Limbs and head flopped out to sleep. Looking d-e-d.Filed under: How to do it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: alter, how to, refashion, sweater
I’m not scared to alter sweaters anymore, having practiced a bunch now, and I’m not even using a serger.
Here’s how to do a sleeveless shell I just refashioned from a giant silk sweater set:
Try the thing on. Measure how much needs to come in on both sides. Pin it up.
Line up the underarms and the bottom edge when pinning, ok? Stitch, using a good zig zag.
Trim close to the seam. I like to stitch the same way again finish the edges.
For the outer cardigan, or any sweater with sleeves, you do the sides first, then the sleeves. The amount you trim off the sleeves will likely taper as you get closer to the wrist.
Filed under: Finished it, Fixed it, How to do it, Love it, Made it, Refashioned it, Thrifted it | Tags: alter, black, blouse, shorten, sleeves, wardrobe refashion, wrap
I was playing with short sleeve a while back by making new short cuffs, and by resetting the whole sleeve to preserve the original cuffs.
Thrifted a long sleeved black cotton blouse this week because of the great wrap detail – a button plus tie with a cummerbund sort of detail – and decided, so I can wear it to work, to do the simplest shortening of all – a basic chop and hem – while watching the nightly news.
after… and beforeYou can see the long sleeve as a before, and the sleeve I shortened as an after.
Flip the blouse inside out to work with it. Mark where you want the short sleeve to end, cut straight across, and then hem using this failsafe method: Measure an inch from the raw edge, fold up wrong sides together and press. Then fold the raw edge into the fold, and press again. Tack with a few pins, then stitch with a basic straight stitch. I like to use excised sleeve #1 to mark and cut sleeve #2.
Doesn’t get much easier – unless you chop and wear, a la t-shirts.
Filed under: Do it, Love it, Made it | Tags: alter, burdastyle, ellinor, Minna, Salvy, sew along, wardrobe refashion
This Minna #6007 (shortened to a top) is an ancient refashion. It’s my first completion of a BurdaStyle pattern, and I like it a whole lot. I cut it short, and changed the neck trim to a lined fabric facing.
To cut the dress into a top, I pretty much used the double lines marked on the pattern around the hipline for lengthening or shortening. And instead of using a fancy trim to finish the neck, I used the cutting guide to make bias strips. The print is already so fabulous it doesn’t need any sparkly help.
I had bought a fluorescent print maxidress at the Salvy during my later high school years. Think 1993. I wanted to chop off the skirt and the top of a pair of thrifted overalls and make a kind dress the kids were wearing then (I promise!). Chopped the overalls, chopped the dress, got caught up in something else, and then realized what a ridiculous trend it was. My sister (10 years my junior) then raided my sewing stash and pilfered a strip of the skirt. I remember throwing a fit, but not what she made, it was that long ago.
It took some doing, but I managed to cut out the front and back so the pattern goes the same way, and the back pieces nearly match. Only enough fabric remained for one set of bias strips, so I cut another set to line the neck piece out of plain black synthetic fabric. Sewed the fabric pieces together to form a V, ditto for lining, sewed them together along the top, right sides together. Then I popped in a movie to handsew the bottom side of the lining invisibly.
When I make another Minna – and I certainly will – I’ll gather the front and back tighter to leave more room in the armholes. I’ll also copy the neckline since I liked the smooth, neat finish inside. (Will post the steps on BurdaStyle – this time was too trial-and-error to photograph.)
Next on the list: Ellinor #8516, using brown clearance cotton from a Joann sale, and brown sparkly eyelet from the Hobby Lobby clearance wall. Not too late, I think, to Sew Along With Nikkishell on the BurdaStyle site.
Filed under: How to do it, Love it, Made it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: alter, How to do it, newspaper, salvation army, Salvy, wardrobe refashion
First wrote about this on Wardrobe Refashion. Now that my brain is wired to constantly think this way, time to move some of those refashions over here.
Bought a lovely gray angora wrap sweater at the best Salvation Army in Chicago for $1. Wore it to work a few times, couldn’t figure out why it pooched out so much in the gut no matter how tightly I pulled the strings. Finally read tags, and discovered (duh) it’s a maternity size.
Since the front and back are only one piece, the alterations were pretty simple. You too can pull in maternity stuff to make it fit you if you love the fabric or after you actually give birth. And sewing a sweater isn’t hard; you just have to sew the seams before making any cuts, and then it doesn’t unravel.
1. Flip the sweater inside out, try it on, and measure how much needs to be trimmed. Pin the seam.
2. Lay the sweater (still inside out) flat on a table, and mark the lines you want to sew. I like chalk, and I use a ruler on alterations like this one to keep the seam as straight as possible.
3. Sew the seam. If your sweater stretches, use a wide strip of newspaper underneath to keep it from pulling or puckering. Once perforated with the seam, the newspaper tears right off.
4. Flip the sweater back out and try it on. If it fits, sew a wide zig zag on the outer edge of your seam to bind the edges. Trim close to the zig zagging. If it doesn’t fit, make the necessary adjustments and go to it. Zig zag, then trim.
5. Beautiful! Now the pooching is your lovely own gut, instead of bunchy fabric.
