From papa to petit pirate

Ahoy, my fellow refashionistas!

My husband is not a pirate, but he is hard on his clothes. And he wears them out in ways that can't always be mended; thankfully, the garments can usually be refashioned! Recently, he badly ripped the elbow of one of his work shirts, at the same time a pair of his khaki trousers bit the dust, with too many tears and stains to go on. 

I used both of these to make a costume for my son, who is nearly 4 and is mad about pirates, as well as trains, astronauts, diggers and dinosaurs. I'm glad he was happy with a pirate outfit, I can't imagine trying to dress him up as a backhoe!

Anyway, for the shirt, I cut off the sleeves above the elbows and simply sewed elastic in. I stretched it as I went around and zigzagged over it, this gave a nice ruffle effect. I then cut off the collar and made a wide neck opening. I sewed down the placket and then added bias tape around the neck. I trimmed the bottom hem, so that the shirt became tunic length on my son rather than a dress.

For the trousers, I cut off the two legs from my husband's khakis. I then laid them on top of each other and then following this excellent tutorial, traced a pair of trousers using one of my son's existing pairs as a guide. I managed to use the original trouser side seams and cuffs, so all I had to sew was the rise and the waistband. For the latter, I did the same thing as I'd done for the shirtsleeves, just using wider elastic. And I made a sash out of some old black jersey scraps that I had.

A vest will follow, using scraps from a skirt I'm working on for me right now.

Sundress refashion

It's been a long while since I posted, but that's simply because my refashioning projects have been somewhat limited this spring and also frankly rather basic, along the lines of reuse and repair rather than restyle with flair. I didn't think that they'd be that interesting to share here. However, in time for Easter I managed to refashion a beloved dress for my daughter. We're both thrilled!

She absolutely adored this sundress, a gift from her grandfather more than two years ago.

Sadly, it had become too short. We first fixed that by adding a row of eyelet ruffle to the bottom hem. This allowed my daughter to wear it a little longer. But at last she had to face the fact that it was really too small, both too short and too tight in the bodice. I suggested turning it into a skirt, however, she insisted on a dress.

So I removed the bodice and used it to trace out a larger, longer bodice. I recuperated the placket and buttons from the original bodice and re-used them in the new one, and added matching eyelet around the neck. I also feel very proud that I managed to make my first lined bodice ever, following this helpful tutorial.

My daughter is delighted with the results and proudly wore the dress to church on Easter Sunday. She's been asking to wear it practically every day since, but it's been cold and rainy here all April, alas, so she's had to wait. I'm hoping that all  these showers bring May flowers and sunshine and a chance for her to wear the dress soon.

I've retold this story over on my blog, as a little fairy tale, for those interested: Once upon a time...

Refashion: felted scraps to wrist pincushion

I accidently felted a sweater this autumn and had been trying to refashion for ages. First, I made mittens for my daughter that were too small. Then I tried to make wristwarmers out of the ends of the sleeves, but it was just weird.

So finally, I used a scrap of the cuff, a piece of calico fabric from my stash, and a little piece of elastic to make a wrist pincushion. I have long felt like I needed one of these. While sewing I end up holding pins in my mouth (eeek, I know!) or scattering them all around, to the annoyance of the mister and my offspring. 

I have enough sweater bits left to try to make a neckwarmer, lined with some leftover fleece from another sewing project, so will try to get this done before we go skiing in February. And post here, of course. 

Cashmere sweater to toddler hat

Sigh. I know. How does it always happen that your "good stuff" gets child stains or somehow ends up as theirs? I had a wonderful cashmere v-neck sweater that I adored and I wore all the time. It was machine washable, but somehow I managed to felt it anyway. ARGH.

Of course I wasn't going to waste the precious fabric, so I turned part of it into a hat for my son, using the bottom edge of the sweater as the bottom edge of the hat. I cut out a rectangle, folded it in half, sewed up the side and along the top edge. Then I turned the hat so that the side seam was in the middle and with a little fiddling managed to fold two of the corners in and sew them down. Kind of like what you do when you square off the bottom of a bag. It worked well and I added a pom pom from some leftover yarn in my stash. I also stitched down the brim. And I had enough felt left to make mittens, to which I'm currently added knitted ribbed cuffs using this purlbee tutorial and the same yarn as I used on the hat.

My son is thrilled and definitely the most stylish boy at his preschool! ;-)

Ridiculously easy tights to bracelet refashion

My dear daughter is growing so quickly that some tights bought for her only this autumn are already too short! Inspired by all the fabric necklaces people were making around the blogosphere this summer (see Tilly's tutorial, for example), I took one of the funkier too-small pairs and cut off a leg. Painless, I promise! I then had a lovely fabric tube all ready to stuff with some styrofoam beads I had picked up at a local craft store. They were fairly large (maybe 2.5 cm?) and the tights weren't that long, so I ended up making a bracelet instead of a necklace. I tied off each bead and the ends of the tights. I then closed the bracelet with a piece of black velvet ribbon from my stash. Et voilà! A very unique, over the top bracelet to wear at holiday parties. And now I'm brimming with ideas of other things to do with tights... infinity scarves, thin loop fabric necklaces... I hope my daughter outgrows a few more pairs soon!

Coat to Frankenskirt refashion

You may remember my Frankenrobe from last summer, decent looking on the outside, a real mess on the inside. Well, I've just created a skirt to keep it company...

This refashioning story actually begins many years ago, when I was just Blithe Young Thing en France and not yet Mommy. I had started my first real job, with my first decent paycheck, and I needed a good winter coat. I wanted something warm and not involving synthetic fibers. I eventually found a beautiful camel-coloured overcoat from the French brand Apostrophe, a wool-cashmere blend. I loved it, it was on sale and so I bought it. I even wore it home, if I recall correctly. I enjoyed this coat for a number of years, but had to put it away during my pregnancies and have never fit into it since. Taking it out of the cupboard a few weeks ago, I also realised that it was quite threadbare in places and that the lining was badly torn, as were the pockets.

I decided to see what I could salvage from the beautiful fabric and to use it to make a skirt. This was a very interesting learning experience in so many ways. First, I toyed with using a Burda pattern for the skirt (see this recent post). After letting that drop, I decided just to "freestyle" an A-line skirt. I had some cheap rayon in my stash and also some thrifted lace and also decided to wing using those to line the skirt. And I'd use the coat's original belt as the waistband.

The whole process was quite painful, to be honest. I made it all up as I went along and I made a lot of mistakes. But on the happy side, some parts did turn out nicely and overall the skirt is wearable. And I have to say that, in a very humble way, the skirt itself, with its camel colour, wool/cashmere fabric, and the raised (if that's the right word) seams, reminds me a little bit of Max Mara, yay!

The full story (and the good, the bad and the ugly pictures) are over here, on my blog.

1981 back-to-school dress to 2011 dress and skirt

Yep, that's me. In 1981. Starting first grade. How time flies! My own daughter started CP (the French equivalent to first grade) this year and my mom sent me my old dress. It was too short on my daughter and although it has a deep hem, I didn't want to let the hem down, because I felt the dress would look too unbalanced. So I cut it in two and made a skirt from the lower half. I used the upper half as the faux blouse in a basic corduroy jumper I made. Et voilà! Thirty years later my back to school dress gets new life, as two outfits. Hurrah! More details on my blog.

Teeshirt scarf

Autumn hasn't really kicked in yet here in Paris. It's getting cooler and breezier, but when the sun is out, it's still fairly warm. I'm not even ready to wear tights yet, let alone a coat or cool weather accessory. But I did recently make myself a scarf from entirely recycled materials and so this is my transition clothing challenge piece. I used old teeshirts for my "yarn" and the result is a fairly stiff but smooth and non-scratchy scarf. Soft but hard if that is possible.

I should note that this isn't my own, brilliant idea. I had seen something about this on a blog somewhere. Or maybe it was about using old teeshirts to make rugs? I can't remember, but I know this isn't an original concept. 

Anyway, I cut up a stack of old, stretched or ripped or stained in some place teeshirts, that ranged in color from coral to a dark pink. I tried to cut the teeshirts around and round, like peeling the skin off an apple, so that each turned into one long, thin piece. I then tied all the pieces together and rolled them into a ball of "yarn". I knitted up the scarf doing the usual knit one row, purl one row thing, on my biggest needles. Size 10 maybe? (Please excuse my lack of technical explanation here, I don't really knit.)

Despite the big needles and the stretchy material, the scarf turned out rather short. I wet it and blocked it and everything, but it still short and curls in somewhat. I can only wear it like this:

The material is too stiff to make a cowl/neckwarmer that would pass over my head, but I'm thinking I could loop the scarf as above and pin the ends together with a cool brooch to give a cowl effect. Hmmm.

Summer nightgown

I've been away for most of August and resolutely not on line. It's been a great break. But I'm happy to be back home now and to be sewing, refashioning and crafting again. And blogging. 

Most of my refashion projects at present are about getting my little cabbages ready for back to school: turning too-short dresses into skirts, letting down the hems on trousers, etc. Fun but nothing very exciting.

However, I did make myself a nice summer nightgown back at the end of July. I'm still wearing it even now, as the weather hasn't quite turned autumnal in Paris yet. I just love it, so very comfy and pretty yet modest. 

The sheet wasn't from my husband's family, but rather from a friend of my mother-in-law. The sheet is from that woman's mother, so is probably from the 20s or 30s. It has a beautiful monogram embroidered on it and lovely crochet lace trim.

It was enormous, so I cut it in half horizontally. I used the half with the lace trim and the monogram. The lace trim became the bottom hem. I sewed the sides of the fabric together, making a seam up the back of the nightgown. And then, as it was of course still way too wide, I make a large inverted box pleat in the front, out of which the monogram peeks. Finally, I used two strips of trim that the same woman gave me to make straps.

Et voilà! A vintage French nightie. Sweet dreams...

Girl's dress recycle project

I recently made this little dress for my daughter, using an old tee-shirt, a piece of leftover fabric for the skirt, and leftover scraps and notions for the embellishment. She loves wearing it and tells everyone "Mommy made this!" 

 

I've posted a tutorial about the embellishment over on my blog.

Two girl's dress to skirt or skort tutorials

My daughter seems to always be growing and at age 5 she is the height of many 6 or 7 year olds (my husband and I are both quite tall, so this is not surprising). She outgrows clothes incredibly quickly and my new strategy for extending the life of dresses is to turn them into skirts and skorts. I've posted two tutorials about this over on my blog. This one is on the two skirts above; this one is on how I turned the second skirt (the floral patterned one) into a skort.

I admit, both projects are very basic - you wouldn't think you'd need a tutorial for them. But for new sewists (like me), I think any explanation is helpful, especially with pictures.

The emergency refashion

It's been a while since I've posted here, simply because it's been a while since I did any refashions. I've been very preoccupied with end-of-school year activities for my children and also with Me-Made-June, which I'm trying to use to help me overcome my fear of using patterns! And also to help me thin out my closet, keeping only what I really like and wear.

But anyway, back to refashioning... today I did an emergency refashion that turned out wonderfully well. I had a pair of quite old and baggy beige linen trousers from H&M that I wore often, most recently to go camping with my daughter's Scout troop this past weekend.

Here I am wearing them and building our campfire!

Back in civilisation this week, I popped them on this morning to run around with the kids. We got rained out of going to the park, so ducked into a café for hot chocolate. And my damp trousers got caught on the chair and a small hole was torn on the, well, butt area. Eeek! It wasn't a very big hole and I got busy with other things during the day. I didn't realise until about 45 minutes before friends were due to arrive for a playdate that the hole had spread!

So I cut the legs off, right below the butt/crotch area. I then carefully cut them open up the inner leg seam. I kept the side seams intact. I then joined up the two legs. The bottom of the trouser legs had had a generous hem, which made a perfect casing. So I used that end of the skirt as the waist, sliding an elastic through the casing. I then found the perfect bias tape in my stash and used it to hem the skirt. The whole process only took 20 minutes. And I love, love, love my new skirt!

Ta-da!

Isn't the bias tape great? I bought it awhile ago, just because I loved the pattern.

From Grandmaman's sheet to a granny shift

I'm so excited - this is the first dress I have ever made! I know it looks like nothing special, just an old-lady kind of shift, cut for a plump mommy. But what makes this dress special for me is not just that I made it myself, but that I repurposed some of my antique linen stash for it. I dyed a cotton sheet that was in my husband's grandmother's trousseau, fabric from 1936 at the latest. I wanted to honor Grandmaman's memory, as she was a lovely woman whom I had the privilege of knowing for five years, and so I carefully clipped her monogram from a corner of the sheet, and stitched on to the back of the neck as a sort of label.

For the neckline and arm openings I made bias tape with scraps left from this project, which I had thrown in the dye with the sheet.

For the pattern, I worked from a Lisette shift (Simplicity 2211, view D), but also winged it. The project took me a while to do, but was really rather simple at heart. I am quite happy with how it has turned out and I'm sure I'll get good use out of it during Me-Made-June (and beyond, I hope). I can wear it to work with flats and a cardigan or around on the weekends with sandals. The fabric is soft and I'm pleased with the color. And I even have enough left for a few more projects!

I have posted more over at my blog - I'd like to say that it's a tutorial, but really, it's more of a saga on how I did it.

Shrug and scarf refashion

This morning, I pulled a simple pale green summer dress out of my closet, as my husband had asked me to please, for once, wear something not black to church. (Not that I wear black only to church, just that I tend to wear black a lot in general.) But the dress was light, linen and sleeveless and today was a bit overcast and slightly chilly. So I worked a little quick refashioning magic this morning and whipped up some warming accessories before we went to church.

I took a shapeless brown knit jacket/wrap and with a few tucks and seams turned it into shrug. Then I took a skirt I had made earlier this year and cut it up! It had turned out too short, the waistband was bunchy and uncomfortable, and I just felt bummed that I had wasted lovely (and expensive) Liberty fabric on it. But  I just couldn't let that fabric go to waste. So I refashioned my own me-made-skirt and I made a scarf instead! I cut the length of fabric from the skirt in half, folded it right side to right side, ironed it flat and stitched it almost all the way up. Then I carefully turned it right side out through the little hole, ironed it flat again and closed the hole. Et voilà!

And here's me in my complete "church lady" outfit! I got a few nice compliments and I'm sure I'll use the shrug and scarf all the time. They'll certainly come in handy for Me-Made-June!

And yes, I'm still working on my challenge dress. It's all assembled, I just need the time to sew down the bias tape around the neckline and armsholes. But this weekend my sewing time got a bit derailed by an IKEA bunkbed assembly gone awry and things like these accessories. Just got to focus! 

Sheet to sleepwear, part I

I need sleepwear and loungewear. Everything I own is old, stained, falling apart. Worn out by late nights with small children and all they can secrete. (Sorry if that was too much info!) I've done one nightgown already and decided to tackle another, using an old sheet my mother-in-law gave me. Not one of the antique ones, but an 80s one. The fabric wasn't bad, actually. One hundred percent cotton, in light blue with little dots and diamonds scattered across it and this pattern around one edge.

I also had an old stretched-out pink tank top to hand. So I decided to combine the two, much like the tee-shirt + fabric = dress projects you see on many blogs (including mine). It was very easy to do and I'll post a full account on my blog this weekend, but in the meantime, here's the result:

Sorry about the blurry picture - taken with an iPhone and late, by a sleepy husband

A word about the ruffle I added. I just found the fabric and colour combinations so very 80s and then while sewing, the news ran a piece on the royal wedding, complete with pictures from Charles and Diana's wedding back in the day. I saw all the ruffles on her dress and thought, a-ha! I want one of those on this! Et voilà - a very 80s nightdress. 

A little ruffle close-up

Another plus - I have half a sheet leftover and half a tank top too. More than enough to make a tee and shorts PJs set. Watch out for a post on that soon and do check my blog in the next few days for more details on this one.

Maternity dress to nightgown, passed from mother to daughter

(Let me be clear. I am not pregnant. Two little ones are more than enough to keep me busy right now!)

When I was in college, I appropriated a maternity dress that my mother had saved from her pregnancy with in the mid-1970s. I loved its fabric and its preppy yet bohemian vibe. It had skinny straps, a bodice with lovely tucks and even pockets. But it never quite fit me right. I am taller than my mother and have broader shoulders. So I hardly ever wore the dress. I put it back in the cupboard and didn't think about it for years. Until I came across it again recently and had an a-ha! moment. As dress itself was very voluminous, why not just cut off the bodice and take things from there? So, after getting my mother's blessing (it was her last remaining garment from her pregnancies), I went for it.

The full post of how an "a-ha!" moment turned into a "not Martha" one is over on my blog. But to make a long story short, I turned the dress into a nightie. And it does fit. It is floaty. It is comfortable on my skin. But I feel huge and bosomy and, well, pregnant. Not what I was aiming to achieve. At the same time, I'm sure I'll use it, as it is light and comfortable, and certainly has sentimental value. But I'm not going to show you a picture of me in it, just one of the dress.

Two different ways to use sheets... and a question for you all about refashion for little boys

I seem to be doing things by twos lately. Purely coincidental, I swear... Anyway, last January I found some very cheap cotton sheets at Zara in the post-Christmas sales. They were each 100x150 cm (sized for a crib or toddler bed) and were only €3. That's a very good per metre price, at least in France. You can read all the details over on my blog, but in brief, here's what I did with them:

I used the first one to extend the life of a short-sleeved jumper that was too short for my daughter, though still quite comfortable in the body. We'd already let down the hem, so to make the dress longer, I carefully cut off the finished end of the sheet. (Well, that's probably not the technical term, but you know what I mean. The nice part of the sheet that has the folded-over hem and that goes at the head of your bed.) Anyway, I removed it and simply sewed onto the hem of the dress, using a contrasting purple thread and a zigzag stitch for a decorative effect. I then cut a few more strips from the dress and used these to: add ruffles to the pockets, little tiny bows to the cap sleeves and lining to the inside of the shoulders.

The other sheet became both an experiment in scalloped edges and what I like to think of as a Lily Pulitzer knockoff. (It was that kind of print.) 

Now, for my question... what are you all refashioning for the little guys in your life? I am starting to feel guilty, as my daughter is getting so many cool outfits while my son is getting PJ pants and his old trousers turned into shorts. I don't know quite what to refashion for him and would love your tips and ideas.

A tale of two dresses

Between being away for work for four days last week (but a bonus was a quick visit to the Liberty store in London before catching my Eurostar home) and no internet connection at home for the past five days (finally fixed tonight), I haven't been on line much lately. However, without so much screen time to distract me, I have managed to get quite a bit of sewing done last weekend and so far this week. I'm racing through spring/summer clothes refashions for the children, as we're going to Provence in 10 days and anticipating nice warm weather. So look out for a number of posts in the next week or so. For now, here's a tale of two dresses...

The full story is over on my blog (and it's a long post), but in essence, I took two dresses that my daughter had outgrown and turned them from dresses into skirts.

Dress 1 before

Dress 2 before

And after...

What made working on these two at the same time such an interesting experience was the difference in quality. The first skirt came from a musty, old-fashioned children's clothing store that sells clothing of no brand at all, or at least no known brands. (For those of you who know Paris, I can't remember the shop's name, but it's not far from the Place des Ternes in the 8th.) The dress was very pricey, at least for me, but it was made to last (with a deep hem and heavy cotton fabric). And when I took it apart, it was clear that it had been at least partly handmade. The second dress came from Cyrillus, a middle of the range French chain. It wasn't that much less expensive than the first dress. But it was not at all of the same quality. The fabric was lighter, the finishing was less nice and the hem was the usual small one you get on most clothes these days. To me, this shows the difference between ready to wear and handmade (or at least hand finished). 

Given how much I paid for each dress, I'm so glad we'll now get at least more one summer, probably two, out of them as skirts. In the end, the first dress, and quite possibly the second, will amortize over five years. Not bad for children's clothing these days, which is usually so disposable and cheaply made.

Finally, the wonderful first dress also got reused in a little present for me! I turned part of the bodice into a small zip bag. It was super simple to do and I'm so chuffed by this unexpected item. And I still have plenty of bits of fabric left from both dresses, will probably make some hairbands, rosettes or barrettes from them. Hurrah for refashioning!

Mommy dress to urban skirt

Spring has arrived in Paris (well, for the most part). And I just woke up this week to the fact that our long-awaited (and much needed) family break in the south of France is only a few weeks away, hurrah. With warmer weather approaching, I've realised that I need to reconsider my list of refashioning projects. I'm still working on the pink shirt, but I've set aside the wool dress and the angora sweater in favor of some summer items. I started with this "mommy dress", which I've turned into what I like to think of as a simple skirt for an urban working mommy.

The full story is over on my blog. And once I've finished working with the material from the top of the dress, I'll post back again.

Hope spring is arriving where you are (or a lovely autumn, for those of you in a different hemisphere).

One pink shirt project!

I did it! I salvaged the shirt-to-dress I was making for my daughter. (Full story here, here and here.) My first atttempt had resulted in an odd, strappy sundress that just looked weird on her. Then I remembered this terrific teeshirt + fabric = dress tutorial, from Grosgrain. I grabbed an old teeshirt with cute cap sleeves from my daughter's closet, the sad little dress and some more Liberty fabric (it's almost gone now, sniff). Some snipping, some trim and a hour or so, et voilà...

Yes, it looks a bit crooked in the photo (and it is on the hanger in real life, though slightly less so and not really noticeable when worn). But my daughter loves it and so do I! 

And as a little bonus for me, I turned a scarf into a tunic this weekend - inspired by Miss P's work.

Full info post (and the before picture) here