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: Do it, Finished it, How to do it, Love it, Made it, Sewed it | Tags: desira, dress, evil eye, freezer paper stencil, hamsa, how to, paint, polka dots, purple, top, wrap
Wrap clothing is my salvation and my downfall both. Tops and dresses that wrap always fit – and that’s the problem – there’s no telling how snug they should be since there’s always plenty of give. in the end, I seek out stuff that wraps around because it always looks good on me. I get my much-needed waist, and there’s room for many or no layers underneath.
The purple-ing of my wardrobe continues. Wardrobe Refashioners advised me many moons ago to figure out what I like and need and stick to it. I like purple and I need clothes that fit well, and nothing adjusts more easily than a wrap. My stash is full of purple fabrics in one- and two-yard lengths.
So I made a dress from a pattern I had, McCalls 4007, and some purple linen-like fabric from the Joann clearance rack bought last summer, maybe.
finished dress – cute but boring
I finished my size and didn’t love the neckline – which prompted me to get cracking on Burda Style’s Desira wrap – but it fit nicely and screamed out for a freezer-paper stencil.
I used a blown-up evil eye design, the simplest I could find online and still it took a lot of skill with scissors to cut out precisely. (Note to self to choose something with fewer pieces next time.) Image also known as a hamsa or hand of Fatima and my superstitious self adores it.
enlarged printout to 8.5 x 11 setting on copier
Traced the outline with a pencil on the flat side of freezer paper.
tracing
compare to originalCut it all out. I like to use tiny scissors. Ironed the bottom skirt flap where image was going. Carefully placed pieces onto the skirt, ironing a piece at a time (no steam!), first the outline, then the small motifs.
iron one piece at a time, no steam
all ironed on
Mixed gold and purple craft paint with white fabric paint medium. Put the fabric on a chunk of newspaper in case of bleeding, then dabbed the paint on until the whole stencil was well covered.
two coats of paint did it – added more gold streaks in second coat
paint on something protective like newspaper to avoid bleeding paint onto another layer of the garment
Let mostly dry, then applied a second coat, streaked with gold. Let paint dry overnight just in case. Peeled off freezer paper pieces carefully.
that hamsa’s finished!Held up for Mister to admire.
dress so much cuter with the design
Other freezer paper tutorials available on Craftster, Freezer Paper Stencils on Flickr.
Filed under: Fixed it, Love it, Made it, Refashioned it, Sewed it | Tags: dolly, How to do it, red, refashion, sequins, top, wardrobe refashion
Remember this mess of a fit handed down from a cousin?
Boxy cut is too big in all the wrong places, stretchy fabric catches on tiny front hooks, red square sequins a bit much for most uses.
But it’s precisely those red square sequins that made this an irresistable keeper.
Enter Dolly Parton concert for inspiration. Dolly has no fear. She grew up dirt poor. She married at 20 and stuck it out. She takes all kinds of risks. She laughs it off when people are rude and tacky to her. And she loves to show off a bosom.
So take her moxie to heart, and give a big chop of something you know fits really awfully a try. Here’s how I did it (and it was a long time in the making):
1. REMOVE SLEEVES. I sliced through the shoulder seams to remove the sleeves whole. I also cut off the tiny hooks and eyes meant to hold the front closed because they caught on the fabric.
2. PULL IN SIDES. Fit to your body, pin and stitch well. What were boxy shoulders now are effortless cap sleeves.
3. CUT OUT A NECK. The front used to close all the way up – I wanted a loose V-shape, so I had to cut off the excess fabric from the original neck. Also meant pulling off, one by one, the sequins that line the edge.
4. FINISH NECK. Hem the neck by hand or with a binding. I sewed in grosgrain ribbon with the machine, then hand hemmed it over.
5. CLOSE IT UP. Tried a bunch of things to make this a top rather than a cardigan. Wrap-style with ribbon ties looked silly. Pinned the sleeves like a band to the bottom to hold the wrap felt too bulky. Finally – since I knew I wanted the sequins to stretch out into a design – I sewed two big snaps on the bottom corners.
The first set was sewn to the inside and a corner,
the other to the outside.
6. PULL OUT THE BOOTS AND GO. I’ll add a tiny ruffled cami top underneath, and a fitted denim skirt on bottom before going out in public.
and back
Filed under: Fixed it, How to do it, Love it, Made it, Refashioned it, Sewed it | Tags: elastic, How to do it, t-shirt, top
I used to turn t-shirts into tops by cutting out the necks and the bands at the arms and waist. Not always so flattering. So it finally was time to figure out what to do with the drawerful of shirts I never wore, except to the beach.
Take this giant orange guy, with my neighborhood ironed onto the front, a lovely Christmas gift from a boy with a big heart but no sense of size.
Bold, yet shapeless. Appropriately local, but inappropriately frumpy. Thanks to skinny elastic, I now have a top. Here’s one way to turn a giant T into a top:
1. PREPARE BODICE. Cut off original sleeves by slicing through stitching or by trimming off the seam. Turn shirt inside out and pin to fit. body. Try on, fit, baste, fit again. Sew sides. Trim seam allowance.
2. PREPARE NECK FACING Figure out what neck shape you want. Cut it out. If you have enough seam allowance to face the neck, use it. If not, you can trim from the bottom of the T or use other fabric. You need a strip a good 1.5 inches wide, and as long as the neck opening. You can sew smaller strips together to get enough length.
3. ATTACH NECK FACING Fold the facing strips in half lengthwise. Press. Start pinning from one side of the neck, raw edges of the facing strip to the right side of the shirt. when you like the **fit, baste and sew. Trim edges and fold them under. Now topstitch on the facing band, catching them under your stitching. If the T stretches too much, toss a strip of newspaper underneath to temporarily stabilize it.
** I ended up fishing elastic through my neck facing because I didn’t follow my own advice to fit before sewing, and the neck was way too big. Serves me right.
4. PREPARE SLEEVES To gather sleeves, baste a long running stitch along the top raw edge of the excised sleeve, about 3/8″ from the edge. Pull the underthread until the sleeve is bunchy enough. Stitch over the gathering to stabilize it. Pin the sleeve back on, right sides together, baste and sew.
5. FINISH SLEEVES Take skinny elastic or elastic cord and fish through the original serged hem of the sleeve using a giant needle. Pull until sleeve opening is the size you like, knot the ends and tuck underneath.
Nice top!
