Maternity trousers refashion - take 2!

I had a go at re-doing my previous refashion of the maternity trousers so that they would actually stay up by adding elastic and a belly-band.



I also made another pair of dress-trousers for wearing while I am pregnant.



Have a look on my blog for the first attempt and the final version here!

I have also been adding links to tutorials for maternity refashions and other crafty tutorials I love on the new Facebook page for my blog, Eddie's room! Feel free to jump over and give it a 'like' if you are interested in nifty craft tutorials :-)

Maternity dress from a sheet

Here's my second maternity refashion. I had a shrunken cotton sheet that I couldn't use any more. Because it was light blue, I dyed it black but the white roses still showed on the fabric. I liked the effect so I decided to use the fabric to make a dress. I didn't have a pattern, but I wanted it to be a maternity dress, so I simply tried draping it on the dress form. I think it turned out well.

More details about the draping and photos here.

Introduction and a maternity refashion

Hi everyone,

I'm Brigita from Slovenia. I've been a member of Wardrobe refashion and I'm delighted to be a contributor to this new refashion blog, so thanks admins for accepting me. This is a great place for new ideas, inspiration and sharing.

On my blog, I mostly post about sewing, crafting and cooking, and lately more and more about getting used to motherhood as I'm expecting my first child. So it's only right for my first refashion to be maternity wear.

I transformed an old pair of ill-fitting pants with too high waist by cutting away that waist and using a stretchy jersey waistband instead.
 

Before

After

For a more detailed description of the refashion and more photos, go here.

Maternity Challenge

For the maternity challenge I made this dress. I'm not pregnant but who cares. :)

It is made from the top part of a singlet dress. Sorry, I didn't take a before photo of that one. It is made from red jersey and has a halter top.

I used part of the purple satin top which I love but had a few pulls in it and an assortment of these scarves.

I did a patchwork mishmash on the skirt. I made mistake between the third and fourth tiers and had to do lots and lots of frog stitch. Scarves I discovered are rather unforgiving and I was left with hole from unpicking. I search the stash and found some large purple ric rack. I sewed this over the seam and all is forgiven.

I did a little refashion of a teapot and old door lock into some little robots also. These photos are on my Lollean page on facebook....enjoy!

Next challenge: maternity clothing

Hi all! Just a quick word that we're running a "maternity clothing" challenge around here from now until Saturday, October 8th. Whip Up will be featuring a guest post by our very own editor Eddie, who will talk about maternity clothing, refashions, and Refashion Co-Op, so we thought we'd run a little maternity clothing challenge to welcome readers from the site!

So if you've got any maternity refashions that you've created ... or are in the process of creating ... for the next two and a half weeks, we'd love to see them! Use the "maternity" and "challenge" tags to flag your post!

Oh yes, and we received a great suggestion to post these challenge pages as a separate page up top on the blog. I am working on that! Not the tech savviest person here, folks, but I will figure it out in the next couple days and get on it. Any more suggestions - please leave a comment and let us know!

Seasonal Transitions Challenge Roundup

Whew! Apologies for being so late getting this up, but I've been having a crazy week around here! Anyways, thought I'd do another roundup of our latest challenge, "Seasonal Transitions." I do hope I caught everybody's project, they're all so different and creative!

As with before, we'd love your input on who should be the recipient of our next "Readers Choice Award" (bragging rights!) We had a whole slew of creative and different "seasonal transitions" refashions that were posted, and we'd love to hear which one(s) struck your fancy! We'll leave voting open until Friday evening, and thanks to all contributors who participated!


(left to right, top to bottom)
Jacket to Vest
Autumn Pillow
Winter to Spring Robot Tee
Changeover Jumper
Halloween Shorts
T-Shirt Scarf
Heatwave Loungewear
Kickpleat Skirt
Suit Satchel

Which refashion struck your fancy?
	Jacket to Vest
	Autumn Pillow
	Winter to Spring Robot Tee
	Changeover Jumper
	Halloween Shorts
	T-Shirt Scarf
	Heatwave Loungewear
	Kickpleat Skirt
	Suit Satchel
pollcode.com free polls

Transitional wardrobe changeover

It being the beginning of September (although still very humid and muggy) I'm waiting in anticipation for proper autumnal frosty mornings and the brown leaves to kick in. I've slowly been changing over my summer wardrobe to include some knitwear and warmer cosy jumpers. I have this lovely apple green angora mix long jumper that I found hidden away and although the feel of it is lovely and soft, I was no longer keen on the high neckline and there was a hole in the middle of it that had been chewed by a moth whilst in storage.
I cut away a soft curved neckline where the ribbed collar part began and used some odds and ends of left over material to work on giving the neckline a shabby chic style. I fused together some tweedy type strips with some light green chiffon pieces and some raw green silk strips and sewed them onto each other. I created a loose corsage on the left had side of the neckline and pleated some pinky red curtain type material on the other side. To disguise the moth hole, I let the strips hang down the centre, sewing them halfway down before letting them hang freely. And, voila, this is the completed article and I'm pretty pleased with it, may wear it to the wedding I'm off to in October in Cardiff. xx

Seasonal transitions-suit satchel

Hi It's Róisín, this is my first refashion :P yay! It's early Autumn here in Scotland and the school term has started. The huge gap in my Autumn "wardrobe" was a nice but practical bag for school. This year has seen the return of the satchel, but being a vegetarian, I don't wear leather, so finding a hard wearing but good looking bag is difficult so I thought, why not make one? And what is more hard wearing than a wool suit? So I scooted up to Glasgow and found an xxl blue pinstripe suit in oxfam. Unfortunately I have no before photos but this is (ROUGHLY) what the original suit looked like.

I made up measurements by roughly following a design I created by measuring my largest textbook, and piling all my stuff up to get the depth. very technical stuff :P

This is what the finished bag looks like. I lined and piped it using some funky remnant material and curtain cord. Overall it turned out ok :) It has pleated pockets on the front, pockets on either side and pockets on the inside lining. I made those using the original inside pockets from the suit and some homemade bias binding. The"D rings" are belt buckles. I was at my Gran's whilst making it and she kept saying how good the quality of the suit was and asking my uncle what size he took :P Oh well, it makes quite a nice bag now!

Seasonal Transitions Challenge: oversized skirt to kickpleat skirt

Kickpleat? I think that's what you call these things.


The other day I found this size 20W Boden skirt in the thrift shop and fell in love with the colorblocking, asymmetry, and geometric shapes. The colors are summery but the weight could pass for spring and fall in San Francisco, so I whipped it out for this challenge. As you can see, it was about 13" too big for me as well as 2.5" too long (I like my skirts to fall below the knee, but not that far below the knee).


First I hemmed both the lining and the skirt shorter, then treated both as one piece of fabric. Because I wanted to keep the pockets, I knew I had to refashion this from the center instead of bringing in the side seams. I simply folded it in by 6.5" at the middle back to create a back seam, and then created a 6.5" boxpleat down the center front.

(Back seam, edges trimmed and zigzagged)

(Front boxpleat. I stitched it down partway and then topstitched it to reinforce the pleat)

I don't think it's too noticeable that there's a new center back seam, do you?

Just as I was finishing this up, my roommate walks in and says, "Oh, those are my favorite colors!"

Sigh.

So I'm giving it to her. Which is just as well. I love it and think it's adorable, but if I'm honest with myself I probably wouldn't wear it as often as I'd like ... and I like the clothes in my closet to pull their weight! Which just means ... an excuse for another refashion!

If you're looking for more skirt refashion ideas, feel free to drop by!

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.

Autumn Pillows

I wanted to make some pillows to transition from Summer to Fall. I used an old white stained shirt and some remnants of my old lab jackets and dyed them autumn colors. I also tried this cool shibori method that I stumbled upon. I have never heard of it and couldn't wait to try it! I apologize ahead of time for the crappy photos.

Before:

After:

simple shibori method:

The white shirt is now a brown pillow.

I don't know if this qualifies under 'accesories' for the challenge, so I will let the readers and editors decide for themselves! More on my blog

SeasonalTransitions jacket to vest!

Hiya! Today I took this newly gifted jacket that had uncomfortably tight sleeves:

And made it into this super sweet vest just by unpicking the sleeves! So my "new" vest is comfortable & perfect to wear now that we've just come into spring & still have cooler afternoons/evenings!

Weekly Challenge: Seasonal Transitions!

Just a little reminder that our weekly challenge (Seasonal Transitions) is off and running! Don't forget to upload a post about your "seasonal transitions" refashion before midnight on Saturday to be counted in the challenge.

Thanks, and happy refashioning!

It's the time of the season...

...for jeans skirts! I've been wishing I had one on and off all summer, so the seasonal transitions challenge was just the nudge I needed to finally fill this hole in my wardrobe.

So I picked up these jeans, or jeggings, or whatever they are (stretchy things with a horrible elastic waist that didn't deserve to live) at the local Goodwill. Only $2!

And after about 2 nights' work, I had this.

I had this zipper on hand, so I decided to give the exposed zipper look a try. I think it turned out pretty well! More details on how I did it here.

Introduction and Lace Weekly Challenge top

Hi my name is Rachel and I post on my blog idlepines

I am so pleased there is a venue for refashioning after Wardrobe ReFashion.

I love opshopping and am forever buying clothes that are too big, too odd, or not quite right because I love the print, the fabric or wanna try a refashion!!

Its been a while since I made a complete clothing item from scratch, year 10 Textiles and Design to be precise, content to leave making clothes for me to my Mum whilst I did quick refashions, but I am hoping to make a dress from scratch... hopefully by the end of this year… well that is the goal anyway!

Here is a quick refashion I did recently and posted on my blog and was excited I could present it in Lace Week.

I found these pretty lace motifs in my Mum’s stash ages ago: if I recall correctly they were from an embellished tablecloth she thrifted and unpicked apart.


Lace Motif from tablecloth

I thought they would look great stitched onto a plain black top: but trying to find a plain black top in an opshop (I don’t buy new!) proved harder than I thought. I finally found a black sparkly racer back knit and after experimenting with the exact placement I finally stitched it on and wore it to work the next day.


I have some more of these motifs so am looking forward to doing some more refashions with them. Rachel xx

Lacey camisole

I'm generally not a lace girl, but I remembered after the challenge was posted that I actually had something on hand that would work! So figured I'd play along.

I turned this ill-fitting all-over stretch lace top that wouldn't stay up on my shoulders into two things.

#1, a camisole, fully lined with remnants of a jersey fabric left over from one of my from-scratch projects.

#2, I took the sleeve that was left after I made the straps (fabric-covered elastic) and turned it into a cute little headband.

It ended up being more time-consuming than it probably would have been had it not been lace, because I had to deconstruct it almost entirely to line it. But I think it'll end up being a nice layering piece for the fall. As always, more details on my blog. Thanks for looking!

Announcing Self-Stitched-Sept '11!!!

Hi Refashioners! I just wanted to let you know about the latest me-made/self-stitched challenge I'm hosting for creative individuals such as yourselves.

Basically, Self-Stitched-Sept '11 has been created so sewers/refashioners/knitters/crochetters/upcyclers/etc. can challenge themselves to wear more of their handiwork than they currently do for the duration of September 2011. Most participants who have already signed up are aiming to wear one item that has been self-stitched per day, but you can adapt the specifics of the challenge to suit your own level/situation.

This is the fifth online challenge of this type now, and there are lots of reasons why people choose to take part. Some find that most of their self-stitched/refashioned creations often remain in their wardrobe for whatever reason, and would like a kick to get them into their clothing rotation. SSS '11 might give you a push towards figuring out how your current creations can form wearable outfits. Some participants have found these challenges have helped them discover the 'holes' in their wardrobe so in the future they are able to focus their garment-creating time towards making things that will be more useful. Others (myself included) feel what they tend to wear day-to-day, doesn't really suit them or represent who they are particularly, and want to spend a month focussing on getting out of their rut. Some participants enjoy the mild panic that often decends having signed up, which then encourages them to finish off lingering unfinished projects to add some more self-stitched weapons to their garment-arsenal.

Whatever the reason, it would be awesome to have you on board. There will be a Flickr group and Facebook page created closer to September 1st which will form focus points for the community of participants to share their experiences and outfits, to comment and discuss. If you are interested, head to this post for more info and how to participate.

Hope to see you there!

Zoe xxx

Around the World in 80 Dresses: giveaway winners!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge - whether posting a refashion, donating a prize, or commenting on posts and cheering one another on! It's been an inspiring month at Refashion Co-Op for sure, and we've loved the extra flurry of posts, as well as new visitors who have dropped by the blog to check us out. I'm pleased to announce that we refashioned a total of 33 dresses in 21 days! How amazing are we???

As you may remember, a number of generous contributors, Editors, and Refashion Co-Op guests offered up prizes to participants in our Around the World in 80 Dresses challenge. Tickets were awarded for 1) promoting the challenge, 2) refashioning a dress, and/or 3) posting a tutorial.

Without further ado, the randomly selected winners of the giveaway are:

ReSew book: Sew I Thought
Debbie's stash package of vintage trim: Charity Shop Chic
Vintage sewing patterns from Erica: Crafty
Eddie's trim and brooch: Poet
Felted Flower Kit: Huli
Sewing For Toddlers book: Mikinlee and Me

Winners, please contact us at refashioncoop@gmail.com with your name and mailing address, and we will send this on to the appropriate person to get your prize in the mail!

Thanks again everybody for making our first challenge here at Refashion Co-Op such a smashing success! We hope to put on more such activities in the future! If you have an idea for one, leave a comment or send us an email!


~Your Editors

Little Yellow Dress Refashion

This refashion didn't involve any drastic changes - but I did take it from unwearable to wearable. It started as this plain strapless dress (thrifted for $3):


I loved the pale yellow color and the detailed bottom trim but I don't do strapless. And unfortunately I didn't have any matching yellow fabric to make straps out of. So I went with a darker yellow for the straps. But then it definitely looked like I had added the straps - the darker color just stuck out and didn't look like it belonged. I made a few yo-yo's in the same darker yellow and tacked them onto the front - this seemed to help integrate the darker yellow color into the dress.

www.mytwobutterflies.blogspot.com

I used the bottom half of an old t-shirt to make a summer dress! (Dress challenge entry?)

I really think this may be too late. I'm about 20 minutes past the deadline, but in the off chance that I'll still get entered I'm posting it. And I'd post it even if there were no "dress challenge" and I just so happened to finally make a dress that I've been plotting for 2 years. Which I did!  The fabric was given to me and the shirt was a cast off from my husband's stash. (Pay no attention to the dates, they are completely incorrect)

Sports team I've never heard of....and I used to live in Tampa! And I'm a huge fan of soccer....

I love the lace up back, but I think it needs to be tweaked, it doesn't look as good as I was hoping. Still, I'm really glad I've finally made this dress! I'll be wearing this one a lot this summer. For some more details see my blog.