Restricting the bask to directly under the heat lamp.Filed under: Finished it, Fixed it, Refashioned it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: blouse, button, hem, pants, Philadelphia, refashion, Stella, Svengoolie, thrifted, wardrobe refashion
I can’t stand the clutter in my apartment and closet anymore! It’s been dragging me down and occupying more mental energy than it is worth. Plus it’s that time of year in Chicago where I’m itching to put on more than my winter black turtleneck and dark cords.
Of course, I’m all supposed to be working on this other little project, but I’ve reached a point where I need another set of hands. And I’m too germy tonight to ask her, new mama of a teeny baby, to risk infection.
So this eve, I’m home with Svengoolie — tonight showing The Blob starring Steve McQueen and a sweet Burt Bacharach theme song all from 1958 — and the sewing machine, wrapping up all those little oddball repairs and fixes that have rendered so much clothing a total drag to wear.
This little sheer purple thrifted blouse had its ugly old button stuck on by the previous owner for ornamental purposes replaced with a cutie little flowered one.
It’s really see through and needs its own proper slip to wear underneath. I’ll table that for the next time SvenG shoes the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Some gray flannel pants needed a good hem. I shortened them with a little cheat technique I’ll post soon.
I started taking in a black top with some gold and purple irises on the front. Started pinning in some darts in the back to give the thing some shape. Then I thought about maybe just posting the thing on etsy as is.
And some black knit thrifted pants that were too big got taken in by the rear seam. Not a glamorous enough repair to photograph.
Must say that Svengoolie makes for excellent company.
I didn’t grow up here with him on Saturday nights. In Philadelphia, we had a similar cheeseball horror show called Saturday Night Dead featuring a busty hostess called Stella. Only Svengoolie has better songs than I remember on SND. And he starts at like 9 p.m. instead of 1 a.m.
Here’s hoping somebody ponies up the cash for the glow-in-the-dark Svengoolie t-shirt in time for my birthday. Though I think I’ve blown my t-shirt karma around here in a stack of boxy shirts destined for refashions but still sitting in the pile.
Filed under: Fixed it | Tags: dress, get out of jail, sewing, shoes, wardrobe refashion
Time to play this card. I bought a few new things from a retail store. The Filene’s Basement near my job is closing, and the sales are amazing. I confess I got sent there to talk to shoppers about how they were resisting or succumbing to going-out-of-business sales, and while in the shoe department, fell in love.
So I walked out with black leather shoes with heels I’ve coveted that at $35 are a whole digit less than the Nordstrom originals. A WHOLE DIGIT. Like a zero on the end. The teal was cute but impractical. You can imagine my excitement at spotting these.
A swingy square neck black knit dress with inbetween sleeves in year-round weight that was $6 when all the discounts kicked in
Also various brand-name underwear. Truth is, I might go back for more.
Though I have to put my card down, there’s no guilt for this girl. Because I still thought like a Refashioner while choosing these few things. They’re well-made and only cost so little because the store is liquidating. All three are needs – the shoes will go to work, the dress is super versatile, underwear speaks for itself – and all three are beyond my skill set as a crafter.
Sure, I could focus on sewing knits, but I’ve decided to sew my own wedding dress (more to come on that process), and am making that happen as we speak, so time for any other sewing just doesn’t exist.
In fact, my big refashion this week is a pair of brown leather boots that needed a tiny adjustment to be comfortable again. A lousy $1.35 is all it took. How lazy have I been, really?
You ready for this one?
Right.
Filed under: Do it, Gifted it, How to do it, Made it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: gift, maternity, refashion, Salvy, surgery, t-shirt, wardrobe refashion
This surgery makes a cute maternity top with hip sash from a small plain T-shirt and a giant logo-printed shirt. You use the logo shirt as a sort of pocket for the big belly.
Make sure the top T-shirt fits the top of your lady’s frame. 
Measure where the belly starts to protrude (right under the bosom) and mark with chalk. Carefully cut across the front (only the front) of the shirt. To open the sides up, measure about an inch away from the T’s side seam on the front and cut.
Figure out where you want the logo to go.
Cut across the giant T right below the arms, and slice up the back to open up the fabric. Fit the logo into the front and trim accordingly. The logo fabric should hang down below the hem of the plain T a few inches.
Chop off the hem of the giant shirt. 
If you have room, chop off a few inches at the bottom of the giant shirt and put that fabric aside to reuse the finished hem.
Gather the logo. 
With a long basting stitch, baste the top of the logo piece and along the sides. Pin the center top of the logo piece to the center of the plain front. Pull the gathering threads until the it fits. Pin. Baste in place if you like.
Fit the sides. Pull the gathering threads on the sides of the logo piece, too, fitting the fabric along the base T’s sides. Pin. Baste if you like and sew into place. Sew the top, too. (I used a wide zigzag.)
Finish the bottom. If you chopped off the hem of the giant T, pin roughly the center back of it to one side of the shirt. Pin along so you have a sort of sash at the bottom, easing so the sash ends up longer than the shirt. Remember the front of your new shirt is a lot bigger than the back. Stitch.
Filed under: Finished it, Fixed it, How to do it, Sewed it, Thrifted it | Tags: cotton, purple, sleeves, sweater, wardrobe refashion
Lousy purple is IN this season.
Boils my blood to no end since I’ve loved purple for many long years so I’m already sick of everyone looking like me. Went to a wedding last weekend in a fave purple dress — there were at least four other women all purpled up. Grrr.
A smart lady in my life said to shut up and stock up so when the trixies moved on to teal or yellow or whatever, I’d be all set. It’s pretty good advice. Since I haven’t bought retail since August 2007, I continue to stockpile purple at the Salvy.
This winning XL cardigan is a stunning shade, a solid lightweight cotton and sweetly long. It was too wide and shapeless though,
and the buttons were terrible.
1. Try sweater on inside out. Pin up sides. Fit, repinning as necessary.
2. Using a zig zag stitch, sew up the sides.
3. With sharp scissors, cut off the sleeves at the shoulder seams.
4. Find the middle of the top of each sleeve. About 1 inch, 1 1/2 inches on either side of the middle, baste about 1/4 inch from the edge. Pin the bottom of the sleeve to the bottom of the armhole, and the top to the top. Keep pinning from the bottom.
5. Pull the basted threads slowly from each side until the sleeve fits the armhole with a little gathering. Pin, fit and sew.
I stitched in a little folded netting to support the little puff.
I also replaced the original boring brown buttons with vintage yellow domed buttons, after much debate between yellow and pink.
The purple acorns and green discs wouldn’t fit. Boo.
So much better now.
And check out a similar slimming sans sleeve enhancements. Such a fantastic cotton knit with a boatneck and cheeky sneaky silver buttons up the front of one side, before:
And after:
The change is subtle; the fit is just better now that the sides have been slimmed.
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.
