Thrifted boxy shirt made fitted

This was a vintage Marks and Spencer St Michael's brand cotton shirt that I picked up on a thrifting trip to Glasgow, years ago.  It was 99p, a bargain.  The print is a cutesy blue floral pattern, perfect for Spring, but the cut was boxy and unflattering.  It's been waiting in my fabric trunk for years, all it needed was some bust darts and an inch or so taken in around the waist.





All in, a success. Now I just need a picnic in a meadow to wear it!  You can read more about my thrifting, crafting adventures over at my blog Craft & Thrift.

Large boxy t-shirt refashion

I've been hoarding a few massive t-shirts for a while now.  They're all sentimental in some way, shirts I wore when I had my first boyfriend, or friends left behind when they moved away.  They're all baggy and old and in need of a revamp to turn them from something languishing in my fabric box to something I would actually wear out and about, but they all remind me fondly of a certain time in my life.  Ah, nostalgia.



This was a large boxy t-shirt I inherited when a friend emigrated at the end of vet school.  She's originally from Washington State so I pulled this one out of the charity bags she gave me to rifle through because it reminded me of her and the fun times we had together at uni. I should have taken a before picture, but imagine large boxy t-shirt.  You can do it.



I'm still practising sewing with jersey and I'm still struggling with the basics.  My seams never seem to be straight and quite often go weirdly ripply.  Although I pinned around So Zo's t-shirt to vest pattern to get the basic body right on this remake, the armhole openings still came out too big, despite the fact that they fit fine on my other makes with this pattern.  I guess it's because I made proper wide straps rather than using elastic, clearly I got the sizing wrong because they give me a slightly baggy-trucker look I think.  Also, looking at this photos I feel like I should have ironed this top, but then who seriously irons t-shirts?!





All in, not perfect but definitely wearable.  I've been wearing this a lot as a vest under my scrub top at work, for the warmth.  I can imagine in the summer it will be nice for beach walks with the dog, the kind of outdoor activity where I invariably end up in the sea so it's good to wear something you're not too attached to.  Definitely room for improvement, B- must try harder.

You can read similar posts on my crafty endeavours on my blog, Craft & Thrift.

Refashioned jacket to dog coat!

I hope this counts for Refashion Co-op, it is a wearable item refashioned from a piece of clothing...but it is for a dog.

When I was in vet school we all had to buy these jackets in final year that had the school crest and our name embroidered across the chest.  It was a nice warm jacket but a hideously unflattering style for someone short and petite-tending-to-dumpy like me.  I knew I would never wear it again after I graduated so it hung in the cupboard for a while, gathering dust and making me feel guilty.  I didn't want to send it to charity for the sentimental reasons (plus it has my name on it - limited resell there!) but equally didn't want to wear it because it made me look like the Michelin Man.

So, what do you do with a coat like that when you live in cold, damp Scotland?  Why, turn it into a coat for your mongrel of course!

I traced around a friend's dog coat that fit my hound, it has velcro straps across the front of the chest and underneath behind the armpit.  It goes along his back to keep off the worst of the weather, but far enough forward under the chest & abdomen that he won't wee on it, being a stupid boy dog who would do that if given half the chance.  I kept the school logo and my name (blacked out here just in case of government conspiracy) and the Musto logo.  I'm sure the Queen and Prince Charles would get a kick out of knowing that their brand sponsors my dog.

Trying to get him to stay still long enough for a halfway decent photo involved many, MANY dog treats.  This was such an easy make, I would definitely do it again if I found an unloved rain coat in a charity shop!

You can see more of my sewing, knitting and general crafting endeavours over at Craft & Thrift blog!

Vintage sheet to hospital scrub top

In the 'real world' I work as a vet in an animal hospital.  For surgery and anaesthesia, I have to wear scrubs but always find the hospital scrubs to be badly fitting and uncomfortable.  Mostly they make me look like I'm wearing pyjamas.  Not sexy.  I didn't take a before picture stupidly, but I thrifted this vintage Thelwell duvet cover years ago and have had it in my stash for ages because I didn't really know what an adult woman could make for herself out of cartoon pony material.  It's the same sheet as you can see on this old Ebay listing here.



(Thelwell, for those who don't know, is a very English old school cartoonist who is most famous for his cartoons of little girls and their pudgy, mischievous ponies.  It's very hunting, shooting, fishing style with lots of mud and foxhounds and gymkhanas and I loved it when I was a child.)



This took me two attempts as the first one came out HUGE, despite following the pattern exactly.  I didn't realise I'd bought a plus-size pattern so it was totally my bad.  After some franken-patterning and chopping 2 inches off either side, I then ended up with a top that was too small to go over the junk in mah trunk.  I had to insert a triangle of material to adapt to this little challenge.



I then ended up making it too short, so cut 2 inches off the bottom hem only to subsequently sew it back on again.  Face palm. 



In the end though, I'm pleased with the outcome!  I wear it to work every other day (I need to make a second one for when it's in the wash!) and have got loads of compliments for it.  My next attempt needs to include a pocket though and I need to take the time to zigzag the hems as it's now fraying all over the place. 



Action shot!  Bed sheet to scrub top for the win!  You can read the original post over on my blog.  I'm hosting a giveaway next week so come and win yourself some handknitted accessories! (am I allowed to mention that?)

Boxy t-shirt to vest top

Hello! This is my first post here at the Refashion Co-op so please let me know if there's anything I'm doing wrong.

I'm Amy and I blog over at Craft & Thrift about sewing, knitting, crafting, thrifting and generally living the DIY life. I'm an veterinary surgeon based in Edinburgh, Scotland and live with my fiancé and dog.

I'm sure we're all familiar with the age-old 'boxy t-shirt to vest top' project but I've just finished my first two of these so here they are!  I didn't take a before picture of the original t-shirts but here's an identical style of t-shirt that's next in line for a refashion.



Oversized, boxy, old...desperately in need of some cuttage!

I used So Zo's free pattern for both of these and was really pleased with how they turned out.  This first one was a bit of a distaster initially and took 2 attempts to stitch the elastic.  I had to hoik up the straps to compensate and it's still a bit gapy at the front but it's wearable and practice makes perfect, right?  You can read all about the gory details over here.



This second one was more of a success, though I should have graded up a size at the waist to take the junk in mah trunk into consideration.  This one has been relegated to sleepwear until I can fix the muffin-top issue but overall I'm pleased with them both.



Nothing like taking an old, worn t-shirt and making it into something new and exciting!