Plaid Shirt Gets a Flashy Make-Over

Hi All!

This has been a BUSY month! March is BIRTHDAY month! Plus, I have actually been able to do a decent amount of sewing  YAY!

The hubby took me to none other than one of our favorite place: Frankenmuth, MI to celebrate my BIG 3-0! Wow!

I started with this hum-drum plaid button up shirt. I love the colors in this plaid shirt! Nice metallic leggings 

I removed the collar and stitched it up.

Removed the pockets (usually an easy task, but these were very stubborn!)

Remember my metallic leggings?! I cut off the bottom hem….

I used the bottom of my metallic leggings to fill in the open flaps on each side.

A little pop of shine!

Happy Refashioning!!!

Check out my stash of refashions on my blog

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A Retro Refashion and Party

This is one of my mom's dresses she wore in the 70's.  I decided to make it over and wear it to a retro themed party.  It wasn't a huge change, but it was enough for what I wanted.

I eliminated the drop waist and shortened the sleeves and the length.  I also "de-puffed" the sleeves.

Here's a few pics from our fun retro evening.

Check out my blog, Second Chances by Susan, for more pics of the evening, and a brief explanation of "de-puffing" sleeves.  (Is that really a phrase?!) 

The Gray Leftovers Shirt

 Hello Refashion Co-op. Do you save all your sewing scraps like I do? I always try to use them, and that's what I did today. 

I had a cute striped shirt that was too small and tight to wear.

When I refashioned this gray knit dress last week, I had a long piece of fabric from the skirt leftover. That leftover piece was going to come in handy.

I cut the gray fabric into 2 long thin pieces and sewed them into the side seams of the striped shirt.

This made the body and the sleeves of the shirt bigger. that was exactly what I needed.

It was easy and quick work. Using knit material was the best because the fabric didn't fray and the shirt is still as soft and comfortable as it was before.

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

A Marvelous Marble Refashion

This is one of those refashions of a refash. This dress was handmade by someone and thrifted by ME!

As you can see, this does nothing for me…

Onto the chopping block! I chopped off the length of the dress to make it a tunic.

I hemmed the bottom of my tunic.

It is hard to see the detail of the dress in the before picture but it had a diagonal flap of fabric across the chest. I used the scrap of fabric from the bottom of the dress to make another flap of fabric across the chest.

Lastly, I made a cut down the middle of the neckline and folded the sides back to create a v-neck. I stitched that down. I also shortened the sleeves to just about the elbow and POOF!

A new tunic!

Happy Refashioning!!!

Check out my stash of refashions on my blog

No time to waist

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I bought this skirt from a local charity shop, I liked the colour and design but it was a size too small.

Due to the flared shape this could be fixed by taking a couple of inches off the waist.

More of a resizing than a refashion.

There were very slippery but lovely silk fabric panels with a nice flared  band around the bottom.

Sometimes the deconstruction of a garment can be quite interesting as unexpected elements appear from within.

I turned the waist under a couple of cm simultaneously making the skirt shorter and bigger.

There are more details and photos here

The Gray Spring Dress

Hello Refashion Co-op. I am having a cold, gray, snowy spring so far. It gave me some extra time to sew because we were snowed in for 2 days. I got to work on this gray dress. It was a nice knit but it was too big and the neckline was too low.

There was seam running down the back of the dress that I used as a guide to take the dress in. I took out about 4 inches. I didn't want the dress to be tight just a little smaller.

I noticed that the dress was uneven in length so I was careful when I shortened it to make it even all the way around. 

The dress fit much better now but it still needed a belt to look it's best. You can see the fabric I cut off the bottom laying in a circle on the floor around the dress. I had a plan for that circle of fabric. I will show you that next time.

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

Resizing and updating a fit and flare dress

I am back! I have finally sat by the sewing machine again.

This cute dress was two sizes too big. I had already begun the resizing process, when I remembered to take photos. Here it is pinned in the back.

- I took it in along the mid back.
- And in the seams at the front sides.

The dress was still too large in the area between bust and neck.

I decided to make a neckline slit. I could use it to remove some of the extra width, and the slit would also provide the visual separation of the bust, which is flattering when you have a larger bust.
- I cut the slit and removed a cake-piece-shaped slice of fabric.

Tip:
When you redesign a neckline, the advantage of making a slit is that you don't need more of the same fabric. The slit needs a facing, but it can be made of a different fabric, as it will be on the wrong side, and only peek out a tiny bit.

- I stitched the facing on, turned it to the wrong side, and topstitched it.
- I sewed on hook and eye. You can leave it unbuttoned for a more relaxed styling.

- Lastly I shortened the dress by 9 cm (3 35/64").

I wasn't completely sure the neckline slit would work as I thought, so I didn't make a tutorial. But it worked perfectly.
So I will do the slit trick with another dress I have, which has the same problem - and make a tutorial for you.

More photos of the process on my blog: http://saga-i-farver.blogspot.dk/2018/03/formindsket-kjole-fit-and-flare-dress.html

KISS

As in, Keep It Simple, Sewist.

This was originally a cardigan, and I had it sitting on Gabbi there for a very long time trying to decide what to do with it.  The sleeves were the problem - they stretched out and looked awful within an hour of wearing.  It didn't help I push my sleeves up a lot, but even so.

I came up with a whole lot of different ideas of fixing them: ruching, shortening and adding tabs, elasticising the cuffs... because I don't do sleeveless, I just don't like that on me.

And then it finally occurred to me - it's not like I'm ever going to wear this on its own, on account of it has no front closure (that's not me either!).  So if the other item had sleeves - good to go!  So off they came.  I tried unpicking the seam (nightmare) so in the end just cut them off with a 1cm allowance and hand sewed that down to neaten up the armhole - simples.

 

And sorry there are no before shots.  I did take some, but my computer recently died on me and the before photos are now missing.

 

Happy sewing!

 

Mimi



St. Patrick's Day T-shirt

Hello Refashion Co-op. Life gets busy but it's never to busy to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. I wanted to wear something fun for the holiday and my husbands Ireland t-shirt was too small for him so......

I decided to make the big blue t-shirt fit better and add some green sleeves for warmth. And green for St. Patrick's Day, of course. I cut the sleeves from this green shirt that didn't fit me very well. They are only 3/4 length but they will work for my new shirt.

I adjusted the fit on the blue shirt and attached the green sleeves. Very simple.

I was ready for the holiday to begin! Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

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

The Denim Shirt

Hello Refashion Co-op. I thought the weather was going to warm up so I made a short sleeved shirt. (It isn't warmer, it is freezing where I live. I was freezing the day I wore this shirt.) I really like how the shirt turned out though. I am going to wait for a warmer day to wear it again.

This denim shirt was great, but the fit was awful. I knew just what I wanted to do.

I made the sleeves shorter and reattached the wrist cuff pieces back on the short sleeves. (Is there a real name for the wrist cuffs?) The result was a sort of puffy short sleeve with a fitted cuff on the end. I also made the shirt a little more fitted in the body.

I wanted a belt or sash to tie around the waist. I used these old jeans and cut 2 long pieces. I connected them and I had my belt.

 I liked how the belt cinched in the waist. The jeans had a little stretch in them so they made a REALLY comfortable belt.

I went out for a cup of coffee and that was it. Thanks for reading, For more details and pictures go to I Can Work With That.