A Missionary Stocking

My son is serving a church mission right now, so I just had to make a stocking that reflected his life at this time.  Although this is for a missionary, this could easily be a cute stocking for the business man in your life...minus the missionary tag!

And, in keeping with the spirit of refashioning, most of this was made using toddler clothing!

For a full step-by-step tutorial, you can hop over to my blog, Second Chances by Susan.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Refashioned Christmas to all!

Last year for my kids Christmas outfits I went all out after my mother gave me 4 large T-shirts with Rudolph Reindeer motifs - perfect for a refashioned Christmas.

For my youngest daughter, I took the red shirt, took the sleeves off and cut a bodice shape at the top. The sleeves were cut out of the original sleeves, using the original hem. I added a crescent insert using a snake print jersey for a bit of interest. This jersey was also used as the hem and neck binding.

For her Twin, I used the same shirt but in black and made him a muscle shirt using the same bodice pattern but if course having a much shorter length. Again the jersey was used as the neck, sleeve and hem bindings. His pants are Harem style made from another T-shirt with the same reindeer motif. The reindeer look so cute on his bottom as he runs along, just wasn't able to get a photo.

My other girl's dress is the top pattern with a quarter circle skirt added at the bottom using the snakeskin jersey. The motif on the T-shirt was quite large, so I was lucky to fit it all onto the bodice.

I really like how the outfits turned out, they all go together without being too matchy, matchy. I've included some other photos, which don't show anymore detail but are too cute to leave out. I can imagine all the problems of the world that are being solved over cups of hot chocolate in the last photo!

This year I made the girls some Christmas outfits from tablecloths, which I hope to post soon, so keep a lookout.

Lastly Merry Christmas to all, and here's to lots of refashions in the new year.

If you are interested in seeing other outfits that I have refashioned and made, please visit my blog:

www.orangewho.com.

Cheers

Mary D

Orange Who? At least it's not all Pink and Blue

10 minute project: men's shirt into infinity scarf

My mom gave me this men's Toronto Raptors shirt that she somehow acquired. She thought I could make something cool from it.

I liked the small houndstooth pattern on it and thought it well suited for a scarf. I have a fair number of scarves, but no infinity scarves. It seemed like the time to make one. I started by chopping the shirt in two pieces, cutting across the chest just under the armpits. I made this bottom piece into a large rectangle by trimming off the very bottom curved hem of the shirt as well.

With the buttons open, I folded the rectangle in half, right sides together, to make a long, skinny rectangle. 

I stitched along the raw edges, leaving a seam allowance of about half an inch. I turned the tube right side out and topstitched along the same edge. The whole process took about 10 minutes.

I twisted the ends a few times, then buttoned it up to make it an infinity scarf. It was just long enough to loop around my next twice. For an accent, I added a watch band I got for a dollar at the thrift shop.

Of course, I can also wear it as a regular scarf, if I want. I love having options!

The only problem with the scarf is that the material is a little too stiff to drape nicely. If I made another one of these, I would use a softer/thinner fabric. 

Thanks for reading. Happy holidays!    -Amy

Refashioned Basic "T"

Hi Everyone!

Let me preface this post by stating how horrified I was by the following picture. I thought long and hard about putting it "out there." I was so distraught by how lumpy and bumpy I looked, but decided to take the hit to my ego to prove a point.

BEFORE

The picture was taken two years ago on my sons graduation day. Since then, I have lost some weight, but I still could not wear that darn top without post traumatic stress! In fact, this top was the reason I have stopped wearing "fitted" T's altogether. The irony is that even after losing weight, I still felt like I looked lumpy in fitted T's. Part of the reason is that as most women age, gravity takes effect (even if you are thin) and unless you want to live your life in compression shape garments, you can't pull off tight anymore. It is much more flattering for women to wear garments that skim over the curves, instead of hugging them, and that is where I am going with this post.

After

 I feel a lot better modeling it now.  No lumps and bumps. The jeans and jewelry are the same as the first picture.

 For the total tutorial click here.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Love ya!
Mary

Christmas Tablecloth Skirts

Tablecloths on tables are downright dangerous with little kids around. I don't need tablecloths, but I do need cute Christmas skirts for my girls!

I made these skirts using the simplest kind of skirt pattern there is, the gathered skirt.

There is a full tutorial and more details here.

Note: You don't need to have twins to dress your kids up in identical clothes. I do it all the time and my girls are over 2 years apart and look NOTHING like each other :)