plus - I have half a sheet leftover and half a tank top too. More than enough to make a tee and shorts PJs set. Watch out for a post on that soon and do check my blog in the next few days for more details on this one.

Baby Headbands with Interchangeable Flowers

I made a few headbands for my upcoming new niece due in July. I crocheted the headbands with thrift store yarn and used recycled fabric for the flowers.

from an old silk dress


from a strip of vintage sheet


from an old polyester scarf


from the lining of an old coat

And that's only a few of them!!! You can see them all on my blog.

Boot Fix

Hi! Erica here again. My second project, involved a shoe fix. These boots were purchased 3 years ago. They were my ultimate boots throughout pregnancy during winter months.

I wore them to death, look at the state of their heels...


Taking some fabric from my stash, which used to be material covering a toiletry bag in a state of disrepair. 20c op shop purchase of course.

I used Mod Podge, and black craft ribbon, to cover the damaged heels.



Happy new shoes! Blogged here

Back to front butterfly shirt

Hi refashioners. Erica here, signing in for editor duty today. I've been working on a few projects this week. Firstly, a butterfly shirt I picked up a while ago from an op shop.

Pretty butterflies

An interesting one, for it is, believe or not, a man's shirt by fashion label English Laundry. It amazes me that someone originally bought this shirt at all, for a woman, maybe, but for a man? Surely not. Shirt before, ick..

I used the front of butterfly shirt for the back of my new top, removed the collar, plus added some bias tape from my sewing stash for the neckline...

Shirt back - now front

Shirt front - now back

Since sewing this top, I have included two front darts (thanks for advice Huli) to make the top a better fit, but as yet have not taken any photographs.

In an attempt to minimise waste material, I have been using the rest of the shirt to make other things such as

The collar I have stitched to a pale blue jumper from my wardrobe

Toddler shirt sleeve PJ pants; fits around 18 months

Plastic bottle cuff, similar to ones that I made here. The blue silk fabric I have used for this fabric flower was the back yoke shirt lining.

A fabric flower greeting card!

I haven't posted on my own blog about all of these little butterfly sub projects yet, for I am still going with the excess fabric! I intend to use every single piece of it. However, I have blogged about my butterfly top here.

Romper Stomper

So finally I'm busting out another refashion, and this one I'm so proud of, it turned out so cute and finally the Spring weather is here so I can actually wear it without fear of Frostbite, Windburn and Hyperthermia (a real buzz kill!)

So I switched up the Romper to a dress using the tutorial I made for trousers to skirt, this was so easy and switched up the 80's look which I just cannot carry off at the Mum and Toddler groups to a more refined 40's look.

I added piping to the neckline, switched up the dreary buttons and cut the sleeves down and with a bit of trickery Bob's your Uncle a cutout sleeve, this is definitely going on my Tutorials list when things are back to normal after the big move. The sleeves look so much cuter on but I struggle to get a good photo of myself in this apartment.

The boring before shot :)

I blog here

Recycling scraps and a question

Hi everyone!

I know the focus here is fashion, but this is a fashionable accessory... so, does that slide?

It was my friend's birthday, she's allergic to everything so I made her a tissue holder using the Very Purple Person tutorial (so easy) from some organic linen scraps. As they were scraps I had to be a little bit inventive with my cutting, but this is how it started out...

... and here's the finished product!

You can see more info on my blog here, and more ideas for recycling scraps here.

Also... 

A guy friend of mine has just cleaned out his wardrobe and I managed to sneak 5 men's business shirts before he donated them to the op-shop. They're in great condition and I was wondering if anyone had any tutorials or ideas that they could send my way?
Thanks in advance!

Reana Louise x

The new girl

Hi everyone, I'm new here. My name is Ellie, I live in England with my gorgeous fiance and our 2 babies. We're getting married in August so I'm trying to save money where I can and one massive way I can is to make everything we need out of stuff I'll surely already have in my massive overflowing craft room. I usually blog at Mammy Made. There are a couple of refashions on there already but I have big plans for many more. I hope it's ok to post these as I did them last year but first I turned this:


into this:



I also made a toddler dress out of an old materrnity top I had. I forgot to take a before pic, I was that excited to get it done lol, but it turned out like this:



Now to turn the rest of my evergrowing refashion pile into cute stuff :D

Thanks for letting me join, this blog is awesome!!

Quick Administrative Notice

The time has come! There are now too many invitations to author sent, and we are up against our 100 author limit!

I had to start removing those of you who asked for contributor status, but haven't yet accepted. It is entirely possible that I made a mistake and eliminated someone who truly hasn't had time to accept yet. If so, I apologize! Please send an email and I can re-invite you.

But remember, we do require that all contributors post at least once a month, and we are keeping track :)

We will be starting to remove our infrequent posters soon. If you are busy with life right now, that's ok! You can ALWAYS request again later. But if you need a deadline to get sewing...here it is!! What are you waiting for?

Happy refashioning!
Jenni
Editor on Duty

Rome was built in less time

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best.

I'll model this for one person only.

(Hint: it ain't any of you...).

Striped Huli

Hello refashionistas :) Today I finished changing this thrifted top:

To this dress:

Or rouched up & worn as a top:

It was a wet & miserable morning so me & my lil man had some fun "refashioning" our faces ;)