The Refashioned Sweater

Project: refashion one of the sweaters I bought in Lithuania

Goal: to practice (pretty basic goal, I think)

So this is one of the three sweaters I bought in Lithuania that are okay are on their own. The keyhole detail on this one was what really sold me on it, but, being a busty lass, it didn't fall in the right place. Instead of trying to move it down or something, I decided to refashion this sweater into something with a sweetheart neckline (much more flattering, and it appeals to the side of me that adores low-cut numbers).

I also felt like the pink was a bit much on its own, so I decided to line the new neckline with the fabric from these panties. Don't worry, they've never been worn. I bought the biggest size they had, which turned out to still not go over my thighs, but I love the print, so I figured I'd use them on this project.

I cut the panties up into strips (I plan to save the lacy bits for an as-yet undetermined project)...

...and cut the new neckline out of the sweater.

This was all done yesterday. I wasn't feeling 100% so I was very slow about it and by the time I'd finished it was too late for me to sew (Ethel can get a bit noisy). When I got up this morning I decided before I set to work on the sweater I should organize my two boxes of scraps and notions and also my ever-growing bookshelf. So here's the before and afters:

The fabric scrap box before...

I know it doesn't look much better, but I've put all the scrappy bits in ziploc bags and wrapped the larger pieces around cardboard, so it's much better organized.

Here's my notions box before...

...and after. Turns out I have a seam-ripper! Who knew.

And the bookshelf, which first only had The Sewing Book and a copy of Burda magainze I bought in Lithuania...

... and now has Sewing Green: 25 Projects Made with Repurposed & Organic Materials, Vogue Sewing and The Dressmaker's Technique Bible as well, all of which are amazing. Sewing Green has the most adorable idea for a lunch bag and sandwich wraps which I really wanted to make this weekend but I'm still not feeling great so no trip to the fabric shop for me. Oh well. It's also got some cute skirts and dresses and one dress for little girls which I've accepted a dare to make in my size.

Okay, intermission over. I pressed the panty bits in half and then pinned them around the sides of the neckline (except the sweetheart bit).

Then I sewed them on.

I trimmed back the seam allowance (which I should put in quotation marks because I eye-balled it to the max) and pressed the panels for the sweetheart part.

Then I stitched them on, trying really hard to keep the integrity of the shape of the neckline. I don't think I did too bad of a job. Here's where I just want to say that when I look at this picture I think "Oh, it looks so much better on!" which is ideal, in my opinion. Few things are worse than seeing something and being like "cute!" and then seeing it on and feeling horrible.

I decided to jazz it up a little by making a bow out of some of the elastic from the panties...

...and attaching it at one of the corners of the neckline. Supercute and girlie, but not little-girlie, I don't think.

So here's what it looks like on; one issue I'm worried about is that I kept making adjustments and trying it on without wearing a bra (I still have yet to try it on with full support) so I worry it won't look as good. That said, I think it turned out really pretty and I'm mildly annoyed that it's finally warming up because it's gradually getting out of sweater/cardi season and I've just started having fun with them! Oh well.

There's a bit of pinching on the sweetheart part, but I don't mind. I knew it wouldn't be perfect. I think my next project's going to be a wallet, or maybe another sweater conversion. This time into a cardigan since it is getting so warm. Who knows.

The Convertible Dress and the Reupholstered Slap-bracelets

So I've been back from Lithuania (where I got some "new" jumpers from a charity shop, so I'll be converting them shortly) for about five days now and feel super bad that I haven't updated in awhile; plus I noticed I've been taking fewer pictures while working on projects. I've got a project on the docket for today so I'm gonna definitely document that one better. Until I start on that, though, I thought I'd do some housekeeping and talk about the last two projects I finished.

Project: The Convertible Dress

Goals: Make a dress from information found on the internet

So I don't have many pictures of this because I kept throwing fits while making it so I'll just give you the tutorial and the final results from mine. I used the fabric I'd purchased at Season (the blue) and an old sheet from Auchan (the white with the print). I had so many problems with this dress but I think I'm going to try it again with this absolutely adorable fabric I saw at Season, and this time I'll do a better job. I'm very pleased with how it turned out, and once I get my bias tape maker I'm gonna finish the edges up.

Project: The Reupholstered Slap-bracelets

Goal: To re-cover some slap-bracelets I bought in Lithuania

So I was wandering through a shopping centre in Vilnius and I found these light-reflective slap-bracelets made for children who bicycle at night (at least that's what the packaging led me to believe). I hadn't seen a slap-bracelet in years so I thought, awesome, I'm gonna get some and do something with them.

When I got home I looked through my fabric scrap stash and decided that the H&M top I'd used for the zipper-in-the-bag project would be perfect, so I cut out two strips.

I pressed the strips, inside-out, down the middle (so the bracelets would have one side in one colour and the other in the other).

Then I pinned the bracelets into the fabric...

...and stitched around two of the three open sides.

I then removed the bracelets and turned the covers right-side out.

Then I did a zigzag stitch at the last open end and trimmed away the fabric and voila! two newly re-covered slap-bracelets!

Yesterday Tasha came over and brought some old things she doesn't wear anymore, so I think my project for today will be to make something from two of the pieces (a dress and a skirt). I have high hopes for it.

The Flamingo Skirt

Project: The Flamingo Skirt

Goals: make a skirt from a pattern I found on the internet

After Googling skirt patterns I found this one, which is adorable and amazing and I thought it would be a good match for this duvet cover I got from Ikea.

I cut the pieces as prescribed from the pattern. I don't have a craft table or a yard stick, which did make it a bit more difficult, I think. I also got craaaaaazy body conscious and added a couple centimeters to the waist measurements because I was terrified of making it too small.

Then I zig-zag stitched the ends, which turns out to be one of the more clever things I did; I'm not the straightest cutter so the zig-zagged bits helped me later to line the thing up.

Next I pinned the zipper in. Looking gooooooood. The zipper is one of the things I'm most proud of about the final project.

After I pinned the rest of the back panel, I sewed it all together.

Then I pressed the fabric for the waist band. Here's where my "add a few centimeters" idea didn't pay off... it's way too big but oh well, better too big than too small.

I stitched the band together.

Then I sewed a long stitch in the top of the front and back panels...

... and gathered the fabric along it.

Then I stitched the top and bottom panels together. It's starting to look like a skirt! At this stage I was terrified that the gathers would come loose.

I turned the skirt inside out and pinned the band to the top...

...and stitched it in.

Then I folded the band over and stitched it from the inside.

I added a button to close the band and voila it's finished!

As mentioned above it's a bit big so I'm going to fold and stitch the band to take some length off of it, then split the side seams to reclose them. I also think at this point I'll add pockets to it, because then it would be perfect.