My Frumpy-to-Fabulous Skirt Refashion

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here on the Refashion Co-op. I am so excited to be contributing, and I love the fact that now I will have a reason to finish some of the projects that I start and maybe would not be as motivated to finish!

A little bit about me: I am a military veteran, a graduate student (but only for a few more weeks, I graduate in December!), a wife, a burlesque dancer (I know! Scandalous!), the loving and doting companion to three "fur kids", and an animal rescue/adoption advocate. I blog over at Em-provising, and am really enjoying it. I love getting to know fellow bloggers and am sooo impressed with the amount of talent and creativity I see in these other women.

For my first contribution, I am posting a skirt I made a little while ago that has become one of my favorites for fall. I love it! The best part? I got it for free!

"Before": this skirt was about a size 18. Since I forgot to take a picture of it then, this is a picture of the original length, which was a weird, mid-calf length that was not flattering on me. This is FatSpice, our fat cat, who likes being in on the projects. 

After I had taken in the waist, making sure to preserve that cute waist-tie thing that the skirt originally had, I shortened it. Here is the finished product!! I love wearing it with my go-to booties and a white shirt. Of course, I pair it with a sweater now because it has FINALLY gotten cooler in Georgia. :)

If you would like to see more of the steps, you can go to the original post. Thanks so much for taking a look! :)

the coveted coven dress

Have you been delighting in the wicked witchery that is American Horror Story: Coven?

Those divinely fiendish ladies of New Orleans inspired me to take these spellbinding ingredients…

 

 and conjure up some Refashionista Magic to create…

a groovtastic little number perfect for casting spells…

 

rosettes hand-stitched to the collar, cuffs & fancy new hi-lo hem transformed this once frumpy frock into an enchanting ensemble...

Have a browse around my craftilicious blog for more groovy tutorials

a touch of embroidery

I started out  with this slightly too long and lose, not to mention boring, top.

 So I shorted it as well as took it in a bit from the side seams.

 I also added some embroidery.

I experimented with using a bit of elastic to take it in a bit at the waist - not sure about that but it looks a lot better than the original item

Wool & Winter White

If' you've been following along with the Renegade Seamstress's Refashion Runway - and if you haven't you've been missing out - you know that this week's theme is winter white.

I sewed along with the peplum challenge a few weeks ago, and I thought I'd sew along again this week. I didn't have any white in my "to do" pile, but I was able to find an off-white top and a blue-gray wool skirt for $1 each. Both were ill-fitting and outdated. Perfect.

Frumpy squared.

The shirt was just a bit too big and had an attached polyester lining. I cut the lining away from the lace, pinned, and sewed the sleeves and sides to make the shirt fit a little better. Then I reassembled the lining into an undershirt.

Separate and take it in.

The skirt was way too small. To make it fit I cut off the waist band and removed the unnecessary pleat down the front. Then I undid the hem around the bottom, and added two new small pleats in the front of the skirt to match the original pleats and nip in the waist.

De-pleat and re-pleat.

I didn't feel like creating a new waistband (lazy me) so I finished the edge around the top with 1/4 inch double fold bias tape and added a hook and eye above the zipper to keep the top closed.

I paired my winter white top and wool pencil skirt with gray tights, black shoes, and the wide black belt that I altered a while back. 

New winter office wear.

This project has me antsy to start on the winter refashions I have lined up. I should probably finish my fall projects first, right? 

More photos of the refashion in process and a lot of other projects can be found on my blog.

- Elizabeth
aka The Hungry Octopus

Now blogging at www.TheHungryOctopus.com!

A Dirndl for Halloween

I am mostly German, and my husband is, too. I had always loved the look of a dirndl and decided this was the year to make my own for Halloween. I love a good excuse to play dress-up!

I started out with this blouse and embroidered vest from the thrift shop.

I also bought a curtain panel in a matching plum color to make my skirt. The petticoat was unearthed from my mom's closet, where it had been hanging out since my wedding.

For the vest, I took in the sides a few inches to make it snug. I carefully removed the trim from the front of the vest so I could cut the front into more of a low-cut U-shape. When I reattached it, I found that the edge of the vest was now longer, and the trim too short, but I hid the gap under the buttons. I made a simple elastic-waist skirt from the curtain panel. The petticoat was much more of a challenge. The stretchy top panel was worn out, so I had to remove it and a good bit of the width and length. I was able to work it out, though, even reusing the original zipper. 

The final touch was a sweet vintage apron for $5 at my local hospital charity shop. 

Here is the final outfit. I love how it turned out! I wore my hair in braids and accessorized with a plastic stein filled with Bavarian-style pretzels for my daughter's school party. I didn't think they'd like it if I brought beer.

Happy Halloween!  -Amy

A Halloween Refashion

What would Refashion Tuesday be this week without a little Halloween inspiration? This dress has actually been sitting in my closet waiting patiently to be refashioned since summer. For some reason I skipped over it week after week, I must have subconsciously known it would be perfect for Halloween..

Check out my blog, Buttons and Birdcages for more on what I did!

You can also Follow me on BlogLovin' or Facebook for other updates

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

Maternity top to kid's night shirt

My growing daughter needed a new pajama top. The cold season is coming, so I wanted to make her a hip-length top with long sleeves. To get the length I wanted, I started with a women's top.

The neckline was enormous, so I put a piece of elastic through the neck band. Gathering the neckline effectively shortened the sleeves, so I only shortened them an inch more. This was a maternity top, so I took off a lot of material from the sides. The yellow lines in the picture below show where I made the new seams.

Then to make it fun I machine embroidered an owl onto the front. I put a stabilizer on the back of the fabric, drew an owl with washable marker, then used various stitches to fill in the picture. I've never done this before; it was fun! Took me a few hours to do the owl.

Here is a close-up of the owl.

Vintage Winter White

This is the last week of Refashion Runway over at the Renegade Seamstress.  

This week's challenge:

Winter White

I opted for a vintage look with a gathered skirt and hooded capelet.

I also made a small clutch to match.

A fur muff keeps my hands warm when its snowing outside!

For a full tutorial you can visit my blog, Second Chances by Susan.

 Be sure to check out the other winter white refashions over at the Renegade Seamstress and vote for your favorite!  This is the last week!

Skirt refashion

Rooting through my wardrobe, I find a selection of clothes which although I am still wearing them, they are not the most flattering fit. Or is it that my shape has changed?
A number of skirts are an unflattering length, midi may be in fashion but it doesn't suit me. This one I plucked out first is A line and needed shortening, no before pic I'm afraid, but the main difference I made is in the length.

However, it's not just a quick shortening job. I carefully cut about 10 cm off the bottom, keeping the circle whole, and rehemmed the skirt.
Then I ran a gathering thread round the top of the offcut, and stitched it above the new hem as a ruffle, easing it slightly beforehand.
Thus achieving three things. A shorter skirt. A flattering ruffle just above the knee. And the spare piece of fabric parked where I can find it in case I need it in future.

Thrifty Upcycled Alice In Wonderland and Mad Hatter Costumes

Greetings from Colorado.

It's almost Halloween and today the weather definitely feels like fall.  Sorry I don't really have a before picture of this but you can see the list of items that I used and how much I spent  here.


Hope everyone has a fun Halloween.

Cindy @ Upcycled Design Lab

Leather jacket refashion

This refashion was inspired by blogger, sewist and amazing fabric dyer sallieoh...I want to make one just like the off-white one she did, but I'm working with what I can find at the thrift store here, so black it is! I pinned the jacket to my "refashion ideas" board on Pinterest and immediately started looking for a leather jacket with soft, supple leather that would drape nicely. Found it and paid $6!!!

I set about deconstructing this by removing the lining, then the collar, sleeves, shoulder pads, facing, etc.

Then I turned it inside out, put it on, and drew lines with chalk showing where I'd need to take things in and make the big cuts.

Can you see the chalk lines just above the pockets?

After making the chop, I took in the sleeves, made a slight adjustment to bring up the shoulder line, trimmed up the excess leather and reattached the sleeves, as well as took in the sides a bit.

I decided to keep the sleeves long, seeing as I'll be wearing this in cooler weather.

From here I trimmed off the the areas where the buttonholes are and where the buttons attached, then sewed on two same-sized sections of the leather that I'd trimmed from the bottom of the jacket.

Here's where things get a bit tricky...Up until this point everything was pretty straightforward...but my next step was to take in the lining and reinsert it into the new jacket...never done this before, and I knew that it would take time and require a lot of patience. So, I got to it. I took in the sleeves, cut off the length, slowly started sewing it into the jacket. Along the way I decided to reinsert a collar to give the neck some shape and it is almost like large piping. I sewed in the lining up to where the extra leather flaps were attached, and to allow for better drape, left the flaps unlined. I trimmed up the flaps, used some black lace tape to prettify where the lining ends and the leather flaps attached and made tiny adjustments here and there all along the way. It took somewhere between 4-5 hours all told, and I still may make a couple of small changes, but I love how it turned out!!! Very much like Carissa's leather jacket that she made for the Refashion Runway Challenge :) (Which she is rocking, btw!!!)

Seen here with my coconut shell feather earrings, thrifted cami and skinny jeans...in my bathroom! The only room with good light once the sun has gone down ;)

And that's that! I am tired, my head aches a bit, but it's done, and I'm really pleased with how it all came out. Being an "on the fly" kind of sewist, I really had to slow down and take lots of care with this one, which was a good learning experience and I love perfecting new ways of finishing items so that they are just as pretty on the inside as they are on the outside. It's not perfect, in that sense, but far better than some of my first refashions ;)

Well, here's hoping that you are either finishing or starting your day well...be creative today! It'll do ya good ;)

Peace,

Andrea

LittleDidYouKnow

Modcloth-inspired baseball shirt

This summer, I got two very large men's baseball t's at a garage sale for $1 each. I made the navy and white one into this t-shirt dress. This was the other one.

I was inspired by this shirt from Modcloth, a site I stalk routinely for new inspiration. 

I took in the sleeves and the side seams of the shirt to make it more fitted. Then I cut the high-low hem, though not as dramatically as the inspiration piece, and stitched the hem. Here's how it turned out.

It was great for not-too-hot summer days. Now that it is much cooler here near Chicago, I have started styling it with a button-down for added warmth.

It is so soft and comfy - it is my new favorite shirt. Thanks for reading!

-Amy

T

Coral cut off

A lovely lady gave me the coral boyfriend cardigan a couple years back and I wore it to death. I wore it with purple and with black and with denim. It’s a fun and bright color, different than I would normal gravitate towards.


As you can see, the “boyfriend” style hangs down quite past the red lady’s slender hips. My hips IRL are a tad bigger and it’s not the best cut for my figure. And if I actually tried to put something in the pockets? oh dear, it was like I had gained an extra 15 cookies to my figure.   I cut the bottom portion off at the second button and added some vintage lace from an estate sale. (True color is more like the outdoors picture)

 I folded the sides of the cardigan over and sewed them straight down, which was good because it hid the button hole stuff, but then there was no way to keep it closed. Oops. I got a nifty metal closure at a fabric store in Seattle and it does the job!  

In other happy refashioning news, I dripped something all over this bright green dress that won’t come out in the wash. (oil? butter? something like that) The green dress has been banished to the basement until I figure out what to do with it. New material, yes!

Love,
Amy Jo at The Little Moments