I like to call this a mash-up creation, not sure if I invented that term or not. What next for a mash up.... tea towels and hot pads?!
Creativity happens anywhere. The thought for this shirt came in the middle of the table coverings isle at Savers. I found this amazing embroidered table runner and new it needed a new life as something else. The size was about perfect to be a "yoke" of a shirt as I held it up in the mirror. I was too excited to wait so I searched the store for something that could be the bottom part of this shirt and found a mustard color scarf that I thought would work. Can you imagine the other customers as I am holding up a table runner and scarf to my body in the mirror with a stupid kid-like grin on my face?! Haha! Next, I pinned the center and a few other spots, trying to keep it evenly spaced. Remembering to fold down the edge a bit. Then I took my time and sewed all around the scarf edge to attach it to the top piece. I made little folds in the scarf material as I went to gather it. There is probably a better way to do this part, but it worked OK for me. :)
All done! Now looking at the shirt...it is almost long enough to wear as a dress, maybe with a dress slip underneath? If you use a scarf that is non-transparent and made it a tad longer it would make a cute dress!
I like to call this a mash-up creation, not sure if I invented that term or not. What next for a mash up.... tea towels and hot pads?!
2 Comments
This refashion project was inspired by a Pinterest image, but the top was made from a jean jacket. I have been searching Goodwill for the perfect jean jacket to give that a try, but haven't landed one yet. I still wanted to attempt this look, so I pulled out an ancient white sleeveless button-up from my "save for projects" boxes (yes "boxes" is plural...). Because it was already sleeveless I didn't do much to the top other than cut the bottom off, leaving the button section in the front. For the bottom part of this shirt I wanted to be quick, aka, lazy, so I headed to Goodwill and found a large chiffon dress. This way, it was already hemmed for me! This dress was only $4, had a lining underneath, and I have a lot of fabric still left! This is not a tutorial, but perhaps I will make a tutorial if I find that perfect jean jacket and attempt this again! If I get enough comments below, maybe I will make a tutorial for y'all ;-)
So, here is another project from "refashion weekend" as it turned out to be. All this sewing was spurred on by the random 9.9 inches of snow we got on Thursday evening causing a snow day on Friday followed by a weekend of horrifically cold weather & state of emergency road conditions. I also think this hit at a perfect time for me. I haven't done much sewing after Christmas present season, I usually need a break after that big creative push, but this weekend the creative juice was back baby! A while ago I came across the picture below on Pinterest and knew it was my next "men's dress shirt refashion". I love how simple and crisp it looks, and adore the way the bow girlies it up a bit! Yesterday I decided to give it a try and I am thrilled with the results. I did not take step by step pictures, needed to just flow through the process with this one, but it was not tricky at all. Basically I traced shapes from a tank I already own and put the pieces together! The striped shirt was a thrift store find about 3 years ago that I used the cuffs for a project. The white top pieces were actually from a different men's dress shirt I had laying around. :) Yay for free! The bow is made from a long strip and then I hot glued the middle piece around. Not sure if this will hold up in the washer/dryer so I will probably use a delicate cycle. The bow is hand-stitched to the bodice. The most time consuming part of this project was hemming the collar/arm holes. Anyone have a better way than pressing & turning twice? Ug, not my favorite! How about sneaking into my mom's house late at night with a ski mask and stealing her Serger?!! ;)
Hope you are inspired!! Have any great Pinspiration for me?! I'd love to see ideas!! It's ANOTHER snow day here in MN!! What a winter! Now, I am not complaining about still being in my PJs at 11:00am, but I sure hope that I am not still going to school in the middle of June while my husband is out on the boat!!! To avoid thinking about that I have been sewing away in my craft room this morning and turned out this beauty. I did not take a before picture of the sweatshirt (sorry), but you can probably imagine it. I added the navy polka dot fabric and that's it. The sweatshirt is a lucky find from JoAnn Fabrics actually. I just looked online and it looks like they do not carry this type of sweatshirt at the moment, but maybe after this post goes viral they will read this and bring it back?. ;-) I really love the giant collar, and if I can remember correctly, the price after my 50% off coupon was amazing. Here is what I did to jazz up my sweatshirt: 1. Cut a piece of fabric for the bottom ruffle. My fabric was a light weight chiffon. To get the measurement, measure around the waist of your sweatshirt and double it. (I think my piece was actually only 69 inches long and was made by piecing two strips together and it turned out just fine.) I made my strip 3.5 inches tall. 2. Cut a piece of fabric to line the collar piece. I simply laid my fabric over my sweatshirt collar and cut about 1 inch wider than each edge. 3. Fold under each edge of both the ruffle and the collar piece and press with a really hot iron. The fabric did not iron the best but it still helped when I was pinning. So fold under about 1/4 inch and press....then fold under another 1/4 inch and press again. This way no raw edges are exposed. This is the longest part of the process but helped so much when pinning & sewing the pieces to the sweatshirt. 4. Hem the sides and bottom edges of the ruffle. The top edge will still be pressed, but will get sewn when you sew it to the sweatshirt. 5. Divide the ruffle piece into equal parts (I think I did 8) and mark with pins. Then divide the sweatshirt bottom into the same number of parts and also mark with pins. Now match up the pins and pin the ruffle to the sweatshirt. The ruffle will be loopy because it is longer than the sweatshirt. 6. Stretch the sweatshirt as you sew on the ruffle. I had to really pull to get it to match up at each pin. Sew with a straight stitch. Make sure your thread is the same color as your sweatshirt material. 7. Pin and sew the pressed lining onto the inside of the collar piece. I left mine a tiny bit from the edge. All done! Now time to go shovel 9.9 inches of snow with the hubby. Luckily, it started as freezing rain so the snow blower won't work ;-). April Mexico trip can not come fast enough!!!
Here is a quick t-shirt refashion I did last night. Hope you enjoy! Materials: t-shirt (wish mine had been longer) fun cotton material (about 1/2 a yard?) scissors sewing machine & matching thread #1. Cut up along both side seams and across the back of the t-shirt. 2. Cut a rectangular piece out of your fun cotton fabric to make the new back. it should be just as wide and just as long as the back piece you just cut off. I made mine a little bit wider and a little longer to give it a scoop look on the bottom. Pin the top right sides together and sew. Below is what it should look like after sewn: #3: Here is where you should add a pocket if you want. I waited till the end and that was tricky. So, cut out a pocket shape and hem the top edge down 1/4 inch. #4: Fold the edges of the pocket under as you sew the sides & bottom of the pocket to the front of your shirt. #5: Turn the shirt right sides together and sew up the side seams. Then hem the back piece and you are done!!
In honor of my first Summer Sunday Night (you know how awesome those are as a teacher!!) I thought I would whip up a quick photo tutorial! This skirt turned out pretty cute, nice for a comfy summer night...if we ever get a dry night with temps above 55.... Grrrr. The back kinda does this bubble butt thing, not sure if a dart would help, or if its just my skater booty.... but it's nothing major, I will still wear it. So here is the tutorial, enjoy!! And it's done, wrinkly, but done! Pair with a cute tucked in boyfriend T, and some sneaks!!
So, I had some left over fun polka dot chiffon fabric from a shirt that I made for my bestie (that only took me like 7 months to do...sorry Ang, it's done now, so come get it!!) And I wanted to use it, but it was a smaller piece so I couldn't make a whole other shirt, so I started "draping" like they do on Project Runway and came up with using it as sleeves! I love my dress form for this very reason-- it really helps with creativity and makes me feel so professional! ;-) As you can see below I also considered adding a little ruffle on the bottom, but didn't in the end. So here is what I did: 1. Cut off sleeves (including the seams). 2. Find an existing shirt (this is one I made that I still haven't posted about yet, sorry). The striped shirt wasn't very stretchy, so I found one to trace that was also non-stretch. Lay the one to trace on top and trim the sides, leaving about 1/2" for seam allowance. 3. Next, cut out sleeves out of some fun chiffony fabric! I used a tissue paper pattern that I made from a sweatshirt. You can see it in this post. I cut the sleeves so that the bottoms are the salvaged edges so that I wouldn't have to hem them.....artistic or lazy? ;-) 4. Open up the shirt and lay it right side up. 5. Take one sleeve and pin it, right side down, to the arm hole of the shirt. Pin and sew a straight stitch. I probably should have used a zig zag stitch on the edge as well to help with fraying, but I haven't done that yet. Now, my sleeve was a little longer than the opening, so I made one "pleat" at the top of the shoulder, which actually looks kinda cute! Here is a closer look: 6. Repeat with the other sleeve. The picture below is what it should look like after sewing both sleeves on: 7. Turn the shirt right sides together. Pin and sew using a straight stitch up the side seams and down the arm. Again, you should probably also sew a zig zag stitch along the raw edge to minimize fraying. Now, I decided to add a little bit of the polka dot fabric to the pocket as well. I couldn't decide if I should do the pocket or a ruffle on the bottom, but I chose the pocket. 8. Lay the fabric over the pocket and cut about 1/2" wider than the original pocket. Fold the edges under and machine stitch around both sides and bottom of the pocket right to the shirt. Then, hand stitch the top down so that the pocket can still open. Then you are done!!
I am proud of how it turned out and mostly because it was born out of creativity and not copy! Thank you dress form for allowing me the ability to drape and imagine! And, I suppose, Project Runway and Fashion Star have to get some of the inspirational credit as well :) Here is my easy way of making a pattern. I have really only made shirt and sweatshirt patterns successfully.... if you want to see a failed attempt at pattern making check out my shorts post. :( This is pretty basic, but thought I would post this step separately than my next shirt tutorial....which might get a little lengthy :) Hope this inspires you to save tissue paper at EVERY birthday and shower in the future!! Yay reusing!
My FREE workout tank!! Thanks to hubby for the golf shirt donation and Workout Bud Charlotte for the sports bra (or I should say "bras" because she gave me a whole grocery bag full, pays to have a friend with workout world connections--check out her AMAZING fitness blog: The Great Fitness Experiment!) What else can I make with all those sports bras... a swim suit, a sports bra quilt? Mmmm... ;-) Here is what I did: Materials: 1 Sports Bra 1 Large Men's golf shirt (or some sort of "dry fit" material) Sewing machine, regular thread, scissors, pins Tutorial: 1. Lay the sports bra and golf shirt next to an existing tank top to know where to cut the shirt for length. Give yourself about 1/2 inch for sewing overlap. 2. On the bottom shirt, on the back, at the top (part that will attach to the sports bra) find and mark the center. Then measure out a few inches (I did 3") on each side of that center mark. This is for the little cut out detail on the back. 3. Sorry, the picture above is a little hard to see. Cut out a half circle shape from the back/top of the shirt where you made the measurement marks in the previous step. 4. Fold down about 1/4" and sew. You could probably skip this step, I don't think this material frays much, but it only takes a minute. 5. Now, to pin the bottom to the sports bra. Turn both inside out (although if I do it again, I would sew from the outside...I like how the inside looked better than the outside). Place pins on the side seams, centers, and center of those on both the bottom of the shirt and the sports bra so you can match them up evenly. This technique is explained in more detail in step #7 of my peplum shirt post. 6. Above is what it should look like pinned together. This is a picture of the back, you can see where the cut out will be! Now it is time to sew them together. Set your machine to a tight zig zag stitch to give it lots of stretch. As you sew, pull both shirts (mostly the sports bra) as tight as you can. I still had a few points (usually at each pin) where I sewed over a little fold, but it still looked OK. Like I said before I actually like how the inside turned out better than the outside, so next time I am going to sew the bottom shirt on the outside of the sports bra! That's it! Pretty simple and Lord knows I need workout attire, I spend 97% of my life in it!!!
So, what else should I make with all these sports bras?! Sporty maxi dress? Maternity wear for one of my MILLION pregnant friends? Seriously people... that is why I don't drink the water at the YMCA ;-) "I wear your granddad's clothes...I look incredible." LOOOOVE Macklemore!! So, side note about this song, at my home away from home, MN Valley YMCA, we occasionally have a little something we like to call Friday Night Dance Party. My home girl, Jennie, puts together a hip hop dance that we learn all in one night. And then, naturally, we film ourselves for YouTube! Here is Jennie's channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/indyboxer I am excited to say that Thrift Shop by Macklemore might be our next venture and you'd better believe that I will be wearing some little treasure from the thrift shop for the booty shakin' fun! Why all the thrift shop talk? Well, this sweatshirt fabric was a fabulous find at one!! I think it was about 2.5 or 3 yards and $3.99? I struggled for a while on what to make with this thick jersey stretch material, besides your normal sweatshirt. I settled on short little cap sleeves, a longer length with a "baseball T" cut bottom, and piecing the stripes to make a chevron pattern! I really like how it turned out...the only thing I might alter is the bottom. I like the shape, but it hits a little tight on my hips and so I might turn it into a shorter more fitted bottom with a waistband. But for now, so comfy and I love how the stripes turned out! Here is my tutorial: *Side Notes:
1. Place Pattern: Fold the fabric lining up the stripes as best you can. Fold the sweatshirt pattern in half. Place the pattern on the fabric at an angle & pin in place. I also drew faint pencil lines on my pattern piece mimicking the lines on the fabric. I think this helped when cutting the back pieces. 2. Cut front & Back pieces: Cut around the pattern through both layers. This makes two front pieces. I cut lower in the front and higher on the sides. Also, see in my picture where it dips up again slightly on the left (front) well, later, I made that more straight so that it matches straight with the other front piece. Make sense? Otherwise it would come up like a little triangle framing your who-ha....not cute! **Do this exact same thing for the two back pieces. 3. Cut out sleeves: Take a sleeve pattern piece and place the top on the fold. Cut out two sleeves. I cut mine a little longer than I wanted so once I have it on I could adjust the length. 4. Sew the front pieces and back pieces together: Take the two front pieces you cut out and lay them on top of each other just as you cut them out. Sew a straight stitch all along the front piece (the left side in my picture below). When you open it up you should see your chevron pattern, yippee!! * Do the same thing to the two back pieces. 5. Adding the sleeves: I took a bunch of pictures of this steps so here goes. First match one sleeve to the left front bodice (right sides together) & pin in place. Remember, the "folded" part of your sleeve pattern should be at the top of the shoulder. Sew a straight stitch. 6. Add the back piece to the left sleeve: Match up the other part of that sleeve to the arm hole of the back piece. Pin right sides together and sew. 7. Attach right sleeve to back piece: Take the right sleeve and pin it to the back piece, right sides together. Sew. If you look closely you can see my pins on the left in the picture below. 8. Sew right sleeve to front bodice: Place that right sleeve on top of the front bodice piece matching the edges. Pin and sew. This is what you should end up with. 9. Hem the neckline: Pin the neckline down to the inside about 1/4 inch and pin. You only have to fold over once since the fabric will not fray. Then sew down. I used a straight stitch, but when I did the sleeves I used a zig zag and it turned out nice. So if I were to do it again I might zig zag around the neckline too. 10. Shoulder seams: Next fold the sweatshirt with front and back right sides together. Pin and sew the shoulder seams. 11. Side seams: With the sweatshirt inside out sew up the side seams and under the arms with a straight stitch. 12. Shorten sleeves: Put the sweatshirt on and get excited because you are almost done! Fold the sleeves up to where you want them and pin. Cut leaving about a 1/4 inch for the fold. Again, I folded only once because I don't think it will fray. *Repeat on both sleeves. 13. Turn right side out and you're done!! OK, so this isn't the only time I have found stretch jersey knit (thicker sweatshirt style) at the thrift store. I REALLY want ideas of what else I could sew with this kind of fabric. I tried a maxi skirt which worked OK, but it can't be over 60 degrees or too much leg sweat starts happening ;-)
|