Refashions for Girls...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way. I'm madly sewing for Christmas at the moment, so I am way behind with all my other sewing. Instead of stressing about not having a project to show you this month, I thought I'd show you some of my favourite refashions I've made for girls. If you're new to the Refashion Co-op, you won't have seen them.

Three pre-loved t-shirts refashioned into a tunic length top...

A woman's dress turned into a girl's dress, bag and hair accessory...

A woman's top became a girl's skirt and a headband...

A man's shirt refashioned into a skirt for a girl...

Refashioning a refashion...

A super easy refashion; modifying a woman's dress to fit a girl...

And my absolute favourite; combining a man's dress shirt and a woman's blouse to make the shirt dress...

See you next month with a new refashion... and good luck to everyone else aiming for a handmade Christmas.

... Pam

How to Lengthen Kids' Jeans...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way.

As kids grow, their clothes often become too short, whilst they fit everywhere else... simple solution; add extra length to extend the life of pants and jeans. 

I know I should have taken a photo of the jeans before the alterations... just imagine the photo above without the pink.

First step was to add the bands at the hemline. This is such an easy way to get more wear from of a pair of jeans.

While I was at it, I couldn't resist adding some colour to the pockets as well.

Head on over to Threading My Way, to find the full tutorial on how to lengthen kids' jeans.

... Pam

The Paper Bag Princess...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way. Inspired by the children's book, The Paper Bag Princess, I made an outfit for a little one, comprising three articles of clothing: skirt, leggings and t-shirt. Both the leggings and the t-shirt were refashioned. 

Sorry, but I forgot to take before photos. Just picture a white woman's singlet and an orange woman's t-shirt, with puffy sleeves.

The leggings, once an old t-shirt of mine, were made using the Lil Leggings pattern, by Lil Blue Boo. The pattern recommends fabric with at least 75% stretch. As the t-shirt only had 35% stretch, I've gone up two sizes in width. The waistband is made without elastic, just using a rib knit, so should be very comfortable. I've retained the original hem on the t-shirt, thus eliminating the need to hem the leggings. This is a super quick and easy make, with the pattern fitting ages 6 months to 8 years.

The remainder of the same orange t-shirt was totally recut and sewn onto an adult's singlet that had only been worn once. Excess width was taken off the sleeves at the seam, the bodice was recut and the neckline was made smaller. What was a snug fit as an adult's singlet, has become the perfect size for a child's t-shirt.

The skirt was not refashioned, but ties the whole outfit together. To see photos of the whole Paper Bag Princess Outfit, head on over to Threading My Way.

... Pam

Jeans to Skirt Refashion...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way.

This refashion began life as a very plain pair of girls' pants.

The beauty of refashioning is that you can make it up as you go along. There are no rules and you are limited only by your imagination.

This plain pair of pants needed to be made more girlie, so I added:

• pretty fabric
• pink ric rac
• pink buttons
• a scrappy fabric flower.

For more details, head on over to Threading My Way.

... Pam 

Darning a hole in a woollen cardigan...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way...

Darning a hole in a woollen cardigan is not a refashion, but it will help you to prolong the life of garments and as such is a handy skill to have. 

To see how I darned a hole in a good Country Road cardigan, head on over to Threading My Way.

... Pam

Peg Bag...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way...

I realise this is not a refashion, but more a repurposing, however, I thought the Refashion Co-op members may be interested to see another use for a pre-loved shirt.

My peg bag badly needed washing. Rather than work out what to do with the pegs while it was being washed, I decided to make another; not an onerous task, as all up, it takes about 3 minutes to make.

To see how I made both peg bags, click on the photo of my first peg bag above. I wish I could say this was my idea, but it wasn't. The link to my inspiration is in the first peg bag post.

... Pam

Shirt Apron...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way...

Not long ago, I was given a few men's, cotton Calibre shirts. I forgot to take before photos, but the shirt was very similar to the shirt in my post on shortening sleeves.

With this shirt, I've made a full apron, utilising the collar and button placket from the original shirt. It's a super easy refashion and a great way to extend the life of a shirt that was wearing thin across the back, but fine on the front.

For more details on the shirt apron and to see a round up of aprons made from pre-loved garments, head on over to Threading My Way.

... Pam

How to Shorten Sleeves with Cuffs...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way. 

I was lucky enough to be given a man's slim fit, cotton Calibre shirt in a small size. Although it's been well worn, the only signs of slight wear are across the shoulders. I want to keep it as a shirt, mainly to be worn in Summer to protect me from the sun, but also maybe to dress it up and wear under a blazer.

As it's to be worn in Summer, I want the shirt to be loose fitting. It's a little wide across the shoulders, but I can live with that. I'm hoping that shortening the sleeves is the only alteration I need to make.

After shortening the sleeves, here's what my shirt looked like.

Am I happy with my altered shirt? I like my sleeves slightly long, so I'm more than happy with the altered sleeves and it certainly looks better after ironing. However, I still think my legs look too short and this time, I'm not convinced the fault lies with the straight leg jeans. I think I'd say the same thing, even with skinny jeans. The shirt is just too long!!!

For a better fit and a more feminine look, I need to shorten the length and take the shirt in!!!

It's all academic now, as I discovered a small tear in the back of the shirt while I was ironing it. I'll still wear it as a cover up from the sun (after I've patched the tear), but it's not worth the time and effort to do any more alterations, given the condition of the shirt. Lesson learned... carefully check pre-loved garments BEFORE altering... LOL!!!

So, why have I posted a refashion I'm not happy with? I think it's good to show that refashions don't always work. Secondly, I've written a tutorial on shortening sleeves with cuffs, which you may find useful in one of your refashions.

Consequently, I've altered the title of the post from Shirt Refashion to How to Shorten Sleeves with Cuffs.

... Pam

Shirt Dress...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way.

Take a man's dress shirt, combine it with a woman's blouse and you have everything you need to make a cute, little girl's dress... no need to buy anything.

For this refashion, I've used a man's 100% cotton shirt and a woman's stretch blouse. I've thrown the label out, but I'm assuming the blouse is cotton/spandex, as it's very similar to my Zumba pants. Even though the two were made from different fabrics, I knew the colour combination would work. 

Basically...

• make a bodice
• neaten the neckline
• add sleeves
• construct the skirt and attach to the bodice

You'll find more detailed instructions on how to refashion two shirts into a dress, over at Threading My Way.

Here's the back of the dress...

and the front...

This would have to be one of my favourite refashions. I'm thrilled with how it turned out!!!

My latest dress refashion will be joining the 240+ dresses already linked up to the Dresses for Girls link party, at Threading My Way and to the Clothes Recycling Collection over at Creating My Way to Success.

... Pam

Woman's Dress to Girl's Dress...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way.

This would have to be the quickest refashion ever. Here's how to turn a woman's dress into a dress for a young girl...

Take a pre-loved woman's dress, made from stretch fabric: cut several inches off at the shoulders redo the neckline take it in at the waist re-hem the bottom

Adjust the shoulders and neckline:

Redo the waistline:

Re-hem the bottom:

As well as extending the life of a garment, albeit in a different form, I view refashioning as a way I can experiment with sewing, stepping out of my comfort zone and breaking the sewing rules I was taught many moons ago.

You can see the full tutorial, detailing how to turn a woman's dress into a dress for a young girl, over at Threading My Way.

... Pam

Denim Christmas Baskets...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way.

I know these baskets are not a fashion garment, but with the festive season fast approaching, I thought they may be of interest.

I've used the legs from pre-loved jeans, to make my denim fabric baskets. These little baskets could be used for many things, but I'll be filling mine with chocolates.

I've used an obvious Christmas themed fabric for one basket, whilst for the other two, I've used a red and white fabric that looks Christmassy, but the baskets won't be confined to just being used at Christmas.

You'll find the tutorial to make Denim Christmas Baskets over at Threading My Way.

... Pam

Refashioned Pants...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way.

There is easily enough fabric in a pair of man's pants, to make a pair of pants for a young girl. I began with a pair of Jag cotton/polyester pants and used Butterick B5019.

Image source

The only element I kept from the original pants, was the pockets. 

Pocket attached to original men's pants...

I resized the pockets and sewed them to the backs before sewing the pants.

I also added inseam pockets the same as in the Mud Puddle Splashers I made in July.

Head on over to Threading My Way for more details of this pants refashion. While you're there , you might like to have a look at the ten dress tutorials made from refashioned garments.

... Pam

Refashioning a refashion...

Hi, Pam here from Threading My Way.

What do you do with a refashion when it no longer fits? Refashion it again. 

This garment started out as a woman's dress.

First refashion was to make it into a ittle girl's dress.

When it became too small, I refashioned it again, this time into a skirt.

This refashion was a super quick and easy way to extend the life of a garment; a refashion from a refashion.

You can see more of my refashions over on the Threading My Way Refashioning page.

... Pam