Love Flow Creations Simple Shrug

This my dears is a refashion of a refashion.  I originally had attached a vintage embroidered linen piece to this, but it didn't hang right.  So I cut off the linen,  stitched close to the raw edge, so it wouldn't unravel completely.  The doilies I had added the first time around.  I added ties from another left over project.

Sweater Refashion

I was excited to find this warm sweater for my daughter back in the fall for 49-cents...

meh

The problem was, she never wore it.

Rather than let a perfectly fine sweater go to waste, I decided to refashion it into something she would wear!

Here in Michigan, March came in like a lamb and is going out like a lion. We’ve had a lot of cold snowy days as of late. And all of the nice hats that I made my girl last year, (with her growing like a weed and all) are suddenly a bit snug. So I thought, “What better way to use the sweater in question than to make a warm headband and pair of fingerless gloves?”

She was much happier with the refashion than the original!

Happy Girl!

She kept posing for pictures in them…

Sassy pants!

Just doing a bit of reading…

So there you have it! for 49-cents, my kid will stay warm in her new cold-weather accessories!

As a bonus, I still have the majority of the sweater left for a future refashion I have in mind, so stay tuned for that!

You can see the step-by-step tutorial on the Diary of a MadMama blog. 

~Jen

blouses

I have been doing more sewing from scratch than refashioning lately. However, I was inspired by Little Blue Mouse's refashion the other day using pin tucks.

So, I thought perhaps this blouse might benefit from something similar. I made it January 2012 when I was trying to get a blouse pattern right. (Eventually I tossed that pattern and went for another one that worked better.) At any rate, I thought this blouse could still be worn, so I carried on to finish it.

However, it is so uncomfortable for many reasons...one of which is that the neckline area was far too big. You can even tell while it is on the hanger. The area that caves in at the front? well it flops out when I wear it.

So I thought I would try the pin tucks.

looks good!

and now the blouse is better!


Okay, lets be honest. It is still rather wrong - short arms, shoulder seams falling to the back and a lot of other things. BUT. the neckline is quite a bit better, though it could do with a bit more taking out horizontally.
It also fits better in the bodice front so the neckline will stay somewhere closer to where it is meant to. I think I can wear it with a cardigan which will keep all the sleeve stuff in place, and I think hope the neckline will be less uncomfortable.

I will give it another try at wearing it and if it is still too uncomfortable then maybe just toss it or something. Not sure I want to inflict it on someone searching the charity shops for something useful.

******
But not to end on a downer, here is something I did a while ago. I needed a white blouse and couldn't find any 'proper' blouses in the shops. Then I got a bright idea and bought some on sale white school blouses, thinking I could swap round. But 2 white blouses the same make you look like you are wearing the same blouse over and over.
Since I had several skirts with blue, I decided to use a pattern on my machine and stitch round the collar, cuffs and down the front.

No beginning photo, but imagine it plain.

It really changed the look. I wear it more than the plain one.

I think I have finally got a blouse pattern sorted that I do like, so I plan to do a white one in my style. Then I will probably take the plain white blouse and embroider another colour like red onto it...maybe variagated thread so I can wear it with other colours.

Colored jeans/pants redo

Just a quick before and after today. I found some fun colored pants for spring at the thrift store and made them into some skinnies! Here are the befores:

 And here are the afters:

Just put 'em on inside out, marked where I needed to take them in and sewed right down each leg! Super simple, but now I've got some nice pops of color for the spring weather I'm hoping is right around the corner ;)

Peace,
Andrea

LittleDidYouKnow

Cobbled Creation

A couple years ago in an entrepreneurial spirit, I decided to make some things from sweaters to sell (scarves, handwarmers, etc). I did sell a few, but not enough to quit the day job.  Then I saw a sweater dress in a boutique that reminded me of two green sweaters I had bought, and always liked the colors together.  I thought, "Too bad that I chopped these all up into pieces, because I could have made a nice dress out of them."

This one was a zip-up cardigan (you are looking at it from the back, which is gone).  I had cut off part of the sleeves to make handwarmers and the back was cut into strips to make a ruffly scarf, which I never got around to doing.

This one became two sets of handwarmers, one from the sleeves and one from the front section - you can see it's missing.
Well then I started thinking about how all the fabric was there in those light green strips, and could I put the zipper in the back and weave the strips together in some way to make a front that completely covered me?  And what about the sleeves of the dark green sweater, could they fill in the gaps on the front side if I put the patched-together part in the back?  So after a seemingly unending amount of pinning, basting, trying on, sewing and ripping, I ended up with this:

The purple bit is a piece of sweater left over from another project.  I like purple and green together but it also covers up the waist seam, which is just a little ragged since I just tucked the light green underneath the dark green and sewed around it, rather than doing a normal seam which I think would have made a bulge. I ended up taking out the zipper because it was metal and uncomfortable, and you didn't need it to get the dress on because the bottom sweater has some spandex in it.  I also fussed a lot trying to get the sleeves as long as possible, because to me if it's cold enough to wear a sweater dress then it's too cold to wear short sleeves. So here is a close up showing how some the things were pieced together.

I often have the mentality of, "I want x idea to work out, and I am going to make it happen even if it kills me," instead of going for something easier.  In the end it does make for a lot of work but I'm usually happy with the result.