Purse upgrade

I love this oversized vintage denim purse but it has become worn and the handles are broken - I temporarily used a shoestring to replace one handle! At a thrift shop, I found vintage purse handles that looked perfect. I had to hand sew because the new handles were a tight fit, and it took a leather needle to get through the thick denim but the purse looks great and is ready to be used again! ♡

Lips Pillow

Started with this red poodle skirt with a scuba fabric. Decided to make a special kind of pillow...

LIPS!!!!!

Sewed the edges and the middle so they would "pucker"...

Ended up with something creepy but awesome... The wrinkled edges are something to work on for next time with a steadier sewing hand and a thicker needle to get through the folded scuba fabric! Ah well, live and learn... Now they have a Tim Burtonish character instead of a Marilyn Monroe one - my lips got personality :)
But they make a good "talking" piece on my couch! LOL
Thanks for reading and happy sewing y'all!

Scarf hanger dress

Hey yall! Here is an easy project to make with recycled material. Fabric scraps, bias tape, shower rings and a clothes hanger. A reversable scarf hanger that looks like a pretty flowy dress :)
Quick, easy, pretty, practical, eco conscious and affordable. Will make a great gift too! Hope this gives you some ideas!

Summer dress

Started with this cute little dress, but the style of the top just did not flatter my curves! I wanted to go a little more sexy and a little less cutesy with this one....

Here is how it ended up, the front and back! What do y'all think?

Peter Pan costume

Here's some finished shots of a Punk Peter Pan costume top I made!
Sorry no before pics... It was a plain black tee, some fabric scraps, safety pins, and the sleeves were made with green tights

Earth Mama Costume

Hey Yall!
I have a bunch of theatre projects on the go... Here is one costume I refashioned for an Earth Mama character! I started with an extra large sleeveless sundress in lime green with a shirred top. I was making this into something size extra small, but I didn't have exact measurements, so stretchy elastic was the way to go!

I cut off the skirt, shrunk down the size, turned it upside down and pinned the shoulders in place

I used an awesome textured scarf and some dollar store flowers to decorate the piece

I finished it off with some sleeves that were cut off from some green leggings! (Sorry no pic) Here's the final image, front and back... What do yall think?

Weird Tiger Tee

 Started with this kids shirt... way too small for me but I loved the tiger!

Cut it open, cut off the little sleeves and added lace, turning into this loose fitting tank...

 Side view! Sooo I've worn it a couple of times and I actually love it, but the feedback I have gotten is "wow that shirt is weird" "yeah, but does it look good?" "I don't even know how to evaluate... it looks weird" and assorted similar comments.
So I am assuming it is a failed experiment and does not look right. BUT - I actually kinda like it.

Try to "save" it? (Suggestions?) Toss it? Redo the whole thing? Leave it as is and keep loving my "weird" style? Let me know what you think!

batik dress

Before

After

Ankara dress

I started with this gorgeous ankara top, but the sleeves were tiny and pinchy. So I took them off - easy peasy! Now it can be worn as a top/mini dress  OR as a skirt. It is so cute, I love it!

Handkerchief dress refashion

BEFORE- Forgot to take a pic, but the dress looked like this. Except it was ill fitting and badly made. I'm short and busty. So the torso portion gave extremely poor coverage, and the bottom was too long - kept dragging on the floor. Also, the dress was quite uneven - one side fell about six inches lower than the other side. All in all it was a cute design that was poorly executed and just not working on me.

AFTER - I took the beaded neckline off a camisole I never wore because it was otherwise a frumpy gray ill-fitting top. I cut the spaghetti straps and turned it into a halter. Then I cut off the torso part of the dress and shortened and hemmed the bottom. This left me with a skirt shape, which I attached to the beaded neckline. The front view, with or without a belt, is shown here. And it is a low back, although I'm not a contortionist so couldn't manage a selfie from that angle! LOL

It was easy. It's a cute style. I hope it inspires!

Tent to Minidress!

I started with a plus sized dress with a bulky design offering maximum coverage - floor length, a thick layer of lining, a padded bust. And like a sculptor I began hacking away until a new shape emerged...

I cut off the sleeves, I cut off the lower tier of the bottom, I lowered the neckline, pulled in the bust by adding darts, tailored the sides of the dress to fit. What I ended up with is (possibly in protest to the original form?) a teeny tiny minidress. I will hafta wear this one with shorts to avoid pulling a Marilyn....

 

But what I like best about this refashion is that it started out in a size so wrong for me that I had to really work to make it the right size. So it ended up with really well fitting tailoring on the tight bodice. Often, strapless dresses kinda slide down, etc. I don't think this one will - it fits as snug as a bug! LOL and of course I like showing off the gams too :P This one was fun to do!

Yo-Yo's!

BEFORE- Found this hideous 90s vest fraying on the shelves at my local thrift store. Horrible. But loved the possibilities inherent in the multi-coloured fabric yo-yos! I got to work...

AFTER- I attached a skirt and sculpted the top, to end up with this fabulous rainbow dress! I love it!

And I did not fully attach the skirt at the back, creating this cute cutout effect ;)

What do y'all think?

90's Floral Refash

BEFORE - Ugly thrift store find!

AFTER - shorter, cuter, cleavage, smaller straps!

Easy earring refashion

 I bought these red, white and blue earrings while thrifting in New York. Of course the patriotic colours made sense in the USA, but they did not suit my Canadian sensibilities. All I kept thinking was, "Wouldn't it be nice if they were all primary colours?" Yellow is my favourite colour, but I can only wear it in small doses, so I thought this would be perfect! It took some doing, but finally I found a yellow nail polish. Then, it was easy! And I think they turned out very pretty. Perfect for spring!

Second nail polish/earring trick (I learned from my mom) if you have sensitive ears that react to the nickle in earrings, you can coat the metal hooks with clear nail polish. And then you are good to wear them! Same with necklaces, or other jewelery you have a reaction to.

Flower crown

Way back last May, my sister and I were headed to a pagan spring festival. We thought leaves and flower crowns would be appropriate, so we bought a dollar store fabric flower bouquet, took it apart, and then put it back together in a new way ;)

Twisting wire stems together to make a circlet headdress...

Sewing leaves on to a shoelace that can be wrapped around the head...

What we made...

How we wore it!

Two elfish sprites, ready for merrymaking ;)

And your little dog too!

This t-shirt became a dog cape for a cute little guy my sister was dogsitting! Easy Peasy :)

 Here he is modelling it on the front...

 

 And on the back too....

Pillowcase Tote

Found this cute print pillowcase at a thrift store for $1, loved the pretty fabric! (Forgive the wrinkles! LOL)

 

Turned it into this cute, sturdy, fully reversible tote bag!