Restyled Dress

These photos are terrible, I had no 'photographer' on hand this day so I had to work out how to use the auto timer function on my camera.  I struggled working out how to get my whole body in the photo without it blurring, but I think you get should get the drift of the style of this dress from these 2 photos.

  I've seen this style being worn by other people and thought it was quite nice, but it really doesn't seem to suit me, so I decided some minor tweaking was in order to create a dress I would actually wear.

Firstly I chopped off these ribbon thingy's, just because I find them annoying.

I wanted to shorten this second layer bit, as the back was longer than the front and I wanted them to be the same length.  So I drew a chalk line as a guide for where I should cut it.

The first bit I cut off didn't even out the length of the front and back, so I ended up chopping off a little bit extra.

Because the original shape of this dress really didn't suit me, my plan was to add elastic to the bottom of the upper 'layer' of the dress to create some shape.  So I sewed a 'casing' on the bottom edge of this upper layer.

After I had sewn the casing, I threaded through some elastic using a 'bodkin' which is a nifty little do-dacky that makes threading elastic really easy.

Then I sewed the ends of the elastic together.

The other part of this dresses style that I thought looked terrible on me was the length of the skirt.  I decided I wanted this dress to sit just below my knees, so I measured and cut off about 6cm of length (the off cuts will be used in my next project).  

And because I am impatient and didn't want to pin or iron the hem before sewing it I just whizzed it through the machine and hoped for the best.

The hem worked out just fine.

With the weather finally hinting at cooler temperatures I was able wear boots and a cardigan.

I even managed a photo outside.

Dress: Thrifted $4, Boots: Dr Marten Wedge Calf Boots used from eBay $120, Cardigan: old wardrobe item from Tree of Life, Accessories: Old wardrobe items.

Topsy Turvey Tunic

I've had this skirt in my stash for a while now.  I love the colour, but the style of the skirt wasn't that interesting.

The back of the skirt had a split in it... and some holes.  I did some mending on these as this split is going to become the back neckline of my new tunic/dress.

After the repairs were complete, I cut along the side seams of the skirt (about a hand length) to create arm holes.  Then I pinned and sewed the back hem to the front hem of the skirt to create the neckline.  I also hemmed up the arm holes - sorry I didn't take enough photos of the steps here, but hopefully it will make sense at the end.

The final step of this refashion was to chop off the elastic waist band, and hem the cut edge as this is to become the hem of my new dress.   And this was this skirt to dress refashion is complete.

I really like this dress worn loose like this, its great for hot days.

It can also be worn with the old waist band used as a belt.

The skirts back split creates a nice low back detail for the dress.

Overall I'm pretty happy with this dress.  I like how it can be dressed up or down, and I think if the weather ever starts to cool down it will layer nicely with winter items.

Dress: $0, hand-me-down.  Accessories: vintage scarf once belonged to my mum, my trusty Pirates Dreaming spoon necklace, and against the advice of my Physio I am back into my Duckfeet sandals.  

Maxi Dress to Jumpsuit

I had this idea a while ago to make a jumpsuit (or romper if you prefer) out of a maxi dress.  I had no idea if this would work, or even if I could pull off wearing one of these kooky items.  But one thing I love about refashioning unwanted clothes is that you can have a bit of fun with it, and if it doesn't pan out its no big deal.

After keeping an eye out for a suitable maxi dress for about the past month or so, I came across this.  It was an XL, so I figured it would give me enough fabric to create the 70's wide leg look I envisaged.

The first thing I did was cut out the majority of the lining, for no other reason than it was an unbearably hot polyester material.

I wanted the bodice to fit better, so I pinned each side like this and sewed new side seams.

Then I measured the width of the 'skirt' to find the centre point, and then cut up the middle like this.  After cutting, I sewed the new inner leg seam and this refashion was complete.  

This was actually a pretty straight forward project, however I'm not so sure I like the way this jumpsuit sits.  If I decide its not for me I'll just chop off the top of the 'jumpsuit' and create a really comfy pair of pyjama pants.

Sorry I'm a bit low on the number of after photos on this one, I wasn't really in the mood for photos that day.

Jumpsuit/Romper: $4 thrifted maxi dress, Belt: Thrifted - $2, Jewelery: personal collection

Easy Peasy Kids Jumpsuit

I picked up this floral number for my younger daughter for $1.50 in the kids section of my local opshop.  

A strapless jumpsuit which I'm guessing was really intended for teens. 

It came with a sash for around the waist, which was to become the straps.

I decided this would be a halter neck, so I folded the sash in half to find the centre of it and then pinned it front and centre on the jumpsuit.

Then sewed it in place.  

I left the sash long as I liked the way it looked tied up at the back.

This really does seem a bit too easy to be classed as a 'refashion'... but what can I say, sometimes they are super easy.

Oh how I wish I could pull off wearing a jumpsuit the way my daughter does - this is a hint at my next post... womens jumpsuit urggggg....

Womens Shirt Refashioned to Halter neck Top

Its been a quite a long break since I last posted, and I'm hoping this will be the start of me getting back into the swing of things.

In my last post I gave a sneak peek of this shirt which is my first refashion for 2015...

Blah, blah, blah....

After getting this home, I decided to reverse the shirt to create a halter neck top using the existing collar for the 'halter'.

To make this happen I chopped off the sleeves and part of the front of the shirt.

After chopping those extra bits off and opening up the shirt, I had something that looked like this.

To tidy it up, I had to trim off all the uneven bits of fabric and sew new side 'hems'.

I added some darts so it sat properly around my bust.  I should have done this before I hemmed the new sides... but I didn't.

I then tried it on and wrapped it around at the back and had a muck about to see how I wanted it to sit.  When I was happy, I added a button on one side that would use one of the original button holes to fasten it up.  And on the other side I added an elastic loop that would loop over one of the original buttons on the other side.   

Done...

I've had to wear this top with a singlet underneath, as without it it would require serious quantities of 'Hollywood tape', and because of this need for layering this isn't one of my favourite refashions.

But I think it looks alright with these old jeans, and ancient Birkenstock sandals that I've had to start wearing again after more than 10 years in storage, thanks to a foot injury that for now requires me to wear shoes with heal and arch support :-(

This is what it looks like at the back with a strapless singlet underneath.

Having my photo taken for this blog really puts me out of my comfort zone as generally I really dislike having my photo taken.  But I just don't think displaying 'after' refashions on the dress form gives an accurate representation of the finished item.  In this photo my 7 year old was out of shot playing the clown to help create less 'wooden' looking photos.  

 Halter top: Thrifted $4 Shirt, Jeans, Birkenstock Sandals, & Singlet top: All old wardrobe items.

So there you have it. Combined with old wardrobe staples, I have a $4 outfit.  And despite my lack of refashioning so far this year, I feel confident I will be able to stay on track and not buy any 'new' clothes this year.

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 :-)