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.

Scrap Busting Make-up Bag

It completely slipped my mind yesterday  but I was featured on the Minerva website with my Burda jacket, you can see the full post here Burda young jacket Minerva crafts  you will have to scroll down to find my jacket as the website is updated regularly.  I got a quick slot this time only three days after sending in my post so that is probably why I forgot!

Follow the link above if you want to know the exact fabric and read the full post.

Today when I got in from work I made a quick make-up bag, this will go in my gift box that I have decided to start.  Jo over at Three stories high always does this and I think it is such a good idea, I have been meaning to start but never do, well now I have.  It usually gets to about three weeks before Christmas and I think,  why didn't I start making things early in the year and then I would have all these handmade gifts.  There are lots of ideas out there, so I just have to keep the momentum going now. Here is todays make..

It is quite roomy and made from a piece of leftover fabric form a skirt I made last year, a random bit of lining and the pink stripe is a shirt.  I think this would go nicely with some new products to fill it as a gift? Make-up, skin care or hair accessories? 

It has a dusky grey lining so it can be thrown in the washer when it gets dirty.

Here you can see the bottom so it is spacious.   I also added a little wrist strap, for no particular reason other than I like it.

Today I also missed deliver of a package and I think it may have been my dust sheets, I ordered them to make some curtains to hide all the stuff on the shelves at work, hopefully it will make one area look a little more tidy so I am interested to see what kind of quality they are.  It was the cheapest option and I thought with a bit of bunting to cheer it up it should be ok.   We will see.

Simple Summer Dress

This afternoon I made a dress because I needed to sew something rather than needing the dress. I have had the fabric for  a couple of months and it is a light summer fabric despite the fact that it is black which I suppose is not a very summery colour. However  I know it will get worn because it's black, sometimes I choose wild prints and then feel they are too dressy for work or every day wear so at least this is a practical colour.

It was another pattern free affair, I made sure I cut out a top shape big enough to pull over my head without any fastenings and then cut a semi circular skirt.  Not quite a semi circle each piece just a little under.

Now the shape of the skirt has made for a nice swirl but also a bit of a worry on a windy day so it may need an under skirt I don't really want to be adding a lining to this one.  Now do they still do underskirts is it worth making one?  I can honestly say I have never owned one but thinking about the amount of times the fabric is thin or floaty it might be worth it.  Maybe I am just showing my age but I don't want a see through skirt, and usually I just line everything.

I added a thin elastic at the waist, and a little turn up on the sleeve which pressed in nicely in this fabric.

 The reason I have gone for sleeves on this summer dress is that I have a few with bare shoulders and sometimes you need a cover up.  I am loving the sunshine we are having but it is hitting the shoulders so an option with a cover up it is.

Here I tried a pale pink belt to lighten it up a bit, not sure which I prefer.  The dress was a quick make up due to the lack of fastenings and detail, I also have a couple in jersey in this style and they are quick to iron so quite a no nonsense item.  I did try the outdoor photos today but the breeze was blowing the dress about!  That was what alerted me to the need for an underskirt.  

On a different theme the cook where I work has been saving the large tins from food and I now have a little collection that I can use for planting so there will be veg going in those soon.  Lots of lettuces are coming up now so it may be those but up away from pets.

Quick Sew Solution to Loose Fitting Sandals

I have a problem with shoes being too big and no I can't buy a smaller size as my feet are long and narrow.  If you have this same problem you will know what I mean when I say in winter this is not an issue, I can use an inner sole and socks or tights but sandals never ever fit. My feet just slide to the front and over, this can be very uncomfortable when out walking and any kind of inner sole shows and looks silly.

After coming back from a walk yesterday I had made my mind up that the sandals I had on were going, but after a bit of thought I decided to try something.  Now I wouldn't buy these sandals today anyway as I no longer buy leather but I already own them so in the interests of no waste which I hate, trying to make them a bit better fitting seemed to be the way to go.

I cut a paper template and then put my foot on top to see if it was in the right place and wouldn't show, I also need the padding to be here as this is where the shoes sits above my foot.

I flipped the paper over to make the same one for the other side and had a look in my scrap fabric collection, luckily I had this bit left that is just the right colour. (May as well try and make it pretty.)  This involved cutting two pieces of this fabric for each shoe then I experiment with layers of denim two and three layers, then layers of fleece.  I found two layers of fleece inside was just right for me you may need to experiment depending on the fit of your sandals.

Once I was happy walking around on these I zig zag stitched all the layers in place, this was nice and quick.  I also added a little double side tape to the bottom when I put it in the sandal but it didn't really need it, due to the shape of it there isn't any movement.  That was all there was to it, now my feet don't fall out of the front and it's a little bit of extra softness under foot.

I hope that has been of use and perhaps save a few pairs of sandals from being discarded, you often see wide fit shoes but never narrow ones, or only in selected styles at places like Clarkes, and chunky socks and sandals don't quite go do they?

Last year I actually bought a pair that were fine across the front but the elastic was too tight at the heel, I cut the elastic, added ribbon and did a bit of a refashion on those as well. That can be seen here, Shoe Refashion.

Lily Blouse

This blouse has taken rather longer than it should, sometimes I decide to do something different and then don't know where I am going with it, I don't know if anyone else has that too.  I started this last week then it sort of hung around for a while quite literally because I couldn't decide on the sleeve shape.  I have also really shrunk down what would have been larger pleats front and back to little tucks as I thought it looked too much.  Here is the finished blouse then I will go through the process.

I was going to do short raglan sleeves then went for  capped raglan and to be honest I don't really feel the top gains anything from the different style of sleeve I probably could have just cut the top as a front and back piece with the sleeves included but you have to try these  things to see don't you.

So I began by pinning my fabric to the mannequin to see how it would look, then I added some pleats which then turned to small tucks.  I also cut the shape of the neckline using paper then cut this out from the fabric, lining fabric for stiffness and interfacing.

I then had a play around with different shapes for the sleeves, I finally settled on a  capped raglan which was going to have pleats at the shoulder but it looked too fussy. (old fashioned)

I hand stitched the pleats in place once I had pinned them so that they didn't move about when I removed it from the mannequin.  The sleeves were trimmed to fit and notched at the centre shoulder.

When I had joined my neck pieces together I pinned the front and back pieces to them so I could get an idea how it would look, this was to save on unpicking later but because of this fabric shifting and fraying there was lots of that anyway.

I added a band around each sleeve for a neater finish and because it was a bit flimsy without.  There are belt loop each side, in the photos it is a ribbon tie belt but I have also tried it with a slim patent belt.

I like it now it is finished but there has been a bit of cursing going on under my breath mainly due to the amount of fray!  

The rest of the day has been quite a lazy one as I did not want to miss any of the sunshine, we get a little crazy her in the UK don't we at the first sign of sunshine because who knows how long it will last.  A bank holiday weekend with sun is particularly unusual we opted not to go anywhere as the traffic would have been mad so I just nipped to the shop for beer, to drink in the sun of course. I hope everyone else has been enjoying the weather too. 

Tie Neck Blouse How To

I thought I would share today how I hack my existing clothes to make new ones, removing the need for patterns and ensuring a good fit.  Warning this post contains a lot of pictures today and I hope they are clear enough to be helpful if you want to have a go at doing something similar  for yourself.  Below is the finished blouse...

This type of blouse was one that I had on my to do list for this year, as all tops follow pretty much the same shape however I didn't want to buy a pattern for it.  I had seen an image for it which I shared in a previous post and I put this on my notepad...

So my first job was to get one of my existing tops that has no stretch in it, the reason for this being my fabric is non stretch and I want this blouse to just pull on with no need for a zip or buttons.

From here on are the steps to making this blouse.

I lay the blouse on the fabric, this one has some gathering at the bottom I arranged the fabric of the blouse so that this would not make my pieces too wide.  I then cut around it leaving a good inch all the way around, you can take in but can't put back once it's been cut so allow more if you are cautious.

Fold in the sleeve so that you can see where to cut for the armhole,  of course if you have an old top you may want to just take it apart to make a pattern.  I do it this way because this is a top |I still wear.

Cut around the neck and along the shoulder, I cut back and front together then lowered front neck line after.

Fold your front piece in half and cut where you want your neckline to lie.  Don't worry if it is not spot on you can take more off later if you need to.

Then I cut a V shape notch to one side where I want the blouse to tie, I also cut two small pieces to face inside the V but no interfacing as the fabric is quite floaty and I don't want it unnaturally stiff there.

Fold fabric in half, double again to make two sleeves, lay on sleeve of blouse to get an idea of armhole shape then fold back so you can see to cut.  You may want to mark the line with chalk.

You will now have this sleeve shape, now measure your arm from shoulder to wrist to see what length you will need for the arm.  Add on 2cm for the hem and 1.5cm for the shoulder seam.

Now cut up the side tapering it  a little .

Now cut two long strips for your tie pieces, about 4cm wide, it will be folded then folded again so if you want a wider more obvious tie on your blouse then make your pieces wider than that.  Now to put it all together.

Put your front piece on the machine right side up, fold one of your little facing pieces in half then stitch down one side of the V.  Take the other piece and repeat on the other side.

Then turn them through to the wrong side and cut a little v there.

Then pin it in place and topstitch on the right side. Neaten the inside by trimming, folding under and hand stitching on the inside.

Now you can sew front piece to back piece at the shoulder.

Then take your sleeves and fold them in half, make a little notch at centre sleeve where it will meet the shoulder, open the shoulder seem right sides facing up, lay sleeve right side facing down match notch to shoulder seem then pin in place easing sleeve to arm hole gently but don't force it.  If it hangs over a little you can trim that off. Sew in place.

When both sides are done fold blouse over and stitch down side seems and up along arms, match the under arms and pin before you do this and ensure the fabric doesn't slip.

Try on to check that the neck is where you like it, if not lower it a bit, or reshape if needed.

Join both tie pieces then fold in half lengthways, make a small cut centre back neck then start sewing you tie band on from the centre cut matching the centre join of tie piece.  Raw edge of tie to raw edge of neck.  sew down one side then the other this will ensure even tie on each side.

Then starting from one side fold the tie piece in half again tucking the ends under, sew all around the neck trying to stay in last line of stitching.  If you find this tricky pin it first then work from the right side to ensure neat topstitching.  Make sure you overlap it a bit on the inside if you do it that way so that you catch it in.

Before you go any further now you may want to try it on to check the fit, take your pins with you!  Make it as fitted as you can while still pulling it over your head easily, just pin on the outside and try it you can always move the pins after. Check the sleeve length is ok.

Now you can just hem the sleeves, I chose a thin elastic, zig zag or overlock first, measure around your wrist with elastic then sew it together. place on the bottom of the sleeve and pull as you hem around leaving it to move loosely inside.

All that is left is to hem the bottom and neaten up those inside seams, I always do this after now when I am happy with the overall fit it saves wasting time.

I've done a curved hem so it can be worn out or tucked in, you can just make it straight if you want.

It is purple but on a very gloomy day!

I hope this has been of some use and inspired you to have a go at winging it without a pattern, my apologies to any purists out there who do things differently or like to stick to the book.  Patterns can be expensive and I know there will be many people who want to make new styles but can't afford all the latest patterns.  For those people I hope this is helpful, if any of the steps are unclear just leave a comment and I will answer it.

Happy Sewing!

Story Bags

Well I found a use for the printed fabric from the weekend, while I was at work yesterday I had just printed off some images for the children to work with to create silly stories and thought these need to be in little bags.  It just so happened there was enough fabric to make them and one is a bit bigger than the rest but that is ok, I wasn't aiming for perfection with these it was a quick sew up last night so that I could use them today.  The ribbon for the tops came with a throw a while ago, you tend to get a long piece of ribbon around throws, so they are completely recycled and the words I just wrote on an old piece of curtain fabric with a sharpie to make a label.

The children enjoyed using them, so that's good and they can't peek in the bag so it makes their selection more random than just putting the cards on the floor.  I have done similar things before so I must remember for future that even just adding little  bags makes the activity more exciting for some reason?

Yesterday I had another quick blitz in the wardrobe and now have thirty five items for charity shop and six in the bin, it doesn't look that different but I do have some spare hangers now.  How is it even possible to accumulate all this and not notice?  I do have an odd attachment to things at times I feel.

There is a dress in the bag now that I bought from a charity shop about two years ago it has never been worn, I do like it but it's way too dressy so why leave it sitting there when someone else could be wearing it, someone with a more formal life or just has reasons to dress up more often.  I thought it would be nice for a wedding but everyone I know is married or separated and in no rush to repeat, my friend got married four years ago the was the last wedding I went to, before that it was fourteen years!

  So yes I am working hard on this, I read that you shouldn't hold onto things for fear of the future. Well fellow dressmakers you will know it is not fear of the future that makes us hold on but the idea that should you get rid of something the very next week you will have an amazing idea about what you could have made with it.

I have also got things that I have made myself, bags and so on.  Even if I don't use them it seems to be harder.  Here it is not money spent but hours put in and even though the time is long gone there is that silent tug.  It seems more ridiculous now that I put it into words so there is some free therapy right there.

Sewing Ideas

This week is flying by so quickly but I have managed to get a few ideas together about some of the things I want to make this year, I have also got a blog post featured here at Minerva crafts , it is a dress I made just before Christmas and the date has really just come around so fast.   Here is a peak of the dress but to read the full post follow the link Minerva blog post.

So while these are ideas about what to make I will not be copying fabrics or every detail, it is nice to make things your own and that is the beauty of sewing.  As I am getting lots of wear out of my handmade t-shirts there will be more sewing along those lines with various sleeves and necklines.

I have a little collection of images from Pinterest here so be aware that is where these are from. First of all I could do with another pair of trousers, I don't wear them all that often but they are useful.  I like the straight fit of these...

I don't think I would put a cuff on the bottom though, also not sure whether wing it with this one or actually buy a pattern for once.

Then there are a few blouses with nice little touches I would like to imitate...

A bit of a tie theme going on there, I think the details just give them a bit more interest.  I haven't really made much in the way of cardigans or things to just slip on over tops so this is another item I want to add.  Either in a stable knit or heavy jersey depending what catches my eye.

I love the design on this one but I think it is burberry, I think I will be lucky if I find any fabric similar so if you spot anything let me know in the comments section. Then for the warmer months I would like to make a shirt dress or two, I have fabric at the moment that is waiting to be sewn into a shirt for a Minerva post. I would like to tweak that if there is enough, make it longer and that can be a dress instead.  The style on the one below is also lovely, I like the fabric tie front...

Of course there will be other things as time passes that I decide to make but this exercise  has just given me a bit of structure. There will be skirts to make of course one of which is on my waiting list ear marked for the zebra print I bought on birthday I may have to get on with that this weekend.

I have been keeping a notebook/diary this year, it is not pre- printed with dates I just write them down as I go.  Just day to day stuff so I can keep track, dates holiday booked, haircut, exercise and any items made. I am noticing it can be quite guilt inducing though if I have not done much that day it is there written down or not as the case may be!  I had a run of not missing online pilates workouts then I have just skipped two days, when I was writing down some reminders in it earlier I was tutting at myself for my lack of motivation.  It was supposed to be a positive thing so maybe I should give myself a break for the missed days.