Patchwork Jersey Maxi Skirt

I I don't have the long list of photos to accompany this one, but the finished product is pretty sweet. 

Doggy Bombed- also, too lazy to retake.

All I did was pull out some similarly color-schemed shirts and cut the bottoms off near the arm pit area. Then I opened them up into a long strip and sewed them together. They weren't wide enough around to make a whole skirt, so I cut it in half and and cut two strips of the same size from a large chunk of jersey material I found at a thrift store. Sewed em together, made a casing, and fed in some elastic. Also awesome was the fact that the elastic had been bought in a bag full of elastics from a thrift store as well and I was able to piece together two similarly sized pieces to use here. Woohoo!

Sustainabot

Update: I've worn it now and it is SUPER comfortable but I think I'm going to stitch down the casing to the elastic, as the elastic turns inside of it and it would make it more put together looking.

Rosey Spring Skirt

I'm back! I know- you missed me....

This refashion only took me about 30 minutes, and only that long because my bobbin thread broke. I started with this super cute, airy, teacher skirt: 

It's a bit dowdy in the length department for me...so I started out by measuring down the skirt 17 inches, 18 in the back because there is a bit of junk in this trunk.

I pinned intermittently:

Then I cut a bit below each pin and shortened the skirt. From there I made a rolled hem all the way across. (Somehow I am terrible at rolled hems....does anyone have a trick for that?

Anyway, I ended up with this cute little thing! Can't wait to wear it!

Until next time: 

Sustainabot

Granny dress to Tunic

Well hello there readers!

Yesterday I did I refashion I was pretty proud of.

It started with the granny dress, complete with restrictive collar, floor length, and side zipper to hold in all those granny bits.

I found this little gem at the dollar-a-pound thrift store in Asheville, NC. It's a small one but I left with some good stuff! Read: refashionable stuff. This dress was originally a Liz Claiborne granny dress. The tag said the material was imported but didn't tell me what kind it is. It feels like a super light weight jean fabric, like a chambray. But what do I know....

Anyway! 

I grabbed that sucker off my dress form, tried it on and started safety pinning off the too big parts.

Then I ended up here: I removed the inner loopy neckline, leaving just the outer embroidery, took the length up a ton, took in the sides, and made endless hems. When I tried it on again tho, the sleeves were too tight. SO, I just cut the existing hem plus maybe a quarter inch, and then hemmed that as well. I ended up with this:

And the back!

What do you think? My husband said it looks like scrubs, I think it looks rather hippie and I feel like it needs something but I don't know what :/ help!

Sustainabot 

Blue Flannel

I LOVE flannel. Mostly because I like to be warm in cold weather, but also because it is soft and versatile!

I found a blue and white flannel with red lines at the local Salvation Army, and thought it looked like it would fit. I was more than a little disappointed when I got home. It wouldn't button in front and the sleeves made my arms look like sausages. I don't know what happened to that picture.....

However, after my wildly successful yellow sweater refashion, my inspiration tank was over flowing. So I started off unpicking the seams under the arm and down the sides. 

Then I took some grey jersey (there was a huge hunk of it I found at the thrift store) and cut some long 4" or so strips and sewed them into opening I just made. (This post is sadly low on photographic genius today) 

Here is what became of it:

I can conquer any refashion!!!!! Rawr!

Now I have a flannel shirt that fits! I probably could have lengthened it in the middle with more of the same jersey for a tunic feel but I work outside on the farm a good bit and this seemed practical. 

Thanks for reading!

Small and Savvy

Hello Fellow Refashioners and Refashionistas!

For this post I made a small, but awesome change to a garment, yielding the finished piece much more useful in the end!

I started with this lovely, yellow, cotton sweater. It's lightweight, soft and fit, so it came home with me from the Salvation Army Thrift Store.

Sorry for the awkward pose, but as you can see, the sleeves leave much to be desired, and an exposed wrist!

I immediately knew how I would fix the problem. I was quite nervous when I started, though, as I've never done a sweater refashion. All those loops! I was afraid it would get away from me. 

Moving on:

First I carefully folded the thing in half so the sleeves matched. Then I cut them about half way up, saving the discarded bits. 

Then I cut the cuffs off, leaving a few centimeters that would make my next seam. I turned those right sides together, combined my seams, and pinned them in place, stretching the cuff to fit.

Then I noticed the tag still in the garment- it had to go!

Ah, much better- comfortable too...

Now I bravely manned my sewing machine and set it to zig zag. Being careful to stay close to the edge so it all would line up. 

Then I just stretched and sewed until it all lined up. Voila! 

With very little left over! 

A Spiffy New Vest

So, a while back while visiting Maine, we visited a few thrift stores in Portland. Very pricey, but I saw a vest on a mannequin- reversible, with a spiffy inside fabric and the outer was purple corduroy. It stayed in my mind forever! (I like vests!)

Upon returning home I visited my box of old linens. I bought it at a local thrift store for $5. A TV box full of sheets and tablecloths that was being thrown away. A travesty! One tablecloth in particular had been marked for a special project, and I went for it now, along with an old pair of stretch denim jeans.

I cut all the edgings and waistlines off the jeans and drew up a make-shift pattern on newspaper (I used a shirt that fit well and added some large seam allowance). 

I am quite new to the whole drafting thing, and sorta made it up as I went along, but I got some decent-looking pieces out if it and got crackin'. 

Then I realized my pattern was flawed- I hadn't left any length in the shoulder region to allow my arms to actually fit and have the vest lay well. So, I noticed the black bits of the pattern on the linen tablecloth and pulled some wide black elastic from my stash. (It came from an atrocious Miley Max dress that was given to me) I then added it to the should and underarm bit where one would normally sew the whole thing together. I think it adds a bit if pep- and it certainly helps the fit! Here are some shots of the finished product- a spiffy, reversible, completely up-cycled/ salvaged vest! I'm rather fond of it :) 

Thanks for reading, and the friendly extension! 

Sustainabot

My First Post!

Hi refashioners!

This is my first ever post to Refashion Co-op! I am super honored to be here and have been waiting in the wings to build up the nerve for a long time! You refashionistas have been so inspiring to me! I am a farmtress (a self-coined phrase, basically, i farm) and became a full-time farmtress when i got laid off from my job. SO when my husband graciously offered to allow me to be a stay-at-home-er i decided to help out by not buying any more new clothing. Luckily i have a craft space over-flowing with old clothing and fabrics ive thrifted or grown out of!

Less about me- on to the refashions! Im posting some older ones i have done in the past while i work on something in secret *maniacal laugh*.

This is my sister, in a skirt i made her for her birthday from an old pair of her jeans and some grey cotton i had laying around. She loved it!

Here she is making herself a t-shirt fringe scarf! 

And here is the finished product! We had a great time that weekend! I love teaching my siblings about sustainability!

Happy Refashioning everyone!

-Sustainabot