Bow Begone

When cleaning out the closet, this shirt was one which I considered giving away.  It's an Old Navy top which I bought because it was on sale.  Do you ever do that?  Buy something just because it's cheap?  This was only 1.97 so I think that's why I bought it.

Plus I like the old-looking print; it reminds me of those illustrations that botanists used to do.  I imagine someone working for Kew Gardens going out in the bush and coming back with a journal full of drawings like this.

It also had an interesting button configuration, with little loops.

But everytime I wore it, it felt weird because of the bow.  The bow is a little hard to see so here it is in all its gory detail.

So I decided to try a refashion by getting rid of the bow.  I read that it's a good idea to iron everything before you start.

Then I just lopped off the bow and started sewing - hand sewing because we're shuffling furniture and the sewing machine has been boxed in.

I didn't really know what to do next, so just sewed the two bits together, and got this:

Here's a closeup:

With the leftover bits, I had enough for a not quite long enough tie:

What d'you think?

To Lop or Not?

Are there some things you would wear if not for looking horribly out-moded?  I am that way with long dresses.  Being a reader of historical and fantasy novels, I like longer hemlines, capes, lace and clothes with details.

I regularly read Refashionista and she recently had a dress that I really liked the "before" version, although the "after" is definitely more her style.  Isn't this a great dress?

source: refashionista.net

Unfortunately, I'm not self-assured enough to wear stuff like that without feeling completely unfashionable or costumey. I have a dress which I've kept for years just because it was floaty and looked like something from another time.

I lopped off the self-ties and the collar (the pic above is post-lop; I just "placed" the collar back on for the picture which is why it's crooked).

and got this:

It still looks a little peasant-goes-to-the-may-fair. I am considering shortening it, but it's difficult to make that first cut. Big J likes it like this so I might try to style it with a belt or something first.

Does it look any different or am I just kidding myself?

Ostrich Embellishment

As it looks like summer is fast approaching, it's time for a quick refashion.  Take one nubby fringed tank:

Some ostrich trim and 99 cent thread:

Sew by hand, et voila!

I wasn't sure if I would need more trim, so soaked it to see how it would hang after a wash:

Project Post-mortem:

• Perhaps add additional trim just at the top of the shoulders
• and maybe one layer at the back of the neck

Hopefully we will have some warm sunny days so I can wear this!

St Patrick's Day with Curious George

There is a huge business in clothing for Teddy Bears. When our kids were younger, we took them to a workshop where they could make their own bear (or dog, monkey, lamb or other stuffie). It was fun, you chose a bear, put in the stuffing, added a heart and named it.

Then, you got to browse the shop for clothing. The clothing was super expensive. It could set you back $30 or $40 for an outfit. Needless to say, I tried to convince the kids that newborn baby clothing was just as good.

Some years later, imagine my surprise when I saw similar teddy bear clothing, albeit all sweaters, in the dollar store. I have a Curious George doll which we got from one of those machines with a claw (the Claw!) and ever since I've been buying "holiday sweaters" for it. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a St Patrick's Day sweater.

And so to today's refashion:

Using a little bit of felt and leftover T-shirt fabric,

I cut out clover shapes, and glued them together.  This is the same shape and glue as from the Swag Bag project:

Then, I sewed a button to the front and a safety pin to the back:

attached it to Curious George's sweater, et voila!:

I used a safety pin so that when the time comes for the next holiday, the giant brooch can be removed.

My younger son asked why Curious George doesn't wear pants, so that might be another project.

Padded Hangers

Most of us thrifty diy types know how to make a padded hanger from a wire one using old t-shirts cut into strips. But, did you know that you can also use all those bits of fabric scraps from sewing and craft projects?

 

Just cut the scraps into strips; you don't need to worry about fraying.  If the scraps aren't long enough, just knot together.

When you have several strips, just braid around the hanger.  You can keep knotting additional strips until your hanger is wrapped.  The knots just add to the padding.

You need to keep pushing the braid towards the "done" part of the hanger.

Here is a done one:

And a closeup:

For a cleaner, more finished look, you could substitute ribbon or cord, but then it wouldn't be quite as thrifty.  I do have one or two made with stretchy fabric tubing, but I actually prefer the wacky, sticky-outy put-together look of fabric scraps.

Infinity Scarf from Skirt

Finally, it is Spring Break and I have a few days off work. So I thought I'd whip up a refashion.  I have an old-old broom skirt which is not only dated but the elastic is all stretched out and starting to make that cracking noise.

Here is the top where the elastic is, you can't really tell, but it is all stretchy:

But, the bottom of the skirt had a nice goldy-yellowy print which I thought might be nice in a scarf:

The skirt is quite sheer and is lined (you can see a bit of the lining in the pic above), so I flipped the lining up and bunched it together to cut:

Now comes the hard part.  I'm going to hand-sew the edge so it doesn't fray or leave bits of fabric everywhere.  This will take hours, so I leave you with this.

Although it's not quite done, I tried it on to see how the finished result would look:

Zip it Up

Are you one of those people who are always security conscious?  I am.  I try to stand near the buttons in an elevator, and always stand well back from the train tracks on the platform. This post is about a security refashion.

So I got a purse years ago and it always bothered me that it has a flap closure, but no zipper.

It is also a fabric purse which is worse because when you toss it somewhere, it just flops, loses it shape and the contents could easily tumble out.

I checked at my favourite notions store but couldn't find the right zipper; they had plastic ones that were the right length or metal ones that were too long.  I bought both, but decided metal would be better.

I was going to cut the zipper and so marked it up, then started hand-sewing it to the bag, but changed my mind after one side was done. 

So then I ripped it all out and started again.

I decided to leave a bit hanging out so that there would be something to grip when I tugged on the zipper.

I'm glad I went with the metal because it matches quite well.  I think it looks okay.  What d'you think?

Safety Pins

One of the things which I'd like to try is to make a safety pin clothing item. A few years ago, I read a how-to in a crafty-sewing magazine and have been thinking about it ever since.

I've picked out a luxe velveteen shirt and just have to decide on a design. Here are some which I've found on-line.

This is Pelayo Diaz and apparently he created some of his own safety pin t-shirts last year and started a craze.

image: play.converse.co.uk

I really like this one; it looks like a fun way to add bling to a plain jacket.  And the design is simple.

image: ecouterre.com

This one is more haute.  From the people standing around in the background, and the skinnyness of the model, it looks like a show or something.

image: sodahead.com

And finally, one which looks rather difficult - although there is a pictorial on the site

image:smexy dred on instructables.com

Other decisions are colour: gold or silver?  I am leaning towards silver.  The great thing about this type of refashion is that you can always undo it.

An Alteration

Does an alteration count as a refashion?  I'm always shortening the straps on my tank tops, but this time I "altered" a skirt.

There's something weird with my body shape because lots of times if clothing fits in the hips, it's too big in the waist.  And if the waist fits, then it pulls across the hip - or maybe it's my big tummy area!

I bought a skirt at Walmart. I know, I'm of two minds re: Walmart.  Do I buy into the low prices knowing that I'm contributing to the growing gap between rich and poor?  Just google what's wrong with Walmart to see what I mean. Or do I stick to my principles and avoid it like the plague? 

Well, this time I succumbed.  And found an already low-priced skirt which was marked down some more. I bought the smaller size, but it pulled and created an indented bowl effect in front.  It looked really weird.  I exchanged it for the next size up and then the waist was too big. 

So, I stitched it up by hand - basted I think it's called.  I used orange thread because I wasn't sure if it would look good and thought it might have to be undone, and didn't want to be squinting to pick out black thread.

You can just see the orange thread.

It looked okay, so I continued with black thread and here is the result:

Hard to see, but the red outline is where it's taken in

I tried it on and it looks normal! I think this counts as my first real "alteration" and am going to wear it soon.

What ? New Year Again?

Well its Chinese New Year today, the year is 4710, year of the Dragon.  I wanted to wear something red.  Red is supposed to ward off evil spirits.  I don't believe that myself, but do like to follow tradition, and it is Visible Monday, and I like red.

You can't really tell in the picture, but everything else is brown, not black. I actually had a sweater on most of the day (it's a refashion fail, more on that later), so I looked a lot darker but I did have the big scarf floating around the front so it was still bright.

It's hard to tell in the pic, but the shirt is made up of a basket-weavey bunch of squares. 

Every other square has a hole in the middle.  Its a French label "Montagut" and was actually made in France.  I am quite happy that it fit because I remember it being a bit tight when I last wore it several years ago.

I also changed up my hair: I'm experimenting with ways to put up my hair and am using one of those Butterfly style hair clips.

Don't quite have the hang of it yet, but it gets better each time.

Also wore my leopard coat again.

Didn't wear double tights, so my legs/feet were quite cold - those floor to ceiling windows are great for views, but not so good for keeping the heat in.

So, here is the refashion fail: 
My sweater has overly long sleeves and I had this idea to chop off some of the length and make some of those cute sweater cuffs.  I just measured for the cuff and chopped off the sleeves at that point, and stitched it up.  Big. Mistake.

Not sure what I did, but the sleeves ended up being about 1/2 an inch too short.  I tried wearing it like that but was constantly tugging at it.  So finally I sewed the sleeves back on.

I shortened it a bit by overlapping where it's sewn and then folded it back up.

It's shorter now, but a tad bulky, and you can sort of see a line where it is sewn together.  But I prefer that to the sleeves-too-short feeling.