patch skirt - and a pattern

Feels like I have not posted in an age, and I am sure it has been
I started working full time as we have started to upcycle our house and now covered in dust!
I did manage to do some refashioning for fashion revolution week.

I donated my sample makes to the local charity shop to sell during fashion revolution week, and to show what could be made from charity shop buys.
The Cope Charity Shop Galway gave me some denim that was not selling and I made some skirts
The skirt pattern can be downloaded for free from Craftsy

more on blog, www.upsew.ie

embroidered coat, embroidered bag, and five minute frock

I have not posted in a while...I had been making an Irish dance dress, and then changing jobs but I did finish a few things

the first is I embroidered this coat - which I am very pleased with and timed it perfectly for winter here

The second was a bag I embroidered - its a vintage vinyl box clasp bag and the lining was shredded so I relined and embroidered

and the third was a five minute sew - it was a long a-line skirt, so I cut some armholes, hemmed them, and have worn it a lot since - it drapes well, and the waistband makes a rather angular boatneck.

The coat I detailed in my blog www.upsew.ie, I will post info on the other two in the next while.....

shirt blouse - with pattern

I just wanted to share a pattern I drafted which is useful for remaking shirts to tops.

I have put it on craftsy as a free download and will be uploading the a4 sheets in the next few days - its currently an A1 sheet download, and a size 12.

I did the pattern as I needed to make some new workshirts.... and got a bit carried away and made 6!

link to pattern is https://www.craftsy.com/sewing/patterns/shirt-blouse/505324

link to my blog is https://theupsew.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/shirt-blouse-pattern/

crochet trim dress - anthropologie inspired

I saw the xanthe dress from anthropologie on pinterest and adored the colours and really thought I could use some of my crochet stash so went looking for a tee-shirt.  I found a jersey skirt in the local charity shop next day, recut it to a long tee-shirt and crochet-ed the trim.  As it turned out, the double knit cotton I used was waaaay tooo heavy, so I did buy the colours in 4 ply cotton and did a mix of dc fillet, hdc, and sc.

I have a photo explanation on how to do the trim here
and the blog post on the dress is upsew.ie

coat update - cut off collar and embroider sleeves

I was given a thrifted coat about 2 months ago.  My friend had told me she saw a coat I would like and wanted to check before she got it for me (which was thoughtful as I have far too much to sew sometimes!).

It was a new (from the 1970s) with tags, coat.  Navy wool, and it was also probably part of a uniform as the company makes ship uniforms for the Cunard.  The cut and make was basic (none of the internal seams are finished), and while the coat is wool - it not that insulated, which on the other hand made it very useful for this time of year (ie mid season)

It was a bit big, so I unpicked all the seams and the intention was to take them in, but when I used a pattern for reference, the only piece I recut was the fronts.  The rest were left.  Now that its done, I am thinking of taking it in an inch on the side seams but no hurry).

Originally I was going to embroider other areas but it would have been both fiddly and difficult,  (the centre front) and embroidering the hem was out as the design would have been lost - so I settled on embroidering the sleeves.

I took off the collar and tidied the finish but I still want to finish the collar better but I have not decided which way yet -  www.upsew.ie

using up scraps and making bags

I have started to try and use up some of my sizable scraps by making some bags.  I was also able to use up some old belts, and 'harvested' zips.

this pattern from noodlehead is very useful and easy to follow

I made this bag from one belt and a some denim squares - I have been trying out a few other bag designs and it is a great way to use up the large scraps also to reuse one or two sewn items that didn't quite work out!  I am making a few more noodlehead bags, or variations of them as they will make very useful gifts!

vogue 9004 - trousers to top

I had been meaning to try vogue 9004 for a time, and had forgot I had these trousers in my 'stash'.  the fabric was perfect and it also made a lovely gift for my sister - www.theupsew.com

embroidered yeah

I am going through a bit of an embroidery phase.  I have a cashmere sweater I want to put a motif on but as I was trying to figure what to do, I came across this on the DMC common thread site, and thought I would try it.  I got a mans XL cotton knit, cut it down and re-used the cuffs as neck ribbing, first time I did this, and it worked well, and I hemmed the sleeves and hem with a herringbone stitch on the machine.
https://theupsew.wordpress.com/

sweater upcycle - home-made crochet trim

I started doing these last year, they are pretty quick and I love the homemade handmade look it gives. I started using the Seamwork Astoria pattern (I lengthen the pattern) to recut cotton mens v-neck sweaters.  This one is a very fine cotton, which is faded and that gives it an old sweatshirt feel.  I havn't a clue where the before picture went, but it was a xl mens v-neck with a small hole in the seam!

I see these sweaters as the antithesis of fast fashion, as the sweaters so far are from the one euro rail in the charity shop (reduced rail).  After recutting and sewing seams, I turn over the neck, sleeve, and hem edge, and tack, I then blanket stitch in the same colour embroidery thread as the garment, and then single crochet into these.  I keep meaning to make the embroidery or the crochet more elaborate, but havn't yet!

embroidery sampling......one euro up cycle

I have to make an embroidered waistcoat for my nephew (irish dancing season again) and this time its velvet, which I have minimal experience in embroidering (and slightly adverse to sewing velvet in general).  I was on the look out for velvet in the charity shop to make the waistcoat, and while there spotted this black top.  Its a stretch mock suede and a nice shape, and I thought it would be useful to do an embroidery sample on textured stretch fabric and also to check if fabric glue would work as an alternative to top hooping fabric.

I put vilene on the hoop and put glue in place and then basted the fabric/top in place.  I used a 'Flores' motif from Urban Threads.  The middle motif is slightly off balance, but in all it turned out fine..... so including oodles of mistakes including,

finding out

• I should have marked out the design on the vilene
• the re-spooling of the indian embroidery thread was a good idea but it is still crap thread
• the blue usb key should not be used as it stopped working half-way through the third embroidery
• noting the stitch count is always a good idea (when having to turn machine on and off when usb gave up)

I did also find out a free way to do basic edits (edited out birds in design), so as learning curves go, this one was easy enough, and on the up-side, at least the velvet fabric is a woven!

one euro blouse

I am always surprised at the amount of 'good stuff' on the euro rail, once you look beyond some of the styles!  I got these pair of culottes on the euro rail, and adored the silk and the colour and there was enough fabric to try a pleated/tucked blouse.

Personally I always prefer to take things apart and recut so there was plenty of fabric in these, the pattern was self drafted, its basically a boat neck top pattern which is cut open and spread out, and the lining fabric is the original fabric so it holds the shape of the outside.  I have a few more details on the blog upsew.ie

skirt or dress to skirt and dress

I got this dress in a charity shop a few weeks ago, and wasn't sure if it was a maxi-skirt or midi- dress, but the shade and fabric were lovely.

It was a half bubble effect to the front and one belt loop and the side seams were deliberately non-symmetrical.  It seemed to work as a dress so well, I decided to try and have it as both, by making a detachable strap!

more on my blog.

wrap to a ponch

I made one of these some time ago, and its been so useful.  I got this scarf in the local charity shop, added some buttonholes, and some buttons from the button tin! (more on blog)

sweater refashion

I did a sweater refashion last year and based the pattern on a sweater I had, and adapted it.  I loved the slouchy style of the sweater, and also the fact it had some shaping at the waist.  I got this sweater in a charity shop a few weeks ago, and decided to use the pattern again.  I did not take the sweater fully apart, but made sure I cut on the folds correctly.  I hope to put the pattern up for free download on my blog www.theupsew.com in a few weeks

recutting some cashmere

I have had these trousers for so so so long and truth is, I was afraid to cut them in case I messed up.   I bought the trousers on ebay, and they were too big on the waist and too wide to be flattering on the ankle (wish  I had longer legs sometimes).  

 The one part of the recut that can go wrong, is if something goes off grain, so when I thought it through, I figured I would baste stitch up the crease of the pants as they were on the straight grain, and would work as my selvage guide.

I had a few patterns to consider, but as usual, what you plan and the amount of fabric you get are often miles apart, so I drafted a new pattern which matched the cut better of the original, and cut away.  I pretty much mimicked the previous construction, and ultimately I have a pair of wearable trousers (after 3 years)

I have done very little sewing and remakes so far this year.... this was the first, more to come soon I hope!

red blouse remade

 I got this red blouse from the euro rail, it was silk and stained, and red (and very had to photograph red!).  I took it apart and recut, to make a blouse with tucks at the neckline, with back zipper opening.  I am always surprised when silks are discarded, and normally its because they are stained, so I usually launder in wool/silk hand wash, (dont soak) and then rinse with some white vingear in rinse water to make sure there is no soap residue, and steam iron gently.............. I also got a thrifted piece of tweed to make a matching skirt, more on my blog theupsew.com

my new winter coat

Re-cutting and remaking a coat from another coat is a lot easier than I would have thought some years back - providing that there is sufficient fabric!, .  Also, these coats can be very cheap (because they are dated) and very good quality fabric (because this quality isn't produced to the same extent).  I am really happy with this one, I drafted a simple raglan coat pattern, and also made a detachable hood with the left overs... more details on blog post  www.theupsew.com

upcycle a scarf to a poncho/shrug/cardi/shawl

I had crocheted poncho with buttons for my sister some months back and wish I had it myself all summer as it was rather cold in Ireland.  When I was unpacking some winter clothes, I decided to turn a long scarf I had into something similar by cutting it a bit shorter, and placing some buttons at each end and sewing buttonholes.  It worked out a lot better than I expected and already a wardrobe staple.

If its buttoned one side only, its a poncho.  If these buttons are to the front, you can button the back and it becomes a ' cardigan'.  If each end is buttoned it becomes a shrug.  and if unbuttoned, its back to a shawl.

I have photos belows of the poncho and shrug, and some more at the blog www.theupsew.com 

sheets and pillowcases.... lots of them

The last while I have been remaking sheets and trying some shibori, as well as making new sets of pyjamas.  The shibori was something I never did, but always loved the look of.  I bought one of those Jacquard Indigo Kits and got a lot of stuff dyed.  I have a few posts over in my blog of the various shibori's but my fabourite one is this one!

Got quite a lot out of 2 or 3 sheets and some pillowcases 

http://rudai-deanta.blogspot.ie/2015/08/sheets-and-shibori-dress-2-calvin-klein.html

sweater to cardigan

I finally finished this last tuesday.  I got this cashmere sweater and had originally planned a more elaborate crochet trim, but instead decided to make a simple cardigan.  the edges have a fillet stitch so I can thread a ribbon in to add another colour (which I may do yet).  It was relatively quick (given that I used a tiny tiny hook), www.theupsew.com