Wardrobe Refashion

Halloween fever

Ok, so Halloween is not normally my thing but both myself and my daughter had seperate parties to go to so when my daughter asked me if we could make a tutu (ie. not BUY) how could I say no? So what started as this...

became this...

 
This involved cutting away the outside layers of the skirt, removing the waistband, dying the remaining fabric pink, adding a layer of soft tulle found at an opshop previously attached to a hideous butterfly, adding cheap outer sparkly tulle and a double layer of cheap ribbon in the middle. Alot of work but my girl loves it and doesn't want me to add straps even though it has a habit of sliding down as she plays. I've convinced her that a singlet underneath will protect her modesty :)

I then had a 60's themed dance party and a halloween party to go to and we decided to go as The Avengers which left me needing an Emma Peal outfit. I don't think I quite pulled off Emma Peal on the night (well, who can?) but I was pretty impressed by my refashion. Unfortunately I don't have the before shot but I cut a 60's style dress (market purchase) in two. Removed the collar and button piece from down the front. Attached that piece to the top of the skirt as a make shift waist band. Added a zip (salvaged from another refashion) and a button hole (using one of the original buttons from the dress) and finally this is what was created...

I really love the skirt but the waist band isn't tight enough and the button needs re-placing. I found this out after a night of dancing though so all in all not the worst thing!

Mim

Refashion Catch-up

Hello everyone! Been keeping an eye on everyone's work, but haven't posted in a while. So here is my catch up:

The first two are old, but I don't think I have posted them before. The first skirt is made from a lace curtain and lined with the backing from another curtain. The second skirt is made from scarves cut into strips, sewn back together and pleated. It is lined with an old sheet. The third skirt is made using the waist band pattern from the Burdastyle "Jenny", but instead of the skirt pattern I made my own - a four gore bias cut and gathered skirt made from unused fabric found at the op-shop. It is lined with lining from my stash (it appeared to be leftover from a skirt or dress refashion). The dress is the "Jenny" again, and again I gathered the skirt instead of using the Burdastyle pattern. This time it is just a gathered rectangle.

I have a few more things in the works, but as of yet they are not photographed.

Keep it cool everyone!!

Jill W

How to make your own tights

I did a little tutorial over here on how to draft your own pattern custom fit to yourself to make tights.  You could easily adapt this to leggings too, simply by chopping off and hemming at ankle level... in fact this would be a much easier project because the fitting around the foot is the difficult bit!

Summer shorts

Last summer, in a fit of "I have nothing to wear" I took my scissors to an old and unworn pair of jeans, pulled on my 'new' shorts and headed to the pub.

Today, as Spring teases Melbourne with warmth quickly dispelled, I pulled out my jean shorts and, using some left over floral fabric from my apron re-fashion (still in progress) tidied and prettied up the hems. I am quite pleased with the results, which I think reflect the "boyfriend shorts" I've been seeing in the fashion pages.

Monster Mish-Mash

No monsters here, but since we're going trick-or-treating in a couple of hours, Monster Mash is on my mind.  I do have a mish-mash of stuff to share, though.

First is the XL girls' shirt I pared down into a dress for my 7-year-old

Sorry for the lack of "before" pictures; it was just such a simple and obvious refashion that I totally forgot.  I literally bought it off the clearance rack at Target, brought it home, and serged one seam, starting at the edge of the arm and running down the side.  That's it.  The length was perfect as-is, so I left it.  I love the rainbow colors of it.

Second one is a yard sale dress (25 cents, I think) from last spring.  It used to have a cracked pleather belt and some weird velvet trim on it, which I discarded right away.  I just sewed on some grosgrain ribbon for a belt, and made a corsage out of some serged t-shirt scraps and a blue button:

Now it's a perfect little schoolgirl plaid dress!

I also made some banners from my scrap bin and and upcycled wool blanket:

Details on my blog.

Felted Bag Question

I would like to recycle some wool sweaters into felted bags, and thought I'd ask you all for advice.  The websites I've come across seem to say you should felt the sweater first and then cut and sew the bag.  However, when knitting, you knit it, sew the pieces together with yarn, and then felt it, making for Herculean-strength seams.  Is it possible to cut and sew a sweater into a large bag shape using yarn and then felt it?  Or does it turn out odd-shaped?  Thanks for any tips . . .

Homemade Halloween Costumes

Here is a picture of the Halloween Costumes that I whipped up for my 2 little girls - A Pink Poodle with her box of babies and Strawberry Shortcake. This is the first year I have made their costumes and they turned out amazing if I do say so myself.

Holy Kidston Batman!

 
 

Needed a new backpack for my upcoming travels. Right pattern – SO wrong (for me) fabric!

IWOM

alifewithoutclothes.wordpress.com

Little Tweaks

2 new dress refashions.  More info on my blog. 

 

Before

 

After

 

Before

 

After

 

Tunic to Frock - A Tute

Well HEY you guys! I been out of touch for AGES, but I'm hoping to worm my way back into the WR crew with a tute, (and the fact that I haven't bought anything new!)

So, can we talk about tunics? Tunics and I have a complicated relationship. I want to love them, and I do on other people, but anything that hits at mid-thigh and has no waist shape, is not so muchly on me.

That said, I happen to own this fella here:

I'v had it since I was pregnant (my bear is almost 3 now) and I have been thisclose to throwing it out a few times. But I have some weird emotional attachment to it (what IS that?). Yesterday I was struck by inspiration. And I turned it into this:

If you happen to have a tunic that needs meddlin' with here's how I did it:

Firstly of all I happened to have some very lightweight black cotton from another refashion that matched perfectly, but I think that a contrasting print, (or maybe two) would have worked really well too. depending on how much length you want to add, a meter should be plenty.

OK, here's what you'll need to do:

1. Fold your tunic in half straight down the middle.
2. Pop your folded-in-half tunic onto your extra fabric, matching up the folds, like this see:3. Mark out however much more skirt you want, making sure you follow the line of the existing skirt (in this case it's a slight A-line). Replicate the curve at the hem on your new skirt bottom, and match up the curve at the top too. Don't forget to add a bit to your sides for a seam allowance (the solid line should be farther out. Oops!)
4. Mark out you skirt with chalk or pins. or just go crazy with the scissors if you're brave.
5. Snip! You'll need to cut out two skirt pieces.
6. Whip! Turn the new skirt pieces right-side-together then sew up the side seams so you have one piece of skirt. Press the seams open.
7. Pin the new skirt into the bottom of the old skirt, right-sides-together. Like ZIZ see:

8. Sew around the bottom of the skirt, where you've just pinned. Press the new seam UP. Try it on, admire your handiwork then hem it as you normally would.

And voila! Tunic to dress. Giving that sucker a waist instead of a sack shape is the next step. And I've got a tute for that coming up too.

There's a bit more about why this dress is called the Democracy Dress over chez ME. And you're of course welcome to come over and say hi!