Completed Project: Simplicity 2249

The yellow dress is completed!  On this project I used an invisible zipper.

And I used some of the garage sale buttons I got for the shoulder detail and the front placket of the dress.

And here's the completed dress.

I am happy with it, and since it was made from recycled sheets, I will be more willing to wear it for everyday.  Materials costs are as follows:

Main dress fabric $2.00 (yard sale sheet set)
Accent fabric $1.00 (yard sale tablecloth)
Buttons, $0.25
Zipper on hand in stash
Thread $1.59
Cording $2.99 (but will use in mutiple projects)

Total: $7.83

Thanks, as always, for looking in.  Your comments are appreciated!

Completed Project: Butterick 4228

Well, it's done!  This was a fun pattern to sew and I'm quite pleased with the result.  If you've been following along, you know that I did a wearable muslin of the top of this pattern last month.  I wanted to be sure that the top would fit.  Here it is.

I made the entire dress from lavender linen.  I love linen!  The hand, the drape, the fact that it's a natural fiber, the ease of sewing!  Well, everything about it!  Here's the result.

The skirt will go with either top nicely.  Here's a dtetail pic of the little front vent on the linen top.

I would definitely consider making this ensemble again.  It was a very easy pattern and I love the way it came out.  I'm sure I'll be wearing it a lot this summer.  Thanks, as always for peeking, and your comments are always welcomed.

Another Refashion Top

In my quest to quickly sew up some items I can wear everyday instead of that uniform T shirt and jeans, I'm doing another top restyle.  As a pattern, I'm using a me-made patternless top from about two years ago.  It's just a simple boxy, or crop, top.  There are no real design features (no closures, no darts) and it relies on the drape of the fabric to lend shape to the garment.

The subject of the upcycle is a thrift store dress I got for $4.99 on the same day that I scored the men's shirts.  It seems hopelessly 80s, but may actually be 90s.

It was originally a very nice dress, I'm sure.  It was a Karin Stevens, a quality brand.

What sold me on it for a restyle was the pretty floral print fabric, which, as you can see is 100% rayon.  Dry clean only - but I washed the dress and hung it to dry when I got it home.

And I'll have to think of something to do with the remainders because I do like the lace collar detail, but obviously not for this project.  Any suggestions?

Stay tuned!  I'll probably cut today and sew tomorrow.

Completed Project: Burda 8995

As scheduled, I completed the short jacket to go with my sixties sheath dress, Burda 8995.  The jacket came out really great, and it complements the dress nicely.  I chose some really cool buttons for the back of the jacket.

Sorry for the wrinkles.  I got excited and started taking pictures before the final press!  So, here's the dress with the jacket.

But my favorite is the back view!

Anyway, I hope you like it!  I'm thinking that this jacket would go nicely with a few of my other dresses as well.  Do you mix and match your outfits, or if something is meant for one outfit do you keep everything matched together?

Men's Shirt Upcycle

Remember the men's shirts I snagged at Salvation Army last week?  I decided to work with the blue checked one, which was $2.99 initial investment.

It's a very nice quality shirt - Polo by Ralph Lauren.  First I cut off the collar and the sleeves.

The I used some scrap quilting fabric I had on hand to make bias binding.  I used this to finish the neck and armholes.  Love the complementary colors!

I fitted the shirt to a woman's contours and added a sash made from the complementary fabric.

I made the back of the shirt into the new front, so all I have left to do is remove the pocket!

Even though the pocket still needs to be removed, I already wore the top out to do some errands.  Very comfy, and nicer looking than my usual T.  I'm pretty pleased with the outcome, but even if it was too "altered" for your tastes, you could wear it as a crafting or kitchen coverall!  What do you think?

Refashioned Top: Frankenstyle

I was reading a thread on A Fashionable Stitch about refashioning.  Sunni was asking her readers' opinion about refashioning.  One commenter described the results as generally looking like a girl scout project gone horribly wrong.  I agree that sometimes it does seem that way.  I've seen many an item in Altered Couture, for example, that I would not be caught dead in.  However, that being said, I really enjoy refashioning, and I try to keep my stuff wearable by the average Josephine.  Here's my latest.  You be the judge, please.

I had a leftover Mom Jumper top portion.  You may recall that I made a sixties top wearable muslin from the fabric I harvested from the skirt of the jumper.

I ripped off the remnants of the skirt that were still attached.

I also had an old T.  Love the color (brings out my red hair), but it shrunk in the wash and was too short.  I don't like to be suddenly showing my tummy when I'm loading groceries into the car.

So I married the two together to make a new Frankentop.  The top now hits at my hips, so there's no danger of scaring small children and animals with a view of my tum.

Now, this is nicer looking than my usual hockey tournament T shirts for everyday wear.  Once it warms up I could wear this out and about.  I can even put a sweater over it.

Economically it works out well, too.  The jumper was $9.99, but I used most of it for the other top...I'd say $3.00 toward this top.  The other T was free, as I already had it and had stopped wearing it due to the shrinkage.  Thread, negligible... so, new Frankentop for about $3.00 plus labor!

Thoughts?  Girl Scout project gone horribly wrong, or CPR for unwanted clothing?  Let me know what you think (and I promise not to be sensitive!)!

Semi Completed Project: Burda 8995

I completed the dress portion of Burda 8995 today.  Still to be finished is the black short jacket topper.
My plan is to finish up the jacket next week.  I need to do a couple of little projects brfore that.  Then, back to my lilac fabric and vintage Butterick 4228.  I do like how the fabric complements this 1960s style sheath.

Please let me know what you think!

Completed Project: Armistice Blouse

Today's reveal is of the Armistice Blouse by Folkwear Patterns.  I was inspired to make this blouse as a 1912 Titanic Anniversary commemorative piece, with a little Downton Abbey envy thrown in for good measure.  Specifically, this was a dry run of Lady Mary's beautiful cream version of this blouse.  I plan to do another now, more closely resembling the one worn by Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary.

I made several modifications to this pattern.  First, I did away with the front button closure.  I wanted a more casual version.  Second, I did go with shorter sleeves, and will go even shorter next time as I try to recreate the Lady Mary blouse.  Third, I did not use a self fabric waist tie, instead opting for grosgrain ribbon in a coordinating shade of lilac.  Fourth, Instead of using gathering stitches at the back of the blouse, I used elastic.  Here's my blouse.  I really did try to take pictures of myself in it, so to prove that here's one... when I get the skirt done I'll get a long suffering family member to take pictures, honest.

And now, here's Betty with the remainder of the modeling duties.

Here is the detail on the back elastic.

And here are some shots of the inside of the blouse, so that you can see the french seams.  Here's the side seam.

And here is an internal view of the armscye.

I know, if I didn't tell you what it was, you might not know, right?  And here's the inside of the blouse front.

So, I will definitely be making this pattern again.  It came together easily, though I admit to ignoring most of the sewing instructions because of the modifications I made.  Please let me know what you think, and as always, I appreciate you reading what I am doing.

Armistice Blouse Progress

It occurred to me today as I worked along, how much I really love to sew.  Time just flies by, even though the work may be very time consuming.  Like basting lace into place prior to machine stitching it down.

I hope to have the blouse completed tomorrow.  Then, I'll be skipping my usual UFO project to do an Edwardian skirt to go with the blouse.  I'd like to have the emsemble completed by the Titanic anniversary, even though I'm not attending any themed parties.  How do you feel about anchoring current day celebrations around past events?  How about when the events are unhappy ones?  I'm curious to hear your opinions.  Thanks for watching my progress!

The Diva of Overdye?

Ok, maybe not so much.  There were mixed results for the overdye fabric rescue.  The primary fabric I was trying to save out came out nice.

The flowers are still visible, but the background is now a soft grey.  The dye camouflages the fade damage (which was the reason for this fabric rescue experiment), but it is still visible in spots.  I'm hoping that the camouflage is enough that the damage will not be apparent in the finished blouse.  So, I went ahead and cut it out (on the plywood protected table this time - I wasn't up for the more aerobic, crawl around the floor method).

However, the other two pieces finished with less satisfactory results.  The T shirt remnant came out light grey, alright, but to my eye it just looks like a really dingy, ready for the ragbag, T.  So, more intervention will be required here.  Likewise, the synthetic material of the curtain panel absorbed very little dye, so it just came out looking a little worse for the wear.  However, I still plan to use both of these items in upcoming projects, so stay tuned!

Completed Project: An Upcycle UFO

I began this project last summer.  It was planned to be the first tutorial on my blog, but life intervened and I had to put the project aside.  Looking through the stash for the next UFO, I came upon everything to do the project, all in one bag, so I took that as a message that this should be this week's project.  It's a simple T shirt upcycle.  First, find a T shirt that you do not wish to wear as is.  The T shirt certainly does not need to be new, but it should be in good condition.

Cut the torso off the shirt just below the armpits.

Put aside the part with the arms (We'll do something with that later!).  Next, decide how you would like to embellish your top.  I had some old lace curtains in the attic, so I harvested a nice lace ruffle to go around the circumference of the T.

Next, I added some white satin ribbon for straps.  I cut the ends of the ribbon, and finished them with fray check.

Next, I sewed the lace curtain ruffle and the ribbons to the unfinished end of the T shirt tube.  Once this was completed, it seemed to need a bit of color, so I got out some fabric flowers I had leftover from one of my daughter's tutus.  You can find these in the wedding aisle at big box fabric stores and some craft stores.  I also had some organza ribbon on hand, and a tiny button.

And there you have it, a cute summer top, upcycled from a T shirt, an old curtain, and some random embellishments on hand in the sewing room. 

I hope you like it!  With another UFO down, and the Titanic anniversary looming, I think I'll do some Edwardian sewing!  Any thoughts?