Restricting the bask to directly under the heat lamp.Filed under: Fixed it, Hoarding it, How to do it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: how to, refashion, skirt, top
I had one of these:
Remember? I didn’t want a shiny tush.
So now I have one of these:
Here’s how to make a top from a straight skirt.
Unpick the elastic waist. Remove the side hanger loops. Open out the waistband casing.
Unpick the skirt’s side seams far enough to comfortably fit your arms, the same distance on both sides.
Turn the skirt inside out. Press down the seam allowances to sew — don’t open them out. I used a long stitch set to wide zig zag.
With the skirt still inside out, pin a few inches at the top of what used to be the waist. These are about to become your shoulder seams. Keep fitting and pinning until you like the way it looks and fits.
Stitch both sides.
Press down the seam allowance at the neck, what used to be the waist, between the shoulder seams. Stitch both sides or finish as you like.
I used a knit skirt with a little stretch so the top fits over my head. You could also put in a keyhole closure in the back if you need to get the thing over your noggin. I might try that on the next one.
In the end, since the skirt had some curves in the sides to accommodate hips, I ended up straightening the side seams a bit so the thing wouldn’t poof out.
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: Fixed it, How to do it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: hem, how to, pants
You can shorten a pant hem by unpicking the existing hem, measuring, cutting, folding pinning… or you can sometimes cheat like this. This little technique works on fabrics that aren’t too heavy – then you end up with too much bulk. I used it the other night on the thrifted gray flannel babies you see below.
Here, you pin, stitch, press and tack.
1. First make sure this’ll work. So fold the existing hem up and check the length. If it does, you can rock the shortcut. If not – if you need to shorten less – you’ll have to go the long way.
2. Fold the hem under. Then fold the whole thing up to the outside. Flatten the original hem so it’s a hem-length away from the folded edge. Pin.
3. Stitch along the finished edge of the original hem, which should be about halfway between the original hem and the fold.
4. Fold over. Press.
5. Pin the new hem down flat.
6. Tack it with the machine or by hand.
Voila!
Filed under: How to do it, Love it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: applique, how to, Led Zeppelin, Roxborough, Salvy, sister, t-shirt
Courtesy of my sister in Philadelphia, who transformed a classic Led Zeppelin shirt that had seen better days into two shirts. Zeppelin thrifted by me for $.99 at my favorite Salvy in the Roxborough neighborhood of Philadelphia. New backing shirts purchased by her on the Kohl’s clearance rack.
Check out the how-to here.
Filed under: How to do it, Sewed it | Tags: wardrobe refashion, t-shirt, applique, how to, surgery
My sister and I really like this technique where you chop out the part of an old t-shirt that’s cute — the logo, a photo, whatever the design — and sew it under another shirt. Then you can recycle the logo part if the old shirt is disgusting, too small, partly bleached, etc.
1. Cut the design off the old shirt, leaving about 1/2 inch around the part you want to show. If the material’s flimsy or really threadbare, feel free to reinforce it with a little fusible interfacing.
2. Decide where you want the logo to go onto the new shirt. Turn the new shirt inside out, and pin the right side of the logo in place on the wrong side of the new shirt.
3. With the new shirt inside out, sew the logo on, about 1/4 inch from the edge all the way around. I like to use thread that stands out from the new shirt but maybe compliments the logo.
4. Flip the t-shirt right side out. Carefully with sharp scissors, pierce the fabric covering the logo and trim 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch away from the stitching inside the seam. Be so careful not to poke through the logo.
Sweet!
Now check out the new shirts my sister made using this technique.
