It has pockets and I have ears

 A family member no longer wanted some jeans that had been part of their uniform at a fast food outlet (original picture... gone).  The denim is lightweight and soft, and they fit me quite well.  So I soaked them in dish-washing detergent a few times to remove the grease (not kidding), and good to go.  But they had fake front pockets - sewn together with no pocket bags.  That would not do!

Easy fixed (or so I thought).  There are so many seams and so much top stitching... and I should not have tried 'short cuts', just look how awry that belt loop is.

 

I went back and unpicked and then basted the seams first, something I forever avoid even when I sort of know it would be quicker in the long run.
 

It all came good in the end and now they have pockets!  I am not sure if I saved time by not dis-assembling them more first, because there was a lot of tricky maneuvering on the sewing machine to get them back together.  I have a new appreciation for how much work jeans are to make.

 

                                                                          

 

Moving on to jewellery upcycling - I've been fiddling with the necklace at the top for some time and I still don't know how I'm going to lengthen it a little and attach the catch.  So instead I started pulling apart other bits and pieces for parts (so soothing) and found some that could be whipped up into earrings right away. 

 

 

 

I auditioned some components.

 

And ended up with four new pairs of earrings just like that (well, really, I have a store of hooks, jump rings, crimp beads and tools for when the mood takes me).

 Happy upcycling!

Mimi

 

 

The never-ending and the near-instant refashion

Two refashions at either ends of the time taken scale.  

 

This first one I thought about for a looooong time as it involved cutting into a hand-knitted jumper.  I probably should have thought some more.

As is all too typical I jumped in without getting all the photos, but it was a bit like this - a long sleeve lace knit jumper in very soft lambswool.  Over time it had stretched out and the sleeves were now really long and the ribbing didn't hold them in place.  Super annoying to wear as the sleeves drooped over my hands.

I took in the sides and tried out a few different ideas for the sleeves.  I was somewhat inspired by a similar top I owned in a not so nice acrylic.

I took in the sides.  Luckily it was so oversize to start with, as the first experiment with the overlocker did not go well.  I could not adjust the differential feed enough to stop it going really wavy.  A very wide and loose zigzag on the sewing machine worked better.  I needed to go over it a more than once to catch the loose yarn.  Don't ask my why I unpicked the neck, but it seemed look a good idea,  I knitted it over with remnant wool and it now looks exactly the same.

 Tried out a few different sleeve variations and settled on short.

 Got them both sewed on and hated the puffiness when I tried it on.

Success!  I finally ended up taking the sleeves off altogether and knitting a rib edge to make a sleeveless vest.  Which I really like and will get much more wear out of when it's too hot for a full jumper but too cold for a long sleeve t-shirt on its own.  The remaining wobbliness in the sides drops out when worn.  The whole refashion and refashion again took 2-3 years in total.  Yup, 2-3 years.  I will think more than twice before cutting a lacy knit jumper again (probably).

By contrast this second refashion, for which I took no before pictures, took a day from the thrifting to  the finishing.  These are chef uniform pants I picked up because I wanted loose, light cotton pants for weekend summer wear.  I removed the last of the hook and loop tape on the back pockets, reinforced some broken seams and rolled up the hems.  They looked too chefy, so I threw them in a navy dye pot, which came out as a pale blue-grey colour due to the poly-cotton fabric, and done!

Happy refashioning!

Mimi

Happy New Sewing Year for 2023!

Do you make sewing resolutions for the year?

I do, usually overly ambitious ones for the amount of time I really have to sew.  This year I thought 4 x significant refashions was a sensible amount, but the year somewhat got away from me in the second half.

So I'm rounding out the year with two mends and two refashions of the simpler variety - but whatever saves an item from landfill and makes it useful in the closet again right?

  

Mend #1 - The very much liked jacket

A favour for a family member, who caught the pocket on a cupboard handle and tore the jacket right across the front.  The check design meant there was no way to match the pattern over the tear 

 

 

 

 

 

I sewed a strip of black fabric over the mend and added a hook detail to make it look like it was meant to be there.  The teen approves (which almost never happens).

 

 

 Mend #2 and Refashion #1 - Back in service

These could not be simpler - a very good laksa left a shadow of soup stains on the t-shirt that were never coming out - and cut-offs.

The circles are scraps of t-shirting fabric left over from various projects.  I bulk fused doublesided interfacing to the scraps and cut out a range of circles using different size lids as templates.  I arranged them over the stain shadows then elsewhere to round out the design, and ironed them on.

 

 

 

To make sure they stayed put after repeated washing I hand stitched around the edge with embroidery floss.

Sorry, I forgot to take before photos but I am sure you know what a stained t-shirt and jeans with holes look like.

Refashion #2 - The better than before dress to skirt

This was a new dress from Shein, tags still on.  Although a large size, the design of the dress put the first tier exactly where it was least flattering ( I bet you can figure out where) and the fabric is tissue thin and completely see-through.  You get what you pay for... (and yes, I did jump in again without taking photos so this is a reconstruction).

Cut off the unflattering bodice under the armpits, salvaged waist elastic (leaving it pre-sewn from previous garment saves time - whoo!) and some very thick white stretch material that's been in the stash (mumbles) long time.

Because the dress fabric is so flimsy I sewed the 'lining' which is heavier to the seam at the top of the first tier.  Then I measured and overlocked the top edge and made a fold over waistband over the elastic.

 

At this point there was a lot going on so I hand stitched the overlocked edge to the top tier seam as these were the strongest parts.  The lining is to the knee but the now skirt is maxi length.  And wearable.

Happy 2023 sewing!

Mimi-made

Reducing the punishment pile

 

 

 

Do you have those refashion items that don't work but you can't quite let go?  This is one of those: I like the colors, but it was all wrong when I put it on (length / fit / style).

It's been in my maybe one day pile for a long time.

 

Then one day when I was fossicking in my maybe pile that top and this striped one fell together.  They shouldn't work because one is raspberry and the other grape and grey but they look the same colour when they are together by some weird alchemy. 

Meant to be?  Maybe, and maybe not.  The neckline on this one is alarmingly stretched when wearing so there was one way for them to go together.

 

I messed about with options and then cut them apart for sewing back together better.

 

Which is when the 'fun' started. I cut the raspberry one / top part to my block pattern for knits exactly.  But when I tried it on it was way too big.  Did I stretch it all out of shape trying it on? Nope, checked against the pattern and it was fine.  I safety pinned it on me to where it needed to go and that was about 8cm (3in?) each side.  Unbelievable.  I split the difference and took it in 4cm each side and that seem right next time I tried it on. 

Then this - little did I know that the stripes were mismatched by 5 between one side and the other.  Disguised on the original version but it would have been obvious against the block colour.  Did I give up (when I should have)? NOooooo, I cut one side open, pinned every second stripe and sewed the striped section together - with wrong sides together. <Sigh>.  Unpicked and sewed them together again.  Then I had to finagle that sharp point at the bottom side seam, still matching the stripes.  So. Much. Time. Then I stitched the top and bottom together perfectly aligned.  Then I set in the sleeves...  

...and tried it on and hated it.  I dunno, maybe being tortured during the sewing process means I was never going to like it.  I can't put my finger on it.  I added the neck band and I'm going to donate it and hope it makes someone else happy.  It's looks fine on Gabby there.

Lessons learned: 1. I don't have to save everything.  2. When it stops being fun, stop and do the next thing.

I hope your up-cycling is going well, now and in future.  May it always be fun.

Mimi

Long to shorts

Cleverly, while sorting and clearing my photos, I deleted my last two refashions so it's been a while...

 

These are / were some uniform pants that were no longer required. In the course of their uniform life they ended up with a glue blob? Varnish blob?  Something blob that was never coming out right on the knee (where the safety pin is in the photo).  

That combined with the hot and humid weather at the time said - shorts!

 

 

 

 

So they would be long enough I chopped the legs below the blob and folded that into the hem. And they were done, and I wore them like that a few times.  

The shorts have pockets already, one with a zip, but they are not particularly deep and I had quite a lot of left over fabric - so more pockets.

 

Just 'because' I decided to add the cargo pockets at an angle. No problems with the first one, but I flipped them over and sewed the second one at the same angle instead of mirrored. Which looked daft. Sigh. Unpick, resew, flaps and recycled buttons - done again!  And now they have phone pockets for long walks.

Happy sewing!

Mimi

Useful if unspectacular alteration

 

Bear with me, this is very difficult to show in photos as it's not a massive change.

 

I like viscose t-shirts because they drape really well, and this one is in a favourite colour.  But over time the neckline stretches out until I spend all day faffing to cover my bra straps and keep it in place. 

 

You can see how stretched out it had become. I finally had enough and was thinking of completely replacing the neckband.  But I couldn't match the colour.  Then it occurred to me the existing neckband was stitched in such a way it was effectively a casing.  So I very carefully unpicked where the neckband was sewn together on one shoulder and threaded through 6mm elastic. 

I had to use a large eye needle for knitting, and sew the elastic down to itself in a loop after I put it through the eye.  The neckband is too narrow for a safety pin.  It has stretched the fabric a little, and I did need to arrange the gathers once I'd finished.  I sewed the neckband back together and good to go!

I hope you found this useful and happy sewing!

Mimi

Skirt lining - two ways

Since the virus I've been doing more mending, repairs and minor updates to my existing wardrobe than large-scale refashions. Partly because I haven't been thrifting / op-shopping in forever, and partly because I find it soothing to think less. 

Most of which is not that interesting to post about, but today I'm sharing some.  I keep my clothes for a long time because I like them and I worry about the environmental impact of clothing.  So parts of them wear out over time - like the linings.  

Today - one replacement and one repair.

Up first, I left this one way too long do a quick repair. It's an elastic-waisted knit skirt but office appropriate and I wear it a lot in winter (which it is right now in my Southern hemisphere home). 

 

The lining is not only ripped but wearing through, almost shattered (and impossible to photograph well).  I unpicked the whole waistband to remove the lining.  The elastic was okay still, so I reused that.

 

As the outer fabric is opaque (the lining is to stop clinging) I don't need to match the colour.  When this is the case I pick a bright colour to make me smile.  This one is butter yellow (paler in the photo than real life) and adds to the scarlet, aqua and hot pink linings I've replaced in other skirts.

The second pencil skirt lining is also well on the way to destruction.  It's ripped along the seam and the lining fabric is starting to wear thin either side.  But still reparable for many more wears before I need to replace the lining completely.

 I keep the fabric that is still in good condition for repairs and pocket bags when I replace a lining.  In this case, I used a sleeve lining from a jacket refashion.  I fused it over the damaged areas of the skirt lining with double sided fusible interfacing - is that what it's called?  The one you fuse on one side to fabric, take off the paper backing, then fuse the other side to a different fabric eg for applique.  That stabilised the fabric so I could sew it back together as normal.

Sewn back together and all finished!  For good measure I added a couple of hand sewn arrowheads at the top and bottom of the seam in embroidery thread to take some of the stress.

Happy refashioning (and mending).

Mimi

Something new, something old

 Last year I started a lot of refashioning projects I just didn't finish because... I suppose I was preoccupied with other things.  So this year my word for the year is FINISH.  

 

And nothing compels me to finish like a hard deadline - we're expecting a new arrival between now and the end of March (not me but another close family member).  So, a finished refashion at last!  Two old t-shirts were cut up to make two new baby rompers.  The orange one was a previous refashion / tie dye I did with the Mamma-to-be a very long time ago and I kept because the colour was so good.  The pattern is this baby onesie or bodysuit from Small Dream Factory

 

 

It all went swimmingly right until the very end.  The applique went well too - Mamma's a fan of that long running BBC TV series and the orange background just needed it.  And then I applied, or attempted to apply, the poppers and they were bad.  Really bad.  They were so misshapen when applied they didn't close but removing them (I removed one) damaged the fabric.  Mega grumpy face.  I ended up applying hook and loop over the top but it was all a bit messy.  All the fault of the cheaply made poppers.

And then, while I was taking the photos, a better solution occurred to me and now it's a t-shirt.  I've cut out one more of the navy to be bound in orange and I'll use popper tape this time (now I've seen it, so much simpler).

Happy refashioning and finishing!

Mimi

Just in time for summer...

...My need for these will be in 5-6 months because it's summer here in Australia.  They're for filling the gap between my jacket cuff and shorter gloves when cycling in really cold weather. 

 

 

Yes, I forgot to take the before photos but they were just knee high socks.  They had just the right sort of snug fit for gloves or sleeve or gleeves and they don't roll down in use.  There are two of them, but I didn't take any decent photos with my left hand, being a righty. The other one says 'right'. They took me an extraordinary time to complete given how little work went into them. 

Happy repurposing and may your 2021 be bright!

Mimi

Reimagined Raincoat

For once I remembered to take before pictures.  Sort of.  This is more a repair than a refashion though, so the base coat is the same.

This is one of a series of raincoats that are given out as part of the kit for my kid's high-school exchange.  Given it happens every year (and how many raincoats do you need in a dry climate?) this one was on its way out.  But I didn't want to donate it as it has her name and school etc embroidered on it. So firmly that it was never coming off.  I know because I tried until I made holes.

Additionally it had accumulated a large number of tears like this one.  They were very visible when repaired so they needed to be covered, along with all the identifiers.  It's a very well made coat and it's lined and cosy.  With lots of interior pockets.  So I decided it was all mine.


I spent a lot of time planning this refashion and it got quite elaborate before I calmed down.  There was going to be stenciling and embellishments and applique and embroidery...in the end I used recycled denim circles and a little embroidery for detail.

The denim circles were made with a sewing machine attachment that sews a perfect circle.  It fits into the bobbin cover / plate hole, you spike the fabric at the appropriate radius, set the stitch type and length - I've used a zigzag / satin stitch - and hit the pedal.  I made a lot of circles so I could play with placement and have many left for other projects. They're designed to fray at the edge.

I've already worn this a few times since I finished it and it's great to wear.  Unlike some raincoats, this one breathes so I don't overheat while striding around, and it cuts the wind.  It also has a hood if I get caught without an umbrella.

Happy refashioning!

Mimi

T-shirt from the stash / scraps

I've had the stripe fabric I used for this t-shirt in my stash so long I don't remember where it came from - but it was an off cut and I only ever had enough for part of a t-shirt.  The strips are navy, light blue and white, and I love the colour combination, but it was hard to find other fabrics that worked.

Then I started planning an Alabama Chanin t-shirt project with the two t-shirts above (more on that eventually) and the light blue t-shirt was a perfect colour match.  I also had some scraps from a navy blue maxi-dress that I've been cutting up for years - and the plan came together.

The light blue t-shirt has a mysterious white-ish mark which I thought was bleach but it only shows on the right side.  So I used the 'purl' side of the knit fabric on the outside.  I can tell but I doubt anyone else will ever notice it's technically the wrong side.  I took a close up photo but you can't tell in the photo either.  The pattern is one I've been tweaking for a long time and this t-shirt has a slight high-low hem.  Buttons on the neckline for fun. 

I'm happy to have made something useful from items in my stash of refashions and fabric left-overs.

 Happy refashioning!

Mimi