Before...

Pattern I used for the bodice & midriff...

Midriff I fought with & ended up not using...

After...

More details of how much I fought this project & my attempt at a tutorial on my blog Ressa's Revamps. I'm really trying to get better at writing tutorials, please bear with me while I'm learning, thanks! 

DIY Doily Refashion

 My latest DIY refashion is a gray, cotton, hooded, sweat jacket from Target.  I'd been meaning to replace the jacket's hood draw string, which was pulled out completely in the wash. But after seeing this really cute jacket 

at the Oliva Page Clothing shop on Etsy, I decided to do a knock off using a vintage doily from my collection, white ribbon, and some recycled pink pajama pants cording. 

I don't remember what color the original hood string was, but this pink pops. Rethreading was easy using a wood shishcabob stick from my kitchen pantry. I wrapped the ribbon end, over the flat end of the stick, and simply pushed it through. 

It worked great! 

I cut my doily in half, and using white ribbon, folded in half, I enclosed the cut edges. Then used a floral stitch attached the doily on either side of the zipper of the jacket.

I also added some vintage lace to the sleeve cuffs that I might remove, because it looks better before I have the jacket on!

I really like the finished look. The weather has finally changed to cool temps today, and wind is coming down from the north. So, I might get a chance to wear it tonight:)

                     Hugs, Michele

www.sewsweetvintage.com

Refashioning Past Creations

A few summers ago I made some things inspired by a book that had you cutting out the entire garment in one piece.  Some things that I made I liked, but a few I never wore even one time.  These two items were unstructured, flowsy-blowsy things that I always admire on other people and in line drawings, but somehow never look or feel right on me.

This top was cut out of a triangle that you just wrap around yourself and add straps to. You can see the loose end hanging behind my arm.  This shirt ended up leaving a huge amount of leftover fabric, enough that between the triangle and the leftover I was able to make a shirt for myself and  tank top for my sister ( I did use a pattern to make mine):

Below is a beach coverup.  I picked seersucker as I thought that seemed beachy, but it ended up reminding me of a robe you'd wear at the gynecologist, or even of the bib at the dentist. So it became a fitted blouse (again I used a pattern).  

Hopefully they'll get more use this way!

Can’t be beat

White T plus denim. Works for any age, any gender. 

Refashioned? Even better.

Details over at A Life Without Clothes (and A Year Without Craft Supplies has a somewhat funky non-refashioning idea for all those miles of seams should you care to look).

IWOM

Taronga Zoo Curtain Re-Fashion

Yet another source of fabric that can be refashioned are curtains. They are usually in plentiful supply second hand and the designs are great, especially kids' curtains. The main issue is the weight, as they can be heavy and may also have a layer of blockout to help keep out the sun. So a design should be chosen that takes advantage of these disadvantages.

I had picked up this curtain from my favourite market about 6 years ago which depicted Australia's main and best Zoo - Taronga. I wanted to make an outfit for my daughter who is about to turn six as we will be going to Taronga Zoo to celebrate.

A pattern I had made for an unlined jacket was perfect as the blockout layer creates a nice underneath look (along with bound seams) and the extra weight means a warmer jacket. I used a culotte pattern for the pants, which I made to go with the the Jacket. It's going to be a great day at the Zoo!

If you are interested in seeing other outfits that I have refashioned and made, please visit my blog:

www.orangewho.com.

Cheers

Mary D

Orange Who? At least it's not all Pink and Blue

Sorta Sorbetto & Pink Pants

Today's outfit started as an ill-fitting dress and a pair of awkward-length capris. The dress was clearly intended for someone much perkier than I, like maybe a 12-year-old. Seriously, the supposed-under-bust seam hit me right at the nipples, so I had these weird empty dress-boobs a few inches above my actual boobs. Not attractive.

And then I picked up these pink pants at Goodwill the other day for a couple bucks. They fit great, but I wasn't thrilled with the length.

I used the skirt portion of the dress to make my first Sorbetto, or at least my approximation of Sorbetto sans pattern. For the pants, I just cut them off above the knee seam and rehemmed them. I've already worn this outfit twice since I made it. I love it!

I totally drank the Sorbetto koolaid. Might have to make a few dozen more.

For more details and pics, check out CarissaKnits!

Jones of New York Dress to PJ!

Greetings! Well finally I had some time to refashion here! Got a time to take a breath!

I found this lovely dress which actually fit well at one of the Goodwill by the pounds. The fabric is gorgeous and it was Jones New York. When I put it on I realized that I did not like the length. The bust area has a hint of sheerness. And in reality I won't get any use out of it b/c this sort of formal. But it sort of had a PJ look to it. I decided to turn it into a 2 piece PJ set and make some shorts out of the bottom portion of the dress. Here is my new PJ set! I love it and will get more use out of it as a PJ then a dress!

For more information on my refashion click here! :)

Cheers,
Lauren

Tiki Sundress from a man's shirt

This summer, when it was frequently over 90 degrees, I realized that I didn’t have enough sundresses. I set about to correct that, and this XL shirt cast off by my husband was just the thing I needed. The pattern is made up of tiny Tiki heads!

The first step was to cut it up like this.

I used the bottom piece to make an A-line skirt, gathered at the top. I used the two layers of the back yoke to make a waist-piece, which I lined with some scrap blue fabric. Then, it was time to make the upper part of the bodice from the sleeves. I opened up each one and cut it in half, like this.

I used the cut edges as the bottoms of each of my four bodice pieces. For the back, I used the pieces in pretty much this same shape. The bust pieces required some darts and shaping, plus a lining from my blue fabric. The final step was making skinny straps to connect the bodice pieces over my shoulders.

Here is how it turned out.

Perfect for a barbecue on a hot summer day!

Thanks for reading.

- Amy

More Bags!!!!

It seems i just can't help myself! As promised, the green version of last week's upcycled bag from a child's corduroy dress...

 Complete with green enamelled button and forest green lining.

Plus... ok, there are a few more bags to add to last week's bag mountain. I know i said there would be no more bags. A word of advice: Never believe me if i say there are no more bags. There are ALWAYS more bags! I love bags. They are one of my favourite things to make.

These guys are made from upcycled chenille sweaters using a similar pattern to the corduroy ones, and fabric from my stash and an old tshirt for linings. Also some lovely buttons!

The second one is actually a very deep rich purple but it has come out much darker on the photo. I love the ribbing on this one, i think it really adds something extra.

These next two are inspired by the bag i thrifted as a gift for my friend, and changed the plastic handle for a long shoulder strap. These two are made from scratch in a similar design, from materials that are part recycled, part new, and part 'gifted stash' - that is, fabric i have rescued from friends who were going to throw it away (horror!) I'm afraid i don't have before pictures of the things i have recycled and they were mostly cut up a long time ago, but many of the beads were from old pieces of jewellery, buttons from clothes that have since been refashioned, ribbon scraps from other projects, and fabric from upcycled clothes (the outer of the black bag) and bedlinen (lining of the brown bag).

The beading on these little bags took forever, but was very enjoyable to do. I made two of the black one and gave one as a birthday gift; these two will find their way into my Etsy shop before too long. One of these days i will make one for myself (when my eyes have recovered from the hours it took to do these)!

I have some of the sweater fabric left over from the two sweater bags and am considering making a couple slightly smaller and with a beaded 'bib' like the satin bags. I'm a bit unsure of how the different textures will go together (the woolly jumper and the sparkly beads...) what do you think? would it be too much? or might it work? :) let me know!

As usual more details on my blog!

My DIY Elegant Redneck Wedding

Before ~ I was preparing for my wedding, my Aunt Mary gave me her 35 yr. old wedding dress & told me, "It's yours, do whatever you want with it." I had a really hard time with the thought of deconstructing it, this was a $400 dress in 1978, it's absolutely BEAUTIFUL & fabulously vintage, I hadn't sewn since I was in high school, I'm a newbie at deconstructing & reconstructing & the thought of ruining it just absolutely broke my heart. 

Then I tried it on & realized she was about 100 lbs. when she wore this dress, I don't even remember being 100 lbs. It's beautiful, but not exactly my kind of style. And it dawned on me... Do I want this dress to continue to yellow, get fragile & eventually fall apart in a box where all it will do is take up space & never be used in all of it's glory? My answer was, Heck NO, I have enough stuff in storage!!!

I used Rit Fabric Whitener trying to get the yellow out, wasn't white enough to my liking so I used bleach. I figured if it fell apart I might still be able to use the lace for decorations if all else failed... It whitened up some, I managed to get the yellow out & it didn't fall apart, YAY!!! So, I got out the seam ripper & as carefully as possible I ripped it apart... 

Around our parts we're proud to be Hick Chic Rednecks, I knew I wanted a Redneck theme with camo dresses... I laid the pieces of her dress on my Realtree AP camo material that took me FOREVER to find & almost cried at how beautifully it went together. I changed my theme to Elegant Redneck...

After trying the bodice on my Baby Girl/Flower Girl, Janeya, I decided it should be on her dress... 

Flipped the bottom piece of the bodice upside down & used it as the waistband. Ripped the wide lace that wrapped around the entire bottom of the train off my aunt's dress & used it as the bottom lace trim of my niece, Maranda's Jr. Bridesmaid dress. 

Maid of Honor & Bridesmaid dress waist ribbons were the long strips of lace that ran the length of the train, every few inches apart. I had A LOT of this lace...

Used a scrap of the wide lace, flipped upside down to doll up the neckline of my dress & covered the straps with the long strips of lace I had a lot of. Restrung my Grandma's old pearls & used a few of them to put in the flowers of the lace to doll it up a bit more...

Made matching $1 flip flops for all 6 of us girls by gluing the lace over the straps...

Here's a pic of the wedding party... My Best Friend, Jane made her own dress & Janeya's dress. Thank you Jane! I was feeling a bit overwhelmed to say the least... I made the other 4 dresses, my husband's vest & all the ties... This was the 2nd wedding dress I made a week before the wedding because I gained some weight & the 1st dress no longer fit. The underlay of my dress is the train overlay of my aunt's dress. I turned it into a skirt so I could just slip it off when the party started... Cut her cathedral length veil off, made a camo ribbon & trimmed it. 

My sister & Maid of Honor, Lori...

My best friend & Bridesmaid, Jane...

My newly inherited children, 

Best Man & Bridesmaid, Devin & Nicci...

My niece & Jr. Bridesmaid, Maranda, daughter & Flower Girl, Janeya & her best friends, Jonnie & Lila (My Best Friend, Jane's daughters) Janeya refused to walk down the aisle without them, so I said, "Girls, you're in the wedding."

My sons & Groomsmen, Austin & Dylan

 walking me down the aisle... 

Husband & Wife, FINALLY!!! I've been in love with Beez (Brian) since I was 12 years old... Waited 25 years, hoping & praying for him to come back to me & it finally happened... This truly was my dream come true! My uncle, Calvin carved the buttons for Beez's vest out of deer antlers & carved wooden, morel mushroom tie tacks for the guy's ties... My cousin, Tiffany used scraps of camo fabric to make my flowers. Thank you so much Uncle Calvin & Tiff! 

Beautiful, baby girl, Janeya...

To see more of my stuff visit my blog...

Ressa's Revamps

Thanks for looking & I hope you're inspired!