Run away to the circus!

I had an idea to make a shirt into a vest with tails, similar to the jackets worn by the Circus Master like a tux with tails. I started with a green long sleeve men's shirt and some scrap floral fabric. My goal is to maintain the integrity of the starting item, so you can see its main components. I used almost all of the shirt to make this new top, vest combination.

I removed the sleeves and cut the front of the shirt at the waist from seam to seam with points on the front. Darts on the front to the bust shape the front. On the back, I wanted to have a pleat, so I cut it in the middle up to the the hip line. Sorry, I don't have photos of it cut apart.

Front - Reshaped the collar and created a lapel look. I attached floral fabric to the top side of the collar and inside to show on the lapels.

Side - Elastic at the waist across the back provides shape and takes up the excess fabric.

Back - I made a flower from the floral fabric and attached it at the top of the pleat.

I lined the inside of the back pleat with the floral fabric.

 With the sleeves, I made a backless top to go under the vest. You see the cuffs at the bottom and the floral fabric at the top and bottom. a ribbon goes through the top and gathers for various bust sizes. The back is made using part of the cut off part from the front of the shirt made into a band the same width as the cuffs.

Don't they look great together. Here are the two pieces together with the vest unbuttoned.

With the vest buttoned. I think it would look great with jeans, shorts or even a skirt.

I hope this will give you ideas to push yourself beyond the basics.

Girl's Summer Dress

I hate to waste any part of the shirt when I am repurposing. So I made this little girls dress from just the sleeves of a men's shirt.

This dress can  be worn by a size 2 and all the way up to a 4 with coordinating shorts, tights or pants.

To attach the front to the back I used a coordinating t-shirt that also creates the arm holes.

I attached the black lace detail just to indicate which side was the front.

For the shoulder straps I used the curved shoulder piece cut off of the sleeve and created a slot for elastic.

I hope this gives you an idea on how to use the left over sleeves from your own men's shirt refashions.

Have fun!

You can also follow me on Twitter, Pinterest & Instagram

Spring Flowers

I loved this eyelet fabric when I saw it at the thrift store. Great colors, great flowers and who doesn't love eyelet. It seemed too short for a dress and too long for a skirt. Also the elastic stitching was stretched out in places, but, I thought I could do something with it so bought it! Cute isn't it?

I niticed I had some white eyelet fabric too so I decided to try and make a layered ruffle strapless tops. First I measured the length to decide how long I wanted it to be. Then I cut off the bottom.

I measured and cut the removed section into strips. I also cut the white eyelet fabric the same width to add to the layering. 

I hemmed one edge of the flora strips. The white eyelet I left with the raw cut edge. On the other edge I used a basting stitch and pulled the thread to gather them to the width of the top.

I sewed the gathered strips to the remaining top create the layers. To help the top stay up I created a pocket to run elastic through at the top. The white layers were inserted to create a visual break between the floral layers.

Finally I hemmed the bottom of the top to the length I wanted it to be.

And there it is, the finished summer strapless top. It's super comfortable and can be worn with jeans or shorts and looks great.

Let me know what you think of this refashion. Remember to take a look at your own wardrobe and see if there is something you can Refashion for you or someone else in your family. More refashions coming using different clothing items that I hope will inspire you.  

Thank you for reading.

You can also follow me on:

Twitter @MsJeanUpcycles

Pinterest MsJeanUpcycles

Esty.com/shop/MissJeansThings

Miss-Jeans-Things.com

Top & Strapless Dress / Skirt

My daughter loves to go to the thrift stores with me. Since she has found that her clothing purchasing power goes a lot further that way. When she showed me this dress, I just shook my head and said "No, you don't want that." To me this dress looked like an 80's nightmare, crinkled rayon in pink and turquoise with a crazy pattern. What were the designers thinking? Too long sleeves and blousey top that hung over the drop waist with sash, yuck. But. my daughter saw something in it and bought it anyway. Then it was up to me to transform her vision into reality. 

First we separated the top from the skirt section. I shortened the sleeves and hemmed the bottom.  She was happy with just those changes and I have to admit it looks nice on her. She wears it with jeans, but, I think it could easily go with a dressier pair of slacks.  

She didn't have any plans for the bottom skirt portion. I was going to just put it away for another day, but, it looked to me like we could also make a strapless dress or tie waist skirt from the bottom section.  I added some elastic to give the top some support and help avoid accidental exposure as a dress. The sash is tied in the back but it could be tied in the front. It can also be worn as a skirt with the sash tied at the side or front.

I'm glad we have this activity to share. Now, if I could just get her to learn to sew herself. . . 

Thank you for reading.

Jean

Mini Skirt to Mini Bag

Hi everyone! This is my first post. I am happy to be sharing on Refashion Co-op.

My daughter has a friend who had a skirt she wanted made into a purse. I had made a few purses from skirts and shorts so I agreed.

I found a scrap piece of fabric for the liner I knew would match the color. There was enough to make a zippered pocket on the inside and a shoulder strap. It was perfect to have the colorful floral fabric on the inside of the burgundy corduroy skirt.

I put an X to hold the shoulder strap, stitched and squared the bottom of the skirt.

Here is the final piece. She has enjoyed the purse and my daughter continues to come home with projects for herself and her friends.

To see the various items I repurpose or upcycle please follow me on Twitter @MsJeanUpcycles , Pinterest MsJeanUpcycles or Facebook Ms Jean Upcycles