Rose-print summer dress (was curtains!)

I love curtains.  There's always loads of fabric with which to create whatever you desire!

So I saw some rose-print curtains in a charity shop and bought them there and then.  Well, you would, wouldn't you?!  The roses were not too big and not too small.

It's summer.  So I knew that a summer dress was the order of the day.  It is loosely based on an existing dress that I adore, but I tweaked it here and there.  I added a waistband to lengthen the dress somewhat - I seem to have a long body!

And because it's cotton, it's very cool to wear.

 

 

I also shortened the shoulder straps because there's nothing worse than having to tame a wayward strap every so often.  It was either that or employ paperclips!

 

 

But after I was happy with the straps, the front of the dress rode up a bit higher than I liked.  So I tamed it with a bit of ruching and a piece of leftover strap.  It gives it more shape too.

As I said - gotta love those curtains!

 

 

 

Next...

 



 

Sewing Bee Challenge: Change a neckline

I can't get enough of the BBC's Sewing Bee programme!  It's about time sewing became more mainstream!

So for my second challenge from the programme I chose to change a neckline.

I found an old t-shirt lurking in my wardrobe that I didn't wear very often as the neckline was too high for my liking.  I had already dyed it from purple to blue to give it a new lease of life, but it was crying out to be refashioned again!

Well, life's too short to wear clothes that are the wrong colour and an unflattering shape!

 

 

I decided to aim for a sweetheart neckline.  So I cut off the collar all around, shaping the front in the process.

 

To finish off  the raw edges I decided to face them with some purple t-shirt fabric and top-stitch all around.

 

But the sweetheart part didn't quite sit as well as I'd imagined it might.

 

 

Ok, plan B.

Turn the 'sweetheart' part inside out and sew along to flatten not only the curves, but also the fabric.

Bingo!

It worked!

This t-shirt is now much more flattering on me.

Argh!  I forgot to check how long it took as they only had an hour to do the refashion on the programme.

 

Never mind.  There's always next time!

 

 

 

 

 

Easy peasy sun dress to skirt refashion

You know when you walk into a charity shop and spot the most gorgeous dress sitting on the rail looking a bit dejected?  Well, bring it home anyway!  You can always do something with it!!

This is what the dress looked like before:

Beautiful, isn't it?

But alas, it did not fit.

Did I let that stop me?  Nope!  Not a chance.  I saw the potential. 

I just knew that because the dress was gathered below the bust line that I could easily cut it off and there would be more fabric available to play with.

I began by unpicking the bottom of the back zip up to the waist.  Then sewed that part back together again.  I shortened the new skirt from the waist rather than the bottom, as that had an existing hem.

Then I made a channel for some elastic.  I could quite easily have used the waist ties for the waistband, but decided not to for this refashion.

That's it!

Told you it was easy peasy!

Now it has a new lease of life.

Next...

Celtic dress bag

So I find some fabric.  But it's not just any old fabric.  It's a dress with the most wonderful celtic pattern on it. 

I had no clue what to do with it at the time but I knew that it would come in handy at some point - how could I leave something as pretty as this in the charity shop?

The bottom of the dress was almost Aline which meant that there was more useable fabric available.

But what to do with it...

When my friend asked for a bag for her big birthday I just *knew* that she would love something made from the dress.  The celtic pattern is so her.

So I cut off the bottom of the dress below the band and turned it upside down making a perfect bag shape!

Then I interfaced the ties and used them as straps.  Thankfully they were quite long anyway.

As I was playing with the sleeves that I had cut off the dress I had an idea.  What if I squished them, added homemade bias binding and turned it into a pocket?

Well, that seemed to work!!

 The base was made from more dress and the bag was padded throughout to give it extra body.

With the addition of a label it was all ready to go... but would my friend like it??

Well, I gave it to her today and she seemed really quite happy with it.

That makes two of us!

Refashioned William Morris skirt made from curtains

Have you ever found an item of clothing which you adore, is flattering on you and you just want to wear different versions of again and again?

Yep?  Me too!

I have a great denim A-line skirt that I love wearing and I was on the look-out for some fabric to recreate another one.

So when I found some fabulous William Morris curtains in a charity shop I knew I'd found it!

And here is the resulting skirt...

As I only had my original skirt to follow I had loads of fun figuring out how to piece everything together. 

For me, that's one of the best parts of sewing - learning how to make something that fits 'just so' and to my own specifications.  I also love being able to create something unique.

The skirt itself was made up of four equal panels.

And had a deep waistband.

It was finished off with a zip and hook and eye fastening. 

It fits perfectly and I  often wear it with a blue top and boots.   And it always makes me happy!

Monday Make - make-up bag

I had this embroidered brown cord skirt that I loved but didn't wear very often.  I didn't want to throw it away so I decided to see if I could create something special out of it; something that I would use more often. 

This is the make-up bag that I came up with:

I cut around the embroidery so that there was enough of a gap for the seam. 

I cut two, one a little smaller than the other for the front. 

I also found a matching scarf for the lining.  Using the pieces I'd already cut out as a template, I made two of those too.

As the scarf was so, um, scarf-like, I added some interfacing to the back of it to ensure it had a little more body.

I put both pieces right sides together and sewed around the sides and bottom.  I left a small gap at the top so that I could finish off the edges later on.

Before I turned it right side out I carefully cut into the seam allowance with scissors so that it would lie flat once it was the right way round. 

I then turned over the raw edges of both pieces and pinned them:

Once I'd turned over and pinned both inner and outer edges, I then put one inside the other with one set of pins:

Once pinned, I sewed around the flap and top edge of the bag:

Added a popper:

 And did it up!

It's so much more useable now!

Is it a skirt or is it a bag?

Ok, so I spotted this to-die-for skirt - the fabric was totally scrummy - so it just had to come home with me (how could I say no??)

Was it in my size?  Nope! 

Did it matter?  Not a chance!

So with a bit of cutting, pressing and stitching I transformed it into a clutch bag. 

I lined it with the lining that came with the skirt so it complemented the colour perfectly, added an internal pocket and a magnetic snap fastening and hey presto it's now a bag!

Was it perfect?  Nope! 

Did I love the challenge of making it?  Absolutely!

Will I make another one?  You just try and stop me!

Endless summer pencil case

The days are getting shorter and I wanted something to keep that summer feeling alive.

So I armed myself with some fab fabric (a pair of swim shorts no less!), added a zip and lined it with warm orange fleece.  And here's the resulting pencil case:

How to rescue a short skirt...

I've had this skirt for a while now.  I love the colour and texture of it - it's baby cord with velvet detailing and a little lace at the bottom.  But I'd be happier if it was a bit longer so I'd say it was a 3 out of 5 rather than a 5 out of 5.

I've been racking my brains trying to figure out what fabric to add to the bottom to lengthen it - was I going to get an exact match?  Would a different colour look right?  Decisions, decisions!

Anyway, it occurred to me that it had an underskirt attached to it.  Not only that, the underskirt was the exact same colour and it was also made out of cotton rather than polyester.  Woohoo, result!!

So I cut off the underskirt, cut it into three equal strips, hemmed it, gathered it and then attached it to the bottom of the lace.  You'd never know it wasn't meant to be there.

It looks great with boots and it's a definite 5 out of 5 now!

Bucket bag made from pre-loved skirt

While we were on holiday I found a gorgeous skirt in a charity shop.  I wasn't keen on the cut of it so I decided to turn it into a bucket bag instead!

It is lined with denim and has homemade bias binding straps and bottom. 

Ruffled skirt from a pillowcase

There was a sale on in the drapers and they were almost giving away ruffled pillowcases.  I could see the potential and thought it rude not to take them up on their offer.

Then I turned it into a skirt for my daughter.

Shorts refashioned into flower headband

Well, it's like this - it's all about the fabric. 

If you've ever been clothes shopping with me you'll know that I gravitate to the print, the texture and the 'feel' of clothing.  It doesn't matter if it fits me or not, if I love the fabric, I'll buy it and find a use for it!

So I bought a pair of shorts in the sale - I just loved the texture of them.  They are all soft and cwtchy (as my Welsh friend would say).  They had a turn-up on the hem which I thought would make a great headband.  So I cut off the hem and added a flower - ta-da - one flower headband.

Ooh, I can show you how to make the flower too - it's soooo easy!

 

 

 

Leftovers make-up bag

I had this wonderful cord skirt that I adored but the embroidery on it was a bit, um, not quite me any more.

So I made full use of the embroidery and created a make-up bag out of it - I do love a good recycling project:

 

Inside I added a matching lining which is the same material as Barbie's dress - you'll see me using a lot of materials over and over.

I'm really happy with it!  Another unique piece LOL!

Adult skirt into child's swing top

What is a woman to do?  Her daughter has fallen in love with an adult skirt which is miles too big for her - please, mum, please.

Ok, I buy the skirt anyway - cut off several inches from both side seams, stitch it up, fashion two straps and voila - a child's swing top!  It looks great with leggings.

Flower hairclip

Flowery hairclip - made from an old scarf that was never going to be worn but deserved to see the light of day one more time!

Easy peasy!