Sunday, December 02, 2012

Simples

I made this dress earlier in the year.

Looks fine standing up. But when I'd sit down, I was very uncomfortable with how far above the knee it ended up. I got a brainstorm the other day. Rather than trying to think of a way to make it longer...just chop it off and wear it for a blouse.

Here is the dress turned blouse being worn.

That being successful, I got a few ideas for sorting out this cardigan I made from a remnant of t-shirt fabric. I originally copied a cardigan I already had.

Only there wasn't enough to do the sleeves on the lengthwise grain so I did them on the cross grain. I seldom work with knits and it wasn't till I tried to get it off and all the sleeve seams popped that I realised the stretch was not around the arm, but up and down. So, I used some old shoelaces to sew on the seam as stay tape. That was fine, sleeves stayed sewn. But at the time, the sleeves still were quite too snug.

Also when I made it, I was trying to copy a refashion idea I saw on this blog. Someone opened up a t-shirt into a cardigan and put lace on the edges. Theirs worked...mine...well it was a bit too twee.

Fastforward to recent refashioning session. I dug the cardigan out of the cupboard thinking to chop it up and use it on something else. Well, in the meantime from making it, I have lost weight and the sleeves aren't snug anymore! So, I unpicked the lace. It still wanted 'something'. So, I dug out some buttons and beads and doodled a bit with them.

Here is the Cardigan not so easy to see detail with black, but it fits and feels nice.

And a detail of the button beads treatment on the lapels. Subtle but interesting.

Vintage Coat refashion

I have been Facebooking and Instagramming about this refashion all week long. And last night I finally finished it! So here it is, my $1.50 vintage coat refashion! As some of you may remember I got this coat at Arc Value Village right before Halloween off of a Halloween rack (who puts a vintage coat on a Halloween rack??? )

After resewing the buttons, adding the appliques and altering the length, I ended up with this amazing piece:


The full refashion is on my BLOG 

But you are the first ones to see what the coat looks like in action:


I think it's pretty amazing!
xo,
Zhenya from BeingZhenya.com



Saturday, December 01, 2012

Winter refashion

Cozy long maxi skirt for winter refashioned from huge dress. I sewed the longed sleeves into the side seems on top of the skirt, so it creates different looks... 


here just secured with safety pin, nice flower would be cool, to have a little bustle...


... sleeves left hanging on side, quite like this one too...

... tied in a bow...

.... and looped under the skirt to create short over skirt maybe.... lots of possibilities...


the original dress here

Happy sewing
Love Jana


Sweatshirt and Camisole remix

One of my friends let me look through her pile of junk that was headed to a donation pile.  This grey sweatshirt was something that I grabbed.  It had a grease spot or something on one of the pockets…no big deal.   It has been well worn by someone I love, plus it has a thick Sherpa lining and is super warm.
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Next up:  an XL camisole that was about $.50 at a community thrift store.  I know it’s weird that I grabbed it, but I like the fabric.  I don’t think I could ever wear a used negligĂ©e….
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I found this pair of baby velour pants that the girls outgrew.   I already used part of one leg for some other project, but there was plenty for me to use on the other side for the sweatshirt.
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Ta-Da!
Silky ruffles
Strips of soft velour
Camisole straps as detail on the hood
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Here it is in action!
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Thanks for looking!
Love,
Amy Jo @ The Little Moments

FrankenTop

I always save my bits of fabric with good intentions, but this time, I actually followed through! I still had the sleeves from this muumuu-to-scarf refashion...

Muumuu Scarf Before & After

...as well as the yoke and part of the slip from this dress-to-shirt makeover.

Polka Dot Top Before & After

And together they became a brand new shirt!

FrankenShirt - After

More details on CarissaKnits.