I'm blue...

Sadly, that title is one of those double meaning things. I'm sharing two refashions of dresses which happen to be blue, but also; I'm very, very sad.
I've been a little overwhelmed with projects lately and usually that means crafting/blogging is the first thing to be put aside so I can catch up on Etsy listings, household chores, etc. I've got the week off from school for April vacation, giving me time for all of those little tasks that pile up--but I haven't been all that concerned with them.
Last Tuesday, a car accident took the life of my 17 year old cousin, Jesse. When I tell people this, I keep stressing that he wasn't just some kid I happened to be related to; he was a very important person in my life. When he was little, I used to take him out and spend time with him any chance I could. He was so fun to be around and always so well behaved.

And as he grew into a teenager, not much changed. No teen angst here, just a happy kid who was never too cool for hugs and "I love you's."
I digress. I'm here to post pics of outfits, but I'd be remiss to ignore the overwhelming grief I feel at the moment. I know; death of a family member is hard, but...this one? I think the loss of this particular one is going to hurt for awhile.
Well, this seems a little anti-climatic but here's the "before" picture. I thought this big, thick knit dress would make a good "no-sew."

So, cut the length, cut the sleeves, cut the turtleneck, make a sash out of the cut off length...the standard drill of a basic no-sew. Here it is:

And here's the side by side:

 This post is from early in the month when we had a cold snap, hence the reason I was able to wear this flannel thing I'm about to show you. 

This one was hardly a refashion. All I did was deflate those balloon sleeves by removing the cuffs then trimming/hemming them a bit. I also added a belt. Here:

How do you feel about the wideness of the sleeves? I actually left them like that on purpose.
Anyway, here's the full blue dress post on my blog, Craft, Thrift, or Die.
This is the first post (these sad stories are usually multi-part) of my story of Jesse.
Hey, thanks for reading! Writing and blogging really seems to help with that whole grieving process!

Button Down Three; The Striped One

Hello Refashion Co-op. This is my third button-down re-do and it was the easiest and fastest too. It is my favorite by far because it is so comfortable to wear.

I cut these two shirts about 1/4 inch under the arms. Then I put the stretchy black top and the striped body together. I stretched the black top as I attached it to the striped shirt. When I was finished the striped shirt was nicely and evenly gathered all around. Easy as pie! 

I have to say that without a belt it looks like a maternity top. So, I plan to wear a belt with it every time I wear it. But if you need a maternity top, this could work for you.

Thanks for reading, for more details go to I Can Work With That.

Sparkles, Owls, and Wagon Wheels: Skirt to Dress Refashion

It was a sister day. Just me and my little sister. A trip to the fabric store, the library, and finally the thrift store. Thread for me from the fabric store, a couple dozen books for my sister from the library, and then there was this skirt at the thrift store.

My sister found it, fell in love with it, and begged me to get it for her and turn it into a dress. I agreed.

The sparkles and owls perched on wagon wheels were just too much for a girl to say no too.

Thus the skirt came home. My sister suggested I just add ribbon straps to it, but no. I had another plan. The waistband of the skirt got chopped off.

I cut out a yoke for the dress from what was left of the not-gold-lace shirt, sewed it together, and attached it to the skirt.

Then my sister had her dress!

For the step-by-step process and more pictures, check out my blog!

Alyssa,

The Sewing Goatherd

How to Upsize a Playsuit

I had my fingers and toes crossed that this adorable polka dot playsuit I thrifted online would fit...

Of course not as apparently my torso is abnormally long and my bosom simply too ample to be contained in the very general size of “M”.

This is not my first refashion of a short-waisted, chest restricting garment so I thought I’d try to come up with a new idea and figure out just how to upsize a playsuit - get the tute right here.

Red sweatshirt refashion

Once again, I started out with a sweatshirt that was too big on me and set about to give it some shape.

I started by removing the front pockets and the zipper through a lot of careful, tedious seam-ripping.

I stitched the zipper edge back together once the zipper was removed. Then I set about taking in the sides a bit. I basted it where I thought it needed to be stitched then used my serger to finish the seam. Alas, these pictures only show the first round of taking in the sides - a second round was also needed.

Once it was finally slim enough, I added some large buttonholes to the left front flap and folded under the right front flap at an angle before adding my big red buttons. 

And here it is - warm and cozy. 

With this up and down weather, I'm sure to get some good use out of it before it gets too hot. Yay!

Thanks for reading!  -Amy