Saturday, November 30, 2013

skirts from duvet covers and dust ruffles

A friend of mine recently had to replace the boiler in her airing cupboard. When she was cleaning out the spare sheets and stuff, she discovered there had been a leak in there and a lot of the stuff was stained. She asked if I wanted to see if there was enough of it salvageable for fabric.

I guess you know what duvet covers look like! This is the end of one.

I need some basic summer skirts, so this will be a 'beige' version, even though the fabric is a quiet tan stripe.
To be honest, it was a bit too plain, so I have stitched a line of little shell sequins here and there. Three spaced lines in the front and one at centre back.
The detail shows the centre back. If you click on the photo, it should enlarge enough to show how the beads are secured with a metallic bead.

It will keep the skirt interesting, but still allow me to wear it with blouses that make their own statement. A bit like tone on tone embroidery.


For the rest of the bedding 'fabric'....
I sometimes make skirts to send to my friend who works in an orphan village in Ethiopia. The little ones get a lot of clothes sent, but the ones 10 and up need things. So I made six skirts from the duvets and dust ruffles. There were more stains on these things than I originally thought. But 6 skirts (plus 1 for me) is better than all of it getting tossed.
One from the tan stripe, one from a blue/white stripe and 4 from 2 red dust ruffles.

I cut some squares and arranged them and appliqued them on to the fronts of the skirts as they were a bit plain - or at least compared to the ones I am also sending made from some flowery fabric someone gave me. The basic shape of the skirt is like the one I did in a previous refashion.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Accidentally Felted Wool Sweater Upcycled to Felted Neck Warmer

This striped wool scarf used to be so long that I could wrap it around my neck four times with plenty of extra hanging down. 


This was one of the items "saved" from our house fire in May. It came back to me from the dry cleaners measuring a paltry 10" wide X 36" long. 


Waaahhh! What to  do? So, after some thought and brainstorming, I decided to still use it.


I folded it over into thirds lengthwise, so that the seam would face my neck. Then, I pinned the entire seam, so I could hand sew it as straight as possible.


I used a blanket seam on the outside of the scarf seam (what would become the "right" side of the scarf). This is the side that will touch my neck and clothes. 


Then, I turned it inside out, and blanket stitched it again, to make sure that the project would be nice and strong and maintain its shape.


Then, I turned it right side out and pressed it on the "wool" setting.


This is what it looks like after ironing. I did my best to keep those stripes as straight as possible.


Now, for the closure. I bought this "Industrial Chic by Susan Lenart Kazmer" from Michaels a couple of months ago when it was on clearance. It was originally sold to be a closure for jewelry.


I had other ideas for the closure. I used it as a closure for the neck warmer. I thought that it was a good match, because it was a bobbin with thread.


Here I am, modeling it. Not bad.....


Begone Vile Tiered Skirt




I have a few gypsy tiered skirts loitering with intent in my wardrobe. I liked the material but feel my ample hips and bottom are not a flattering fit for these types of skirt. Thirty seconds later, two snips and a try on, and I have a new shorter dress, cowl necked, no less and add a terrific thrifted belt. The shoulders fit nicely and it just shocked the heck out of me, that the frock actually worked.

All I did was cut two half moon shapes out of the skirt as shown,for the armholes, just a fee inches from the waist of the gypsy skirt and it's done. I am too lazy to hem the armholes, you might not be.

Please follow me or pay me a visit at TASMANIAN MINIMALIST

Thank you.
 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

T-shirt scrap dog portaits






Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I hope I am not breaking the rules here.   As you can see these are not wearable items but they were made from t-shirts so I am hoping that they qualify.  I haven't been crafting much lately but won't bore you with the details here.  These two portraits are projects that I actually made several months ago.  You can read more about them here and here.

Happy Refashioning,

Cindy @ Upcycled Design Lab

My first copy cat

It is a h&m knock-off .
Find out more on my blog --> http://etheea.wordpress.com
Let me know what you think , thank you!

New member Introduction

I am a new member and just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Bobbi and I am from BC Canada I am interested art and gardening. I have been sewing on and off for a long time and have been collecting thrift store clothes and fabrics for a number of years now. My first refasion was to used my old robe and turned it into a robe for my four year old. I am just setting up a small sewing room and look foward to sharing ideas and photos with everyone.

The awkward corduroy skirt

I found this skirt and it was just awkward. Like such an awkward length. For some reason it reminded me of something a librarian would wear. I felt like I should read a book with it on...


I replaced the buttons and shortened the length. 

Way less awkward. And way cuter. I even made my shirt that I am wearing with it. For more on the skirt click here. The easy peasy top will post this Friday.

Too all the readers in the US- happy thanksgiving! Hopefully I won't eat too much I will still be able to wear my new skirt. :)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

scarves from offcuts

I've been very busy making non clothing things and cards for Christmas, so although I have a couple of refashioning projects on the go, I've not had time to finish them. Also I find that I prefer to work in natural daylight, and we don't have as much of that at the mo'.

However, I thought I would just show you these scarves. The fabrics were just offcuts of jersey left over from shortening hem projects, about 2 metres x 350mm. They had been thrown into the scrap bag. Then when I was searching for some other fabric, I pulled them out. Because they are jersey, they had rolled up with the long raw edges tucked inside. So I just wrapped one round my neck over a plain t shirt, didn't need any other stitching at all.

When I get fed up with them, I'll make some brooches from the fabric.





The black one is actually striped with silver, so will enhance my Christmas wardrobe!


Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Help! Idea Needed!

Hi Everyone!

So, today I am coming to you with a different type of post. I need an idea on what to do with a garment as a Christmas gift for my boyfriends mother..

She gave me a BEAUTIFUL vintage robe that belonged to her mother for me to refashion into a dress - she insisted that I make something for myself with it, but I will have excess fabric that I would love to use to make something for her for Christmas but I have no idea what

I don't have an actual picture, but it is similar to this one:

And up close, the print look EXACTLY like this:

The fabric is gorgeous, but I want to avoid clothing as I worry about making it fit without measurements (And the fabric is so fancy, I'm not sure where she would wear it)

ANY ideas would be awesome!

Thank you so much!



Blouse with decorative buttons

A friend of mine gave me a lot of her old clothes. Among them this dress.One of the side seams had ripped, and it had a few small holes. 

I sewed up the seam and mended the holes. Then I added black buttons (that matched the buttons at the side) to cover the stitching.

No before picture, but it looked like in the after photo, just without the buttons.

I realised that I would never wear it as it was, so I shortened it to become a blouse. I love it now.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Refashions for Girls...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way. I'm madly sewing for Christmas at the moment, so I am way behind with all my other sewing. Instead of stressing about not having a project to show you this month, I thought I'd show you some of my favourite refashions I've made for girls. If you're new to the Refashion Co-op, you won't have seen them.

Three pre-loved t-shirts refashioned into a tunic length top...



A woman's dress turned into a girl's dress, bag and hair accessory...



A woman's top became a girl's skirt and a headband...



A man's shirt refashioned into a skirt for a girl...






A super easy refashion; modifying a woman's dress to fit a girl...



And my absolute favourite; combining a man's dress shirt and a woman's blouse to make the shirt dress...


See you next month with a new refashion... and good luck to everyone else aiming for a handmade Christmas.

... Pam

Jersey dress

The quality of the jersey fabric in this thrifted dress was awesome, but the very wide, and square, style just wasn't me (and what's with the strings...?) 

So I took the dress in about ½ meter.
Now: Simple and practical (and so soft) everyday dress.



Peter Pan Collar and Skinnies

Continuing my black & white series, this week I started with an oversized blouse...

B&W Blouse with Peter Pan Collar & White Skinnies

...a pair of wide-leg trousers...

B&W Blouse with Peter Pan Collar & White Skinnies

...and this partial dress I dug out of my scrap pile.

Sorta Sorbetto Top - In Progress

The blouse and bits of the dress became a sleeveless top with a little Peter Pan collar, and I took in the pant legs to be skinnies.

B&W Blouse with Peter Pan Collar & White SkinniesB&W Blouse with Peter Pan Collar & White Skinnies

More details and photos can be found at CarissaKnits! Enjoy!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Luxe sweatshirt

I have been inspired lately by all the fancy sweatshirts out there. Who wouldn't want a mix of comfort and chic style? Plus, they seemed really easy to make. I went out and bought a sky blue IZOD sweatshirt for a couple of bucks at the thrift store. I had some matching blue lace at home that I got from the remnant bin at Joann Fabrics.

I took all sorts of lovely photos of my process in creating this sweatshirt, but I can't get them right now due to technical difficulties. It is easy enough to imagine, though. I snipped out the front panel - removing the giant IZOD logo - inside the side seams, below the neckband, and above the waistband. I used this piece as a guideline to cut out my lace piece, cutting about 2 inches around the sweatshirt fabric. I pinned it in place on the inside of the sweatshirt and stitched it along the existing seam lines. Here's how it turned out.


And a close-up...


I love the contrast with a crisp white shirt, but I am also looking forward to styling it in other ways. It is comfy and pretty warm still but much more stylish.

Thanks for reading!       -Amy


Granny dress to Tunic

Well hello there readers!
Yesterday I did I refashion I was pretty proud of.

It started with the granny dress, complete with restrictive collar, floor length, and side zipper to hold in all those granny bits.

I found this little gem at the dollar-a-pound thrift store in Asheville, NC. It's a small one but I left with some good stuff! Read: refashionable stuff. This dress was originally a Liz Claiborne granny dress. The tag said the material was imported but didn't tell me what kind it is. It feels like a super light weight jean fabric, like a chambray. But what do I know....

Anyway! 
I grabbed that sucker off my dress form, tried it on and started safety pinning off the too big parts.
Then I ended up here: I removed the inner loopy neckline, leaving just the outer embroidery, took the length up a ton, took in the sides, and made endless hems. When I tried it on again tho, the sleeves were too tight. SO, I just cut the existing hem plus maybe a quarter inch, and then hemmed that as well. I ended up with this:
And the back!
What do you think? My husband said it looks like scrubs, I think it looks rather hippie and I feel like it needs something but I don't know what :/ help!
Sustainabot 



Hi!

I use a lot of canvas bags for all sorts of things - especially instead of plastic grocery bags - in the UK we have one supermarket with hideous orange ones that are blowing everywhere in the autumn wind!!
 I'd bought a cute coral coloured tee with lovely birds flying all over it - I don't wear that colour, but I couldn't leave it in the shop.... I also had a great canvas bag with Mick Jagger on the front. I love Mick, but the picture was very unflattering. So bag+shirt = great new refashion!!


Sorry, I don't have a full pic of the before T-shirt, but it was a size 14 that came up too short just above the hips......


sewed up the sleeves and the neck, using the bottom hem of the shirt for the top hem of the bag.

And the end result....


This makes the bag stronger for all those heavy root veggies I'll be buying for winter!

The full process can be seen here...

Thanks!! - AliceSaysNo



Houndstooth Refashion


I found this skirt at Goodwill a few months back, green is my favorite color, and I adored the houndstooth pattern to it. The only problem – it was too long for my taste. Not even just too long for my taste, but as a shorter person, longer lengths are just not particularly flattering on me. A quick hem and some tights were all it needed for a new look..


Like what you see?

Have an awesome Sunday, Everyone!
-Miche