Dress to T-shirt Refashion

A while ago I got this little dress from the charity shop from the pound rail, I thought it would be ideal for the warmer weather but after trying it on it was not so great.  Only a pound after all so no loss really but the fabric is really fine t-shirt material,  you know the kind that you wouldn't really want a skirt out of for fear of underwear showing through.  Also it has really big arm holes that come down at the sides and go in at the back so it shows bra straps, not great!  However fabric is fabric and I thought it would be an opportunity to practice revamping an item into something different so I decided to make a t-shirt from it.

There was nothing much that could be done with the top of the dress other than make two small sleeves as it had a deep v front and back, therefore not a lot of fabric there.  So I decided to cut the t-shirt shape from the bottom of the skirt. It was a bit of a squeeze as the shape only just fit and the hem had a curve.  Looking at that image now I am going to re-run that bottom band as some white stripe is showing uneven.   This is me in my haste to get it up and on for todays post, it will be corrected.

I have tried it on and it is a good fit but just sits at the waist, so skirts with a proper waistband required to pair it with or trousers that sit at the waist.  There will be no low slung garments worn with this top!  I have used bias binding at the neck also, the original v neck on the dress was very floppy due to this fabric, it holds much better this way.

Here is the item before cutting...

 You can probably tell from the image that the fabric is quite flimsy but it is ideal for trying things out on.   Below is an image of the pieces I cut, I had to do a bottom band just to give it a bit more length.

This was quick to make up and I think this is a good way to try things out, if you have something you no longer wear then why not make it into something else, even if it is just for the practise.

Shoe Refashion and Strap Adjustment

Hello I have just come back from a holiday in Somerset so there hasn't been any sewing for a week or so, but now I am back and I just had to tackle these shoes...

Now I bought these before I went away and they are too small as the elastic strap is too tight across the ankle, the other problem was that they are far more colourful in real life than in the picture so I wasn't sure about them either.  The top bead is a really bright yellow plastic and it just wasn't doing it for me.  I thought I would send them back but no the lovely company just sent me a larger pair! 

Well the larger pair were too big as my feet are narrow and just slid straight to the front, also there was still the problem of the bright yellow bead.  My mum loved them so she has the larger pair and I thought maybe I could adjust the strap on the ankle. So I just cut it at the inside foot, then I played around a bit with a bit of narrow ribbon.  When I was happy with the feel I stitched it into place.

Now as I had started I got a bit carried away, I removed all of the beads but I was left with a gaudy, glittery fabric underneath...

I also didn't like the shape of it at this point so as you can see I cut it straight up the sides, I then covered it with lace as you can see on the right and now it was looking more like something I could wear.   Oh I did leave a few beads around the top as you can see as they were not quite so in your face!

It is amazing how comfy these sandals feel now that I have added that bit of ribbon, and I feel the lace gives a much softer finish.  I know some people will feel they looked better before but they were just not me and there is no point in keeping things we will not use or wear.

Happy feet

Here is the ribbon at the side, not the neatest but not noticeable when they are worn.

So now these are done I will look at shoes in a different way, how many pairs have we got rid of that easily have been given a new lease of life? It makes you wonder, while the lace was tricky to sew on it wasn't impossible. I did prick my fingers a number of times but that is nothing new.  With the range of shoe dyes, fabrics, weather proofing spray etc, that is out there we could all be shoe designers.  I will be on the look out, if you decide to do something similar based on this idea please feel free to link back.