Here Comes the Bride???

Hello Refashion Co-op. I found this great white dress at a clothes swap. It looked a little "bridal" to me. I decided to dye it and give it a different look.

Here is the white dress. It was in great shape except for the bottom edge of the dress. The skirt part fit  and zipped up in the back well enough but the top of the dress was too small. There is no way I can button it up.

I hemmed and finished all the cut edges until I had a jacket and skirt. The dye really made the details of the lace show. I didn't really alter the dress much. I just cut it in half and hemmed the bottom. 

I love the results.

Thanks for reading, for more details go to I Can Work With That.

A Navy and Cream Tunic

As I mentioned in my last post, I had the bodice left over after refashioning the lower half of the dress into a skirt.  Even though I have made several tunics lately, this left over piece was just destined to become yet another one...they are very comfortable after all!

If you would like to read more on how this tunic came to be, including my two failed attempts, you can visit my blog, Second Chances by Susan.  Thanks!

Blinded by the (Neon) Light

Hello Refashion Co-op. I found these neon corduroy pants at a clothes swap. Neon seems like a summertime color and corduroy seems like a wintertime fabric.

 I also found this neon shirt and was overwhelmed by the blinding color. 

I decided to make shorts for myself. 

The corduroys were too big around the waist so I made some tucks in the back. I made the tucks continue down behind the back pockets. 

I decided this shirt would coordinate with the shorts but be a lot easier on the eyes. It was too long and the V-neck was too low. I used a quick no-sew fix to make it fit me. I cut the sleeves and the neckband off. That left a tank top shape.

I made cuts across the shoulder straps and tied them together. By adjusting the knots I could adjust the fit as I wanted. This raised the neckline and made the armholes smaller until the shirt fit. 

Thanks for reading, for more pictures and details go to I Can Work With That.

Tunic and Vest from Dress and Jacket

#82 Back to School Wardrobe

REFLECTIONS:  Current focus on Re-fashions includes pre-retirement University professional clothing to fit the current lifestyle.   

Current part-time work needs are:

• Professional clothing, but not at the University level.
• Business casual clothing.    

BEFORE: Unstructured suit-dress that fit the on-campus University life-style.

Imagine:

• hose and heels for fall / spring
• sandals for summer  

STEPS:  I wanted a looser tunic style fit. I switched rolls.  Original sleeveless dress becomes tunic with sleeves. Original jacket becomes vest.

• Remove sleeves from jacket. Open sides of jacket and dress.
• Cut 4” strips from the bottom of the dress.  Insert strips into sides of original dress (now tunic), original jacket (now vest), and sleeves.
• Re-insert sleeves.

AFTER:  Vertical stipes in the inserts against original horizontal stripes was a good design element.  

• Tunic with new sleeves.
• Vest to layer over tunic.    

AFTER:
New tunic / vest
for more casual part-time work

AFTER:
Looser tunic style
Sleeves switched to create vest and tunic.

New vertical insert
cut from dress length
adds design element

Looser tunic style top. 

BEFORE:
On-campus unstructured suit-dress.
Imagine hose and closed toe shoes.

BEFORE:
On-campus sheath dress with jacket.
No sleeveless allowed. 

Saving a Shirt with Shoulder Seam Adjustment

 #81 Back to School Wardrobe

REFLECTIONS:  Last August I self-challenged to: Shop from the closet. 

• No new / used clothing for this school year, until this August.
• This year of no shopping has expanded to include Charlie’s closet..

BEFORE: From Charlie's closet.

• Thrifted nearly new, shirt was too large in shoulders.
•  Shoulders were too wide and the sleeves came down below his elbows.
• Narrow shouler adjustments were needed in many of my own Re-fashions.  

STEPS:

• Remove sleeves.
• Trim 2 1/2 “ total, 1 1/2“ off on the shoulder and 1” off of the sleeves.
• Re-insert sleeves. Serge.

NOTE: When I trimmed the shoulders back, the arm cycle was naturally enlarged. The sleeve was adjusted to fit into the larger opening. And ½” seam was taken to adjust the arm cycle opening at the side seam.

AFTER:  Charlies shirt that fits.

• Much appreciated in this no shopping year.

AFTER
Edge of board marks
change in shoulder seam

DURING

AFTER: Edge of board marks shoulder
seam spot before adjustment
Removed 1 1/2"' inch shoulder
1" from sleeve cap

   

BEFORE:
Paper marks before width of shouler

BEFORE: Too wide shoulder
Too long sleeve

Faded Jeans

I have a too short jeans problem

I used these three different washes to lengthen my style.

Long pants for the win!

Come check it on my Blog!

Give the Cat a Name

Super Easy Dress to Skirt Refashion

I had an adorable pink, gray and black color block dress. But I found I had stopped wearing it because it felt a little bit too short and because it was strapless I felt like I was constantly pulling it up.

Like with anything in my closet that sits unworn for long periods of time, I consider if I want to eliminate it from my wardrobe or simply change it. The dress had fantastic pockets and I really wanted to keep it, so I decided to turn it into a skirt.

I basically just removed the bodice part, shortened the zipper and finished the top of my new skirt waistband. It dropped the skirt enough to make it a totally comfortable and appropriate length that I decided to wear it to the office.

Here's the side by side:

To learn more about how I changed up the skirt and why I call it the "prevailing pink skirt," check my blog at ProbablyRachel.com

Thrifted skirt to top 👘

A basic blouse 👘 is a must have in every wardrobe, that's why I want to show you this little tutorial 🔖 on  how to make a super easy blouse which will be not only good looking 👱 but also extremely comfortable. 

Skirt Before :

My fabric before 👉 big skirt with lovely pattern in beautiful warm colors , it's 100 % viscose so I will be able to wear it also during summer ☀

  during work 👊

here 👇 you can see how ready blouse 👕 looks like on human being , it's very comfortable ❕
the fabric is 100 % viscose so I can wear it even during hot summer , 
I think I will make  2 ✌ more of those but this time I'll use silk and make different necklines

SKIRT BEFORE BLOUSE AFTER

  Whole easy tutorial in english 😊 and much more photos here.👋

 Love ❤,

The Donut Shirt

Hello Refashion Co-op. I made a donut shirt recently after seeing a DIY on Pinterest. You can see the original post here. 

I used a basic white shirt to start with. My mom handed-it-down to me. (Thanks Mom!) I covered the shirt to protect it while I was painting. I painted some light brown paint around the collar as the cake of the donut. It dried over night.

I added some bright pink as the icing. I painted heavily so it covered the white shirt fully. I let that dry too.

I added some colorful little dabs as sprinkles on top. It dried over night again.

I had a lot fun making this. I wanted it to be cute but not clownish.

What is on my wrist?

I made a bracelet to go with my shirt. It was basically the same process as the shirt collar.

Here is my finished donut bracelet up close.

Thanks for reading, for more pictures and details go to I Can Work With That.