Upcycle sweater: I prefer sewing to table top grilling!

 

On the last day of the year, I wanted to share a sweater upcycle that, in my sewing opinion, is perfect for today. One of the alterations I did, was adding the print 'Liever naaien dan gourmetten' (I prefer sewing to table top grilling). Now that, of course, requires a short explanation....

'Gourmetten' is the (unofficial) Dutch national activity during the holidays, and also popular on New Year's Eve. It's sort of a mix of table top grilling and raclette. It's fun, but for the host it involves lot's of cutting and slicing beforehand and a sticky floor afterwards. So personally, I prefer sewing to table top grilling:)!

The template I used was kindly made available to me by Ansje Handmade, a Dutch fabric shop with lots of beautiful sustainable fabrics in (my honest and own opinion!). It was part of a sew-all-in package they offered for the holidays and when I saw the template in a newsletter, I found it quite hilarious and I knew it would be perfect for this upcycle!

Enjoy and happy sewyear! I'm going to bake me some oliebollen:).

You are very welcome to visit vermaakster.blogspot.com for more pictures and other details on this project. You'll find Annika a little in the way, how creative friend G. and better half D. contributed and, of course, a step by step explanation in Dutch and English.

Mother of the Bride

 Hello Refashion Co-op. I was given this "mother-of-the-bride" dress as a hand-me-down. I loved the color but the whole look made me feel like I looked older. The jacket was kind of stiff and boxy. It was also about a foot too long. 

Before and after.

The first thing I did was lose the jacket. I will get back to it another day. I thought this dress would look better without it.

I measured and cut around the skirt and the lining to make the dress shorter.

I used my serger on the lining and hemmed the outer skirt. 

I loved the shorter length and I thought this dress would be perfect for a fancy New Year's Eve night out. Thanks for reading along go to I Can Work With That.

Happy New Sewing Year for 2023!

Do you make sewing resolutions for the year?

I do, usually overly ambitious ones for the amount of time I really have to sew.  This year I thought 4 x significant refashions was a sensible amount, but the year somewhat got away from me in the second half.

So I'm rounding out the year with two mends and two refashions of the simpler variety - but whatever saves an item from landfill and makes it useful in the closet again right?

  

Mend #1 - The very much liked jacket

A favour for a family member, who caught the pocket on a cupboard handle and tore the jacket right across the front.  The check design meant there was no way to match the pattern over the tear 

 

 

 

 

 

I sewed a strip of black fabric over the mend and added a hook detail to make it look like it was meant to be there.  The teen approves (which almost never happens).

 

 

 Mend #2 and Refashion #1 - Back in service

These could not be simpler - a very good laksa left a shadow of soup stains on the t-shirt that were never coming out - and cut-offs.

The circles are scraps of t-shirting fabric left over from various projects.  I bulk fused doublesided interfacing to the scraps and cut out a range of circles using different size lids as templates.  I arranged them over the stain shadows then elsewhere to round out the design, and ironed them on.

 

 

 

To make sure they stayed put after repeated washing I hand stitched around the edge with embroidery floss.

Sorry, I forgot to take before photos but I am sure you know what a stained t-shirt and jeans with holes look like.

Refashion #2 - The better than before dress to skirt

This was a new dress from Shein, tags still on.  Although a large size, the design of the dress put the first tier exactly where it was least flattering ( I bet you can figure out where) and the fabric is tissue thin and completely see-through.  You get what you pay for... (and yes, I did jump in again without taking photos so this is a reconstruction).

Cut off the unflattering bodice under the armpits, salvaged waist elastic (leaving it pre-sewn from previous garment saves time - whoo!) and some very thick white stretch material that's been in the stash (mumbles) long time.

Because the dress fabric is so flimsy I sewed the 'lining' which is heavier to the seam at the top of the first tier.  Then I measured and overlocked the top edge and made a fold over waistband over the elastic.

 

At this point there was a lot going on so I hand stitched the overlocked edge to the top tier seam as these were the strongest parts.  The lining is to the knee but the now skirt is maxi length.  And wearable.

Happy 2023 sewing!

Mimi-made

DIY ladies blazer

 

Hello👋😀, in this DIY/ thrift flip video I sew this simple basic and modern ladies blazer with lining and front pockets . I show you step by step extreme easy sewing tutorial on how to reuse thrifted fabric from bed sheet and refashion it into totally new super comfy jacket. In  first part of the video I show you how to make pattern with many patterns hacks on how to change it into jacket with collar, how to make different necklines, how to change the shape of a coat to be more fitted and so much more. Check out also my blog for far more inspirations and ideas on how to style this ladies jacket . All clothing I show on photos and videos are homemade and you can easily sew them yourself . If you are a beginner ...worry not ! this blazer jacket is perfect project for you , with my help you will sew your dream coat !. See for yourself how super easy it is to create new clothing . I hope this video is easy to follow and you have fun watching it ❗ Let's create something beautiful ❗ 

 

 Step by step  super easy tutorial with pattern making on every size and body type for this super comfy blazer jacket with lining and pockets .

 

 

thrifted bed sheet

  My blog

 and 

You Tube

 

 

Christmas stocking from fleece top

Hi everyone, I'm hopefully going to add to the Christmas spirit! So nice to see how Aniela already brought in the 'Oh baby, it's cold outside'-vibe and Chickie made the ' All anyone could ever want for Christmas - perfect party dress!
Do we know any songs about Christmas stockings? I made one from an old fleece top. I thought it was going to be a 2 hour project, but it turned out te be a lot more challenging than that!

It all started out easy enough with cutting out the pattern from the fabric. I thought it would be nice to reuse the neckline, so you would still be able to see it's former life. 

So far, so good. But then I wanted to use a drawing technique I recently learned, using soluble foil, and that completely failed... The words 'Merry X-mas' didn't stand out at all!

Say what?

Next, my new sewing machine started to make scary noises making decorative stitches. I really had to sleep on it for a few nights to find the cause for that problem ánd an idea on how to fix Merry X-mas....

Don't worry, I came up with a perfect acceptable solution to save 'Merry X-mas' and managed to make enough decorative stitches after all. And added some more details while I was on a roll!

If you're curious to find out more about this, how drawing with your sewing machine could actually work, and what feed dogs have got to do with all this, please visit my blog, I promise a happy ending!

You are very welcome to visit vermaakster.blogspot.com for more details on this project. You'll find a step by step explanation there in Dutch and English.

Merry Christmas everyone!