No New Clothes New Year

A couple of weeks back I 'went on the record' saying my resolution for 2015 was to not buy myself any newly manufactured clothes (excluding underwear and socks) this year.  A couple of days after this 'announcement', someone said to me "Sooo I see your going to be doing LOTS of sewing this year", which I thought I would be.  But as it turns out, so far this hasn't happened.  Instead, over the first 3 weeks of 2015 I've been spending time with family and friends, and just trying to relax at beautiful spots like this...

and this...

...before the craziness kicks off again and I have to return to my normal routine.

So instead of sewing, I've hit a couple of opshops and garage/yard sales over the past few weeks, and actually had a bit of luck finding things that don't need to be refashioned (and some that do), for both me and my girls.

So here I am in a couple of my newly aquired thrifted items, and some of my old wardrobe staples.  The shorts were found at my local Salvation Army Opshop for $4, while the dip died scarf was bought at a yard sale for $2.  The other items, from my wardrobe, include - the black singlet that was a hand-me-down from way back, while the denim jacket was purchased on ebay, and of course my trusty Duckfeet sandals.

I got this top and shorts in new condition for my 10 year old for only $5.

A $2 'jumpsuit' for my 7 year old that needs some minor alterations.

And this small sized womens dress is also going to be altered, this time to suit Miss 10.

But my favourite find so far, is this large jar of vintage buttons for only $2.

And for my first official refashion for 2015 - this shirt... 

Which I hope to complete in the next couple of days.

Happy belated New Year :-)

Geometric Print Skirt to Summer Top

After my recent busy plaid dress refashion in which I realised I actually didn't like the fabric of the dress I had bought at the opshop, I headed to the opshop on this day a few weeks later with a goal in mind.  My goal was to find items that I actually liked the fabric of, and as the weather has been hot lately I also wanted cotton.

I found this fantastic geometric printed skirt, in a style that really didn't match the print of the fabric. 

You can't really tell in these photos, but this skirt was way too see through for a skirt - so a top it was to become.

After my recent pant to dress refashion I wasn't that keen on more unpicking.  But yet again, I wanted to retain as much of this fabric as possible.  So instead of chopping off the shirred elastic waistband, I spent a couple of evenings in front of the TV painfully unpicking all those rows of elastic.

After a quick iron, the former top of the skirt now looked like this.

Next up I chopped the ruffly bit off the bottom.

And chopped the gathered edge off the 'ruffly' bit.  Then sewed the flat piece of fabric back onto the bottom of the skirt  (without the 'ruffles').

Once that was done, this is what I had to work with.

The side seams of the skirt were about to become the top and bottom of my top, so one side seam was cut and heamed.

Then this trusty blue top was used as a guide to create a neckline for my new top.

Yes I chopped the neck hole further to one side on purpose as I'm going for another asymetrical item.

After cutting I hemmed the new neckline. 

Then I had a play around with sewing up the sides of my top to create arm holes and a fall I was happy with.

This is how the finished item looked laying flat on the ground.

This top is great for hot days as it is light weight and catches the breezes, while also providing protection from the suns harsh rays.

It also makes a great beach cover-up.

Top/skirt: $4, Shorts: ? I bought these new about 5 years ago.