Three Blues Refashioned T

From three men's thrifted t-shirts into one woman's refashioned T. It may not be efficient, but it is a form of recycling.

Above are the t-shirts I had to choose from. I knew I wanted a sea of blues. I picked the two on the left and the one on the bottom to go ahead with.

I had to rework the pattern I had to cut out the shape I wanted. I was more successful than not.

Here it is finished. It is completely hand stitched. No machine used (not that hand sewn is better, I just like hand-stitching - and it is a bit unusual.)

And the back. 

If you want more details of the journey, the story is over at my blog.

Oversized Blouse to Sleeveless Top

Here is the before of my way too big thrifted top. This photo must be over a year old as my hair was still so short. I bought this blouse because of the flower print and the cotton fabric, but I didn't really know what to do with it -or how.

I took the sleeves off and sewed up the sides and it stayed like that for at least a year. Then spring came ( I am in Australia), the weather began warming up and I took another stab at it.

It was my new sewing mannikan that made the difference. I have never had one before.

I took out the old darts which were way over to the sides on me and start fitting it to the mannikan. As this was my first time the whole process was a bit of a journey with lots of learning on the way. The mannikan isn't a prefect fit. My torso is so long that I can't lengthen it enough. But it turned out to be close enough.

The overhang on the shoulders was intentional. We have a very hot sun in Australia and it is nice to have just that bit extra to protect your shoulders. I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

The Pink Pooh T-Shirt Refashion

My latest t-shirt refashion begun with 4 thrifted t-shirts. My initial idea was a double-layered t-shirt, Alabama Chanin style with reverse appliqué. That did not work out because of inconveniently placed logos.

So I went ahead with a regular applique on a tree theme. The pink t-shirt that the refashion is based around had Pooh embroidered on the front, I turned that into the back and the tree appliqué is because he lives in the woods (do you remember the story?)

It was fortunate that I had two t-shirts that matched to cut the sleeves from. Those long sleeves take a lot of fabric.

Here is the back in process with the Pooh embroidery that started the whole thing.

Here is the front. Then I decided it needed a little more of something.

That is when I added Pooh with his balloon.

Here it is complete. 

And on. 

If you want to read about the whole long entire journey with the gory details, go to my blog.

The Quickest Refashions often involve Dye

Not a lot to show with this one except the before and after.

The shirt on the left was fairly new, but the green has never looked very good on me. The shirt on the right is linen, which is a few years old. Linen always seems to fade.

I put them both in a blue dye pot. I always use the cold water dye as it keeps its colour well. I am very happy with the colour of the linen shirt on the left. In fact I like it so much that I think I will do more to it and make it into a proper refashion, maybe a tunic. 

The one on the right I am less pleased with. I pretty much lost the little embroidered flowers, but I do think I will wear the new colour more often.

Three Thrifted T's into One Refashioned T

 The three thrifted men's t-shirts that I began with. I have been really into Alabama Chanin type hand-sewing and was looking for another t-shirt project.

This was me trying to figure out what would go where. The sleeve patterns wouldn't fit on a single t-shirt and there was much conceptualising. 

I didn't like what the logo was talking about on the back (it was advertisting a sporting school and was all competitive), so I had to work out some way to change that. If you would like more details about the journey I write it all out on my blog.

 This is me patching and rewriting some of the words.

Here is the completed front. 

And the back. It isn't perfect but I had a lot of fun.

Men's T-Shirts Refashioned into a Bolero

Lately I have been into refashioning men's thrifted t-shirts. I got started though the book Alabama Studio Sewing and Design from Alabama Chanin, a small clothing company that hand-sews all its clothing. I love hand-stitching.

Below is the before shot of the t-shirts, one with a compass rose image on the front, the other a promo T for Sinead O'Conner concerts. I was deciding between the blue or red.  I had already cut off the sleeves of the black t-shirt.

I decided on the blue t-shirt is for the second layer, as I wanted to make the bolero double layered. I had hoped to make it with long sleeves but I didn't have another black t-shirt that matched this one. This is a lovely blue-black while all the other t-shirts I could find were a brown-black.

Above it is almost finished, with just the rest of the stitching around the edging to do. The blue star is done with reverse appliqué, where you stitch it and then cut away the top layer. 

 Here it is finished. Everything, all the seams and top-stitching, is hand-stitched.

And the back with the compass rose. If you want to read more details of the construction go to my blog.

80's Laura Ashley Refashion

I found this Laura Ashley dress in a thrift store and had already cut off the puffy sleeves and lace collar before I remembered to take a photo. Here I am, holding the sleeve on so you can get an idea of the 'before'.

I remember this style from the late 80's.
Already so different. A lot can be done in refashioning garments just by cutting stuff off, whether sleeves or length or whatever.

So I made it into a jumper, as Americans say. Or a pinafore if you are Australian.

I love that it has pockets.

I don't know if I am completely happy with the neckline. Square might have been better.

More Hand-drawn Patches

This might be finished. I don't know how far to take it with decorating the rest of the garment. I still feel new to these patches.
Hand painted with acrylic paint and fabric painting medium.
Crayola fabric pens.

If you want more details go to my blog.

Finished Drawing on T-shirt

Here is the finished drawing on the t-shirt I posted earlier. I coloured it with Crayola fabric markers. I also did another coloured drawing on a patch with acrylic paints, it is on my blog here.

Drawing on Clothes

I am experimenting with drawing on my clothes.

Here is the initial drawing that I did in my art journal.

To transfer I put it underneath the shirt and traced with an water erasable pen. Then I drew over the top with a SetaSkrib fabric pen.

It isn't quite finished yet.

Hand Drawn Patches as Embellishment

My latest fun is hand drawn patches.

I used a fabric marker, the Tee Juice fine point marker in brown. You just draw and then iron to heat set.

I sewed rattie onto my purple tunic, and the bird onto a thrifted top I had dyed a while back.

I am not completely sure how I feel about them. Perhaps a bit 'stuck on' looking? I plan to do some embroidery stitching on them to create a kind of transition with the clothing. The good thing about the patch is I can always take it off and put it onto something else.

I have also been making some patches with screen printing. If you want to read about them, go to my blog here.

Introduction Post and Reverse Applique

My name is Zom, and this is my first post to the Refashion Co-op. My day job is an artist and my blog is here. I post about my art, art journaling, and of course -refashioning. Changing up thrift store finds is my latest interest. I am a beginner, but I really enjoy reading about other people's refashions and wanted to join in.

For this refashion you will have to imagine a plain white t-shirt. I didn't take a photo, but that is pretty easy right? First I put it into a purple dye bath with a few other thrift store finds. Then I recut the neckline and cut a strip out of dotted cotton knit that I had. I ironed it in half and commenced to hand sew it onto a new neckline.

I enjoyed the hand sewing, and I worried less about it stretching than with the machine.

The polka dot neckline looked a bit out there on its own, so I thought about putting strips on the sleeves. But my bloggie friend Ricë had recently been doing reverse applique and I thought I would like to give it a try.

The paper shapes in the background were me trying out different shapes. I decided to go with heart shaped leaves.

I drew the leaf onto the back of the dotted knit and then sewed it where I wanted on my t-shirt.

Here I have done a second leaf and then cut them both carefully out. I then went around to the right side and cut away the fabric that covered my shapes.

I think the leaves might have looked better without the internal lines, but I still like it.