Okay so I've been busy with my mending pile (2boxes and an overflowing basket) and preparing my refashions. I've taken all the before photos so I can post befores and afters.
I'm also planning a Tea Party for my daughters 7th birthday which will involve making a princess costume from material in my stash and chair covers to pretty up the table (from stash and op shop).
Will post more after they're finished.
Yay, I successfully finished my first pair of socks! I have to warn you though that I was successful in the sense that I finished them, they fit reasonably, they actually look like socks. Now it is a little strange to have brown wool peds. I won't win any fashion awards. The yarn was thrifted and was not enough to complete the pattern in the mid-calf style it was written. So I only did a half inch or so of the ribbing and then completed the rest of the foot. This was my first completed project using 4 needles. I tried and gave up trying to learn to do a mitten pattern years ago, but soldiered on this time. I did find a great tutorial on the web, here, here . I thought I had completely messed it up when I got to the gusset part of the pattern but this tutorial showed me I was right so far, and how to proceed. I made it throught the ribbing, learning that stockinette stitch is all knitting on four needles, the heel (makes no sense you just do it), the gussets, the toes, the grafting, I DID IT! So, socks, I'm wearing them today. They are a bit strange but I love them anyway!
Wow! thanks so much for the kind feedback :)
I'm planning on deconstructing/reconstructing another shirt over the next week or two and will attempt to make a photo tutorial of how I go about "fabric stealing" from another garment.
The basic design of this blouse started with Vogue pattern # V8196.
I liked several things about the pattern but also knew I wanted to change several things -so- I started by making a mock up (out of cheap muslin) to check the fit and mark what I wanted to change.
In the end, I 1.) shortened the sleeve height, 2.)narrowed the sleeve bands, 3.)added a bust dart to each side for better bodice fit, 4.)changed the gathering at the bottom into pleats for a more flattering fit & 5.)most major change was to square off the neck line ,which required adding a facing for stability.
I took the original Hawaiian shirt apart at the seams to get as much fabric as possible out of it and cut the neck & armband facings out of other fabric. I usually cut anything that isn't visible out of leftover fabrics of similar weight/quality anyway to save the pretty fabric.
I worked on it 20-30 minutes a day over the course of a week.
thanks again & hope the above info is of some help in the meantime.
After many moons of lurking and procrastinating I was quite pleased to get the okay for a six month commitment to the Wardrobe Refashion :)
I have been sewing for many years and have heaps of vintage/new fabric, patterns & clothing to work from and am quite excited with this challenge.
My first refashion to share is a thrifted $5 mens Hawaiian shirt that had enough fabric to be restyled into a girly shirt for summer & trimmed out with some vintage brown rick rack trim. The facings were done with a completely clashing/contrasting fabric (that will never be seen -so- I figure it's fine).
I work crazy hours, but am amazed at what can be accomplished with only 20-30 minutes a day of sewing. This blouse was made in that time frame over this past week. My hopes are to knock out a piece a week and actually have a heap of new (to me) garments by the end of this 6 month time frame. I am also in the process of taking better care of myself/getting healthy again, which also means losing weight & neeeeeding new clothing.
It's always neat to see what other sewers are up to & thank you for letting me play, monica
more detail shots on my flickr pagehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/20735360@N08/
I made this wrap skirt yesterday from some gorgeous sunny yellow fabric. 
My sewing skills are still pretty basic but I'm getting there - the last skirt I made took me all day to make but this one I managed in 4 hours (I'm sure if you were really experienced you could do it much quicker still.) anyway, I'm pleased with it but it has resulted in some manic Olay Everyday Sunshine action to make my legs vaguely presentable!)
I've posted another picture on my blog
Memorial Day is just around the corner and the Fourth of July (United States), so I decided dear daughter needed a patriotic outfit. I scored this tablecloth from my wonderful aunt. Details are here.
You can also see what I bought with one of my graduation gift cards.
By the way, here is the dress that made me have to use my get out of jail card. It has given me some ideas on how to fix the dress from *&^%$! 
This is just a simple applique I used to cover an embroidered logo. Not that there was anything WRONG with the embroidered logo, it just wasn't as fun as a crab! For a close up of Mr. Crab (he's spotty) and more details, see the blog!
Here are the finished aprons that I mentioned in an earlier post.
The pattern came from Vanilla House Designs, and I left out the pockets because I wanted to make them reversible and thought the pockets would be a pain. Here is the reverse side - you can't tell but both are polka-dotted. The one on the right I put a dart in to allow for a fuller bust. I don't yet know if it helped or not, until she tries it on.
If you've ever had to wear a stupid uniform for your job then you know how utterly humiliating they can be. They usually lack all sense of style and make you feel like a homogenized version of your true self.
Well girls, I have a solution. Get a few extras of those hideous rags and give them a little redo. Your boss may not like it but they can't say you didn't wear your uniform!
I picked up quite a pile of these machine washable gingham uniform shirts so I'll be pumping out several variations of these funky dresses. You can check out my blog for the latest redo's.
Post Decadent Trashionista
I have been a very bad girl! I graduated with my Bachelor's this past weekend and needed a new dress. I tried to make one, but had some very bad luck. You check out why here. I have also not posted in two weeks. I am so sorry!! I will do better. I signed up for four more months and I am ready to go now that I have NO MORE HOMEWORK!
Burda Magazine is definitely one of my favorites magazines now That I make my own clothes. Almost 50 patterns for 10-13 buck. Hells yes, thank you. I made these babies from the December issue of last year. Pre-sorry for the butt shot.
