Wardrobe Refashion

4 months done. Thank you all!

Ok, I've done it! 4 months of not buying new clothes. The not buying was not the hard part, as I usually shop for clothes when I'm in desperate need for some :) Hard part was getting organized, find time and start sewing ;) But I did it! And now I can't and won't stop.  It's so much fun! Here's what I've done since last posting:

A bamboo-cotton shirt for my daughter. Pattern is from Ottobre design 3/2003 number 20 velour shirt. But I used this thick and soft knit fabric and didn't do the embroidery as the fabric has flowers already. I also put snaps instead of a zipper. The size is a bit large, but the fabric will probably shrink a bit more.

Then I did these Three seam split crotch pants (link for pattern and directions) for my daughter of the wool sweater I showed earlier.

This is a nightgown I got as a present a year ago. I do not like long nightgowns as I get tangled up in them. So I cut the hem short and took in the side and sleeve seams. Now I've got a shirt and ½m fabric to use for something else. I might do something with the neckline and cuffs as they are quite boring and tight.

This is it then. Thank you all for your comments and inspiration! And special thanks to Nikki for making this all possible! You will see me at Burda Style and when I have a bit more time to blog I'll join here again :)

Some of the things I've refashioned:

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One Year without buying brand new clothing!

I did it!  One whole year of buying used clothing or making my own.  One thing I've learned is that it can be challenging to pull together a coordinated wardrobe when only using the stockpile or thrifted clothing.  Another thing that I learned was that I had a bad habit of buying clothing without planning what it was going to be worn with.  I'm challenging myself to work on pulling together outfits now that I really enjoy wearing and that work together as a wardrobe.  Today I spent several hours sorting through clothing to determine what needed to be donated, what I wanted to keep, and what I thought could be refashioned.

The scarf is a quick project I did today.  It was a quarter of a yard cut that I had in my stash.  I just folded it over length-wise,wrong sides together; sewed up the sides, turned it right-side-out and then tucked the open end in and  sewed a straight seam across the narrow ends.  The velvet is over-dyed so that there is a sheen of green under the rose.  The green is almost the color of my jacket.  It's getting warm enough (most days!) that my big wool scarves are too much.  This scarf is just the right size to add a little warm and softness around my neck and still be able to bundle up against those April showers that are coming.  It also makes me think of June roses!

upside-down shirt

This is a cowl neck black knit shirt that I bought in a larger size to wear while I was pregnant. I never really felt comfortable in it--not my style. So I turned it upside-down and used the waistband as the top to make a babydoll shirt instead. The straps and the hem were given a lettuce edge (which was not so easy since I don't have a serger). Where the sleeves used to be, I left some of the fabric to create a ruffle on each side of the hem.

bottle browns

This week's thundersnow in Chicago was almost too much to handle. So the summer preparations went into high gear, including an inaugural spin with a bottle of dark brown Rit dye.

I threw some awful pastel stuff into dye baths on the stove. A pink cotton cardigan with puffy sleeves.

The cutest dusty rose Philly Girls shirt.

A pale green knit dress I already shortened. A fantastic tube dress in a weird beige.

In the end, Philly t-shirt a lovely darker wine color.

Both dresses sufficiently brown, too, both mostly rayon blends. But the pink cotton cardigan came out patchy. Reading about Rit, I think the sleeves may have been tangled on other stuff. Wonder if I can throw it back into the dye bath by itself ? Couldn’t hurt.

More on fitzfabulous.

new look 6463

                                                      

I love this pattern!  This has to be the easiest pattern I have ever made for a skirt.  A friend of mine gave me this rayon material a while back, so really, the only cost I had for the skirt was for the elastic in the waistband and the thread.  I made view "B" of New Look 6463 in misses size 13 (it doesn't really come in a size 13, I just cut it out between the size 12 and size 14 lines).  View "B" only has 3 pattern pieces and I decided to only use two of them, omitting the belt.  It was so easy to put together and now I'm looking for more fabric to make more.  I love wearing simple skirts in the summertime, they are so breezy and cool.  This one happens to look great with my chacos and mountain hardware vest (which is a staple in my wardrobe!).  Here it is on me, with the aforementioned vest:

                         

Here is the pattern and the different views.

                

I think I may try the shorter version of view "D" next!

~Penny

Thread Heads: Girl Popcorn, Treehouse Brooklyn, Embroidery Lesson

I am SO going to be trying out the freehand machine embroidery!!

Shameless Copycat!

I was inspired by Christy's wreath and decided to create one for the door at my library.  I wish I was a better digital photographer.  The colors are a bit washed out.  There is a yellow and 2 springy prints that just look white in this picture.  But I love it.  I needed some spring color for the library and Christy's post inspired me.  For a dollar I picked up some print shirts to cut up as well as a hanger to form the wreath, and these cute springy doo-dads for the library hearth.  Since we woke up to yet more snow today in Vermont, I needed these breaths of spring!

Not really a refashion but...

I did find a way to use my little bits of fabric from here and there. I made a wreath (actually had enough to make two). I used an old metal clothes hanger for the base and then tied on the scraps. Before

After

Refashions!

Being that it's now spring break and I have (sort of) free time, I've finished a few fairly simple refashions.  First, a shirt I had found at Goodwill a while ago and had been meaning to do something with, but wasn't sure what...

I took out the polo-type neckline and made it into more of a scoop-neck style.  I was thinking of adding some type of ribbons, beads, etc. to make it more interesting, but wasn't sure how it would turn out.

Second, these used to be my favorite pair of pants, but they have since become torn and ratty at the bottoms.  So I turned them into a skirt with inspiration from the instructions on SewNews  , Savvy Seams, and Etsy Labs: 

I'm also working on some knitting projects...these aren't finished yet, but I'll post when they are.

Grey skirt for my daughter

A few days ago I sewed my daughter a little skirt, and today it finally warmed up enough to wear one. It's reconned from a pair of herringbone pants, with a band of green cotton, fully lined with an old tshirt to prevent itchiness.

I also made her some leggings to go with the skirt. I just used a pair she already had as to make a pattern for new ones of the sleeves of an old knit shirt.

Cheers, everyone! Anna at forty-two roads