Wardrobe Refashion

Listen and read about Wardrobe Refashion

I was recently interviewed by Radio Netherlands for their EarthBeat show.  You can listen to it here.  Then today i received a copy of Stitch magazine in the post.

It's a great mag and dare i say my favourite copy, i may be biased though since my article about Wardrobe Refashion in featured on the inside back page :)

Thanks to all of you for your support, it's truly appreciated! 

A Few Refashioned Tops

This was a favorite T-shirt from college.  I know, to each his own.  It has micro-thin stripes of green and white that are about a thread wide.  There must be a name for that.

 

I played around with it and thought it would look fine if it were just draped differently.  So I gathered the shoulders, the front, and the back.  The only thing that I cut was the neckband; that was used to make two rolled-up flowers.  The gold thing is a button.  I think it has a 40's look to it.

 

This shirt was obviously too short.  I thought by adding a strip of fabric to the bottom, I could solve that problem, plus make it nice enough to wear to work. 

 

Then I thought that adding a ruffle to the bottom might look childish, or clown-like, or might emphasize my hips too much.  So I decided to insert a piece in the middle.  There is also a sort of fabric belt over top, kind of like a cummerbund.

 

This purple shirt was a size 18, although it didn't seem quite that big to me.  I got it at a Swap-o-rama, which is this event where people bring clothes and swap with each other, and they also have refashioning stations set up.  

   

I was able to cut the top section off the sleeves and sew on the lower part, thereby making use of the existing cuffs.  

 

Thanks for looking!
 
 
 
 
 
 

Quilted Cards

Yes, these are not clothes, they're cards..... but they're made from scraps!

I made some quilted note cards out of fabric scraps. I'm working on several more. It's really easy and fun.
1)I stitch the pieces together,
2)iron them flat,
3)trace a rectangle template onto the wrong side,
4)cut out roughly,
5)then sew all around 2 layers of organic, washed baby wipes (my batting) to the back of the rectangle,
6)cut excess off all layers at about 1/4 inch from the stitch line, trim corners
7)slice a hole in the middle of the "batting,
8)turn inside out, poke corners out carefully,
9)finger press flat,
10)position onto card stock, pin in one or 2 places if you desire (I didn't)
11)sew around edge and keep going inside shape to give quilting effect, overlapping at edge when you want to move to another area
12)and trim threads.

If you have questions, please let me know. I don't know when I'll have the time to add photos.

Thanks for looking,  Tamara

More Mini Boden Imitations

I made a couple more applique shirts in the style of the Mini-Boden shirts. I got these shirts at the thrift store for 75 cents a piece. I showed how to make them in a previous post.  Clayton loves them, even though we don't know what kind of vehicle the heavy machinery is. I'm guessing it's for picking up logs, but I don't know it's official name. I think my brother, Brandt could tell me. He was big into skidders as a kid. (they are used for logging)

Thanks for looking,  Tamara

I made a couple more applique shirts in the style of the Mini-Boden shirts. I got these shirts at the thrift store for 75 cents a piece. I showed how to make them in a previous post.  Clayton loves them, even though we don't know what kind of vehicle the heavy machinery is. I'm guessing it's for picking up logs, but I don't know it's official name. I think my brother, Brandt could tell me. He was big into skidders as a kid. (they are used for logging)

Thanks for looking,  Tamara

Thai Silk Elastic Waist Pants Refashioned into a Short Skirt

  

I made this skirt from a pair of elastic waist pants that fit so horribly that I never wore them, even though I love the fabric. See how I did it here.

The Swimsuit Tute (that might make you dumber)

This is a super-quick-extra-sneaky post, on account of how this isn't really a refashion and I feel kind of naughty for posting it BUT...

Remember how I made a swimsuit and was all "you guys, it's super easy!"? Well I made another one. 

And this time I took pictures of the process, and have thrown together a tute of the (completely non-bona fide, made-up and hacked) method that I used. It's HERE if you want to risk it!

I do have an actual refashion to post at some point too. Honest. *kicks dirt, looks sheepish*

x

The "daaaaaaarling" dress

Recently I scored this too-big, oddly shaped thrifted dress.

Well I've been systematically ripping it to pieces whenever the urge takes me, and finally the weather justifies it jumping a few places on the WIP hierarchy. I used Jemima (my dress form) to reshape it, and then it was just a 5 seam refashion! (shoulders, side seams and skirt)

 

(please note - the hem isn't wonky, I just have see-saw shoulders...)

Much better I think. It's actually, technically back to front here, but the original bustline was going to be too low cut for me, and I HATED the integrated tie at the front. The back had a cool elasticated band (they do exist in harmony - elastic and cool) which I made the front, unpicked the tie until it was just attached at the side seam, reversed the bodice pieces and sewed it all back together again. I love the print, and the fact that it probably originally cost more than I would normally spend on food shopping for a week, mwahahahaha! I'm not sure what brand it is but it is 100% cotton and the feel, finish and design screams "oh daaaaaarling..."

More at my blog: Skippedydoodah

Was a Bulletin Board...Now a Dress!

Really, I had this black Mary Engelbreit fabric covering an ugly bulletin board when I taught fourth grade.

Now it's a darling wrap dress for my girl.

Put that in your refashioning pipe and smoke it!  (I have no idea what I meant by that.)

Details at My Inner Old Lady.

Stripey sweater re-fashion w/ a dash of texture

I love when a re-fashion takes an hour - I spend a few bucks at the thrift store, I spend an hour tinkering on it, and bam, I have a nice, new sweater. It's so satisfying! I may never sew from scratch again, lol. Okay maybe not, but don't you love the fast ones?

 

 

Bethany 

Playing Catch Up

Oh my goodness, I finally get to post here on Wardrobe Refashion. This is easily in my top ten blogs to stalk! I have found so many great blogs and tutorials and I am excited to share the stuff I have done as well! I have been Thrifting my whole life, generally only buying new when I cannot find what I need second had. (Sometimes, you just can't find a great fitting pair of jeans second hand)

I have a few tutorials of my own. Some of you may have seen some, some may not have. Some are for little girls, some are for grown ups.

My most recent is a peasant skirt to bubble skirt. I made it from a pretty pink maternity skirt found at a charity shop. I love it and cannot wait for the weather to warm up a bit more so I can wear it...everywhere!

The tutorial for this is on my blog Until Wednesday Calls.

I have lots more, like this ruched scarf from pajama pants.

And this cute ruffled toddler skirt from vintage bed sheets.

Now that I have finally introduced myself here, I will try to post my refashions regularly.