Wardrobe Refashion

A Purse from a Curtain.

I've been contemplating how to repurpose a bundle of old unneeded curtains into new stuff lately, and my latest creation is this bag:

I made it from a single curtain panel of vintage barkcloth that I bought years ago at an antiques market in Rockland, Maine.  I just concocted the pattern as I went along, and it's just a slightly teardropped shape, lined with a combination of more barkcloth and some dark green cotton (the same dark green cotton that I used for a recent apron).  The only embellishment are three old buttons--one brown, one white, and one green--stacked one atop another on the flap.  There are still plenty of curtains to work with, so perhaps some gifts will be next to arise from the pile of curtains! 

Upsized kameez

So a friend gave me a bunch of her Indian tunics--they were bought years ago, they'd fit neither of us, and she thought I might could do something with them (she's seen so many of my other projects).  Then I found a big bag of caramel-gold crochet thread at the thriftshop--and I had a party to attend for my friend--so I did this.  Before:

After:
The usual crochet trick, but now I have a killer cherry-red embroidered and beaded tunic that fits--and my friend approves, and she knows her gift hasn't gone forgotten in a closet.

Two aprons

I'm thinking I may be slowly evolving as a crafter.  I used to be a "one off" kind of girl - I don't think I'd ever made the same thing twice in a row a year ago.  And then I moved to Boston and started making the same two things over and over again: skirts, and there was this short period during finals where I made little pins, about 10 of them in different fabric/button combinations to avoid looking at Biostats [the irony, of course, is that one of my "Wow, cool!" moments of this current semester was when I was staring at some social networking data and thought, "I actually really, really want to REGRESS THIS."  Nerd.]

But I digress.  I've now moved into the duo phase, where I make 2 of everything before moving on.  The latest?  A pair of aprons for a pair of very good friends here:

 

All stash/repurposed fabrics, and I just squeaked it in for Tie One On.  It's backed in that large scale rose print, one of my very first thrifted fabric finds.  I think it used to be a crib sheet?  Something?

Stash/thrifted as well. Striped fabric used to be a mens shirt, which I'm hoping to refashion into a dress ala the wonderfully talented Clever Girl.  You can get a better close up of the pockets here.

[Oh yes, and I'm remembering that I posted about the 2 skirts in the photos here on WR, before moving on to the apron phase.  See what I mean about twos?]

I can resist everything...

... except temptation!

Well, not quite true, but I did cave in. I went shopping for sandals for my kids, and could not pass up this jacket:

Are you absolutely ashamed of me? It is Bright Pink, afterall.
Sigh.... I want to say that I have some guilt in me about this purchase, but nope, not really :)

So I am invoking my get out of jail free card:

 

Eeep.

In other news, I made a spring ruffle top from Rae's tutorial at Sew Mama Sew. It's a great tutorial, and here's a picture of the top:

 

Using another online tutorial, this one you've all seen before - Dana's Shirt Dress to make this joyful dress for my daughter. It is made from my husband's shirt. Yes, you read that right, it's my husband's.

Necklace Saga

Oh my, I forgot to resize the pictures.  Sorry, but I'm pressed for time!

I asked for help with these plastic links a while ago, because I'm no jewelry maker and had no idea how to work with them.  After a few false starts, this is what I ended up with.  I used parts from another necklace to do the blue one.  It cost me $3, but I think that was cheaper than buying parts at the craft store. 

The denim dress is a thrift shop find and will probably be refashioned a bit as well.  It's a little voluminous right now, so I'm thinking of bringing the sides of the pleat together to make it a little more fitted.

Posted perhaps a bit more coherently at Darling Petunia.

Swirly skirt

I found this fabric in the remnants box at Joann's a while ago. The fabric is pretty loud so I figured I would use it for my 3 year old but I decided to make it into a skirt for me. It is a stretchy knit (mixed w/ poly and spandex perhaps) so I made a waistband that folds over (no need for elastic). I really like it so I feel more confident to try out prints. :)

Thanks again to Nikki for picking me as the featured refashionista. I feel very honored and flattered!

Until next time,

koala brains

refashioned baby bibs

I'm currently 19 weeks pregnant and reeling from the prices of really nice baby clothes and accessories.  So I decided to take matters into my own hands a bit.  I bought some really cheap plain cotton baby bibs and appliquéd some baby friendly shapes made up from scraps from my scrap bag.  I think they look pretty darn cute.

I've posted some more pictures on my blog at blissed out

pillows and dots

Not a true refashion.   But you can find fabric is fun places.  Some pillows I inherited from my sister became a summer top for my little one.
 
For more info, my sewing blog is here.
- dana

First Communion Banner

I just have to share my first applique piece work project.  As godmother, the job of the First Communion banner fell to me.  I was specifically told that I could not cheat and buy a banner or banner kit, I had to actually make the banner.  Well, since I'm committed to Wardrobe Refashion, buying one never entered my mind.  I did go and buy 99 cent fat quarters rather than go through my massive fabric collection, because I don't actually have any fabrics like this. The hanger is just made from a dowel rod, wood caps and string that I keep in my sewing room.  The banner is lined with part of a duck cloth curtain.  I hope she likes this.

I'm not sari....and a felted baby hat

Here is a new blouse I made for myself out of an old piece of sari material. It was a beautiful sari, but it makes an even better summer blouse from the book Weekend Sewing. I also used up the rest of that sweater I felted for a sweet little baby hat. Teddy is my model.

   

You can see more here.