KISS

As in, Keep It Simple, Sewist.

This was originally a cardigan, and I had it sitting on Gabbi there for a very long time trying to decide what to do with it.  The sleeves were the problem - they stretched out and looked awful within an hour of wearing.  It didn't help I push my sleeves up a lot, but even so.

I came up with a whole lot of different ideas of fixing them: ruching, shortening and adding tabs, elasticising the cuffs... because I don't do sleeveless, I just don't like that on me.

And then it finally occurred to me - it's not like I'm ever going to wear this on its own, on account of it has no front closure (that's not me either!).  So if the other item had sleeves - good to go!  So off they came.  I tried unpicking the seam (nightmare) so in the end just cut them off with a 1cm allowance and hand sewed that down to neaten up the armhole - simples.

 

And sorry there are no before shots.  I did take some, but my computer recently died on me and the before photos are now missing.

 

Happy sewing!

 

Mimi



Moth attack rescue

This is more a rescue than a refashion, because the clothes are about the same before and after.  Apart from the holes... A year or so ago, we moved out of our house while it was being gutted and renovated.  Unbeknownst to me, the house we moved into was infested with clothing moths.  I found out when I pulled my winter clothing out of storage 6 months later and found all the holes.  And the moths had great taste - the cashmere and pure wool items only, none of your cheaper acrylic blends...

 

It's taken a while, and I'm still slowly working through the repairs.  Some I've been able to mend invisibly (Yay!) but then there were some other favourites like these.  I like them too much to just give up and go straight to felting so - into the chest freezer for a few days, washed and dried outside in the UV light, then time to find the holes:

This one has safety pins marking the holes, and is a WIP. 

For some reason only the right arm was damaged on this grey cardigan, so the left side embellishments are just to even it up (sorry the detail is oriented the wrong way).  I used scraps of fleece material to secure and reinforce the biggest holes, then doodled the rest of the planetary orbits in cotton embroidery thread until it looked right:

And this one had tiny holes but the knit is so fine I didn't like the way it looked after mending.  Now it has autumn leaves falling over it.


Happy refashioning (and rescuing)!

Mimi

Merino Maternity Top into Cardigan

This lovely red warm merino maternity top was all stretched out from my second pregnancy. So I thought I would refashion it into a cardigan to get some more use out of it.

I cut it up the middle, over locked the edges and turned over and added some red buttons.
More details on my blog Lisa Un-hemmed.

Cardigan Refashion

I had this white cardigan which I frequently wore but I got it caught in the car door last weekend which caused several holes (and a stain that I couldn't remove).

Holes from the car door : (

I found inspiration from this photo. 

I cut flower and leaf shapes from scrap fabric and hand sewed them onto the cardigan to cover the holes.

Finished cardigan

more at jillians refashions

Boden Inspired Button Flower Cardigan

A refashioned thrift store cardigan - inspired by Boden's Fun Button Tunic. You can see more details on my blog.

Cardigan Refashion + Thrift Store Tips

Since living on a tight budget, I've been learning how to change up my wardrobe without spending much. I recently discovered that our Salvation Army here occasionally does a $5 dollar bag sale at least once a month. Basically any clothing items you can fit in their plastic bags, you get for $5 (jackets and shoes are an exception)...its a sweet deal.  I finally caught them on one of their $5 sale days and scavenged for what I could find. It is a tiny SA so it lacks good selection of clothing. However I've finally learned the best ways to thrift shop for clothes. This whole outfit (minus the pants) came from that one trip to the Salvation Army. The shoes were extra but only ended up being $2!! steal!

Go here for my thrift store game plan

Sweater Dress to Cardi

Another oldie but goodie!



Here's the before shot.



I was insanely pleased with this. That dress had been in limbo between "denial that I still looked great in it" and "disgust at the realization that it was too small and should go in the trash".

This has been worn so much, it is ready to be refashioned into hats and mittens ;o)


Here's what I did.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shortened.
Collar removed.
Split down the middle.
Edges folded under and sewn down.
Curse and cut off messed up edge.
Recut edge and try folding and sewing again.
Successful.
Cut strip for a belt.
Realize that you hate belted cardi's when you try it on.
Decide to make it a ruffle instead.
Make and sew on first ruffle in record time.
Swear a lot as you pick out the stitching on the second, less easy, ruffle.
Stitch ruffle on.
Make a button loop and covered button.
Attach them.
Wear while smiling like a fool.

:o)

Anthropologie Inspired Winking Sky Cardigan

When I say Anthropologie -inspired, I truly do mean "inspired" as my cardigan is done a little different from the original.

My version, total cost $1:

And the Anthro version $128:

The Anthro version is actually beaded. To make mine, I used a thrift store plain cardigan - $1 - and added lots of tiny french knots (good photo tutorial here) using white embroidery thread that I had on hand.

This is part of my 30 Days For 30 Dollars Project of which you can see more on my blog:

mytwobutterflies

Cardigan & Jumper Combination

Unfortunately, I don't have a before photo. This is a combination of a horizontal striped jumper and a plain grey cardigan. 

I cut the back and front of the jumper into the shape of sleeves. I attached some extra pieces to the end of the sleeves to create cuffs and did a double row of crochet to finish the edges.

I removed the grey sleeves of the cardigan and sewed on the newly made striped ones.

To finish off I sewed the rib from the jumper to the bottom of the cardigan. 

An Introduction & a Simple Refashion

Hi Everybody,
I am JuliN and am pleased to become a part of Refashion Co-op! You all are so very creative and talented!
I participated a little in Wardrobe Refashion and really missed it when it closed down. I mainly submitted items I had re-made for my daughter, not much for me.
Kudos to the editors of Refashion Co-op for providing another forum for us. All of the contributors are so creative! I have been a lurker for several months (and admit to being a shameless style-biter! - and chronic exclamation point over-user...). Deciding to participate in Self-Stitched September for the first time has kicked refashioning clothes for myself into high

This refashion was pretty simple. I took this ill-fiting turquoise cardigan...


and turned it into a more flattering wrap-style by repostitioning the buttons.

here
I wore the cardigan and a refashioned necklace on Friday and blogged about the outfit

Milla's dancing dress.

The photos of this upcycle are a little blurry because Milla was wearing both her dancing boots and her dancing dress. The combination made her ruthless on the dance floor.

Ingredients for the mix:

• An old pajama pant leg of mine (used as the skirt)
• An old stained shirt of Milla's (cut off the stain and use it as a top)
• A natural colored linen scrap (used as applique to cover a stain on the front)
• Black thread for the applique used in a large zig zag

The back is straight, while the skirt in the front has three or four folds to give it dancing room.

You can almost see the black zig zag applique here. Such a fast easy sew.

The Tweed Suit Refashion continued...

Hello! This is a refashion from a few months ago that I forgot to finish & publish here... Do you remember this lovely number:

Well I finally unpicked the whole ensemble and started refashioning! I made a mini skirt using the back of the jacket for the front & two original skirt pieces for the back aswell as the original skirt lining & reclaimed zipper...

The jacket is still a work in progress....

Sometimes It is all in the details....

Here are 4 projects I have been working on that I felt didn't warrant their own post each, but had an underlying theme. I did not alter or hem any of these garments but added little details to turn them from drab to fab! Each one is linked to the project on my blog.

First one.... Vanilla sprinkles cardigan. I do not have a before picture from some reason, I believe my camera gremlin ate it. But it was a cardigan I got at a thrift store that was nice and thin for work for these hot summer months. I loved the cream color and light jersey fabric mixed with cream satin. I found these cream colored pearls in my stash (in 2 different bead shapes) and beaded along the satin trim.

After beading and maybe I was delusional from the heat, it reminded me of vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. (PS-the dress underneath is a future refashion!)

Number 2... Red Polka Dot Dress
I found this cute red/white polka dot dress but felt it missed something. It fit perfectly so no altering needed. I have been trying to play around with trims. I added a white satin ruffle (in stash, premade, was on clearance!), white rick-rack (to the bodice on the inside of the dress to give it a scalloped edge), and then made a white sash to define a waist.


Number 3... Pink Sequined Cardigan
I purchased this cardigan b/c mostly I like pink. Not joking! But I wanted to bling it up! It is a stretch cardigan and a size small and can not really be closed with out me looking slightly like a stuffed sausage. I wanted to added some interest to the cardigan since I would leave it open when I wear it. Found a perfect pink sequins that were on super clearance at Hancock fabrics ($0.20 a packet!-I bought all the colors I could find!). I easily sequined in 1 night- under 3 hours (and watched tv while I did it-I tell you I have this inane ability to bead and sequin in no time!)


Numer 4.. too much bling caridgan
This was a gift from a friend who wanted to see what I could do with this cardigan from Victoria's Secret. I came to the conclusion that it had too much bling and needed to come off. I left the trim bling and removed the pearl flowers.


Sometimes... it is all in the details....

xoxoxo,
LaLaLauren

Two Friendly Reminders Later ...

I broke the rules!
I'm not much of a rule breaker really, in fact, I quite like being told what to do.

I got a reminder from the lovely Eddie to see if I was able to post a refashion, and somehow, between grief, work, raising a family, life, you know ... I didn't have one. Well, I did, but I never got around to posting it until today when I got a second gentle reminder (and felt very much like a naughty school girl) from Portia.

So here, as promised, and somewhat late, is my little Cardigan Salvage Refashion.

Take one lovely little cardigan:



Stain the shoulder in an Acrylic Paint and Prosecco related incident (painting corks, and drinking; blogged about here):




Buy a copy of Mollie Makes, Issue 2 ... BRILLIANT British craft magazine, also available overseas!
Make the cover kit, a beautiful felt flower:




Then use said flower to cover the stain, corsage style:




Not rocket science. Not brain surgery either. But it served to give purpose to the magazine cover kit, and saved my cute cardi from certain death. Teamed with my turquoise killer heeled slingbacks, it looks F A B. Shame I don't have a pic of that for you.

Yellow Cardigan

A 1980's yellow cardigan picked up for $5 from my local op shop (thrift shop). Whilst this yellow cardigan has potential, with the best shoulder bows, gold buttons, and made from 100% wool, it didn't fit so well..

With a little chopping and resizing, it fits much better now..

Shoulder bows!

A step by step guide on my blog

Not Quite a Refashion . . . .

So unfortunately I've been spending more time at work than home so no access to my sewing machine. I've been restricted to projects that are portable and can be done at my desk. Luckily I pick up crafts pretty quickly given minimal instruction. I've been experimenting with embroidery since I found a kit I was given for christmas hiding on my craft shelf at home. After doing some patterns I found online for kitchen proverbs (details here and here) instead of the weird little animal patterns that came with it, I decided to try out my new skills on a cardigan that has been hanging in my closet unworn and unloved.

I originally bought the cardigan to bring a pop of color to my wardrobe. I underestimated how RED this unadorned item would look to me. Just too . . . RED. I like colors, but red is a little intimidating. So I brought it in figuring I'd play around and find something to do with it. This isn't a refashion in the traditional sense since I didn't alter the garment itself structurally in any way. But I hope you'll agree it is a spiritual refashion since I took something unloved and unworn and made it something I like better and will hopefully be wearing more often. Some pics below and more details on my blog.

I hope you like!