REFASHIONERS 2016 – A Fish Called Elisalex

Let me begin by stating for the record that denim is not my jam. In fact, thinking back over the last two Refashioners challenges I’ve been a part of (thank you Portia!), menswear is also not really my jam, and needless to say, denim menswear is the least my jam. For that, I’d like to extend my deeply heartfelt gratitude to Portia for pushing me well and truly as far away from my comfort zone as she possibly could!

All joking aside, that’s one of the things I look forward to most with The Refashioners. Although we, as a community, are united by our mutual love of fabric and sewing machines, we couldn’t be more diverse in terms of aesthetics – yet we manage to appreciate and celebrate each other as a whole, without siphoning ourselves off into bitchy sub-cliques (I’m looking at you, Fashion Industry) – and it’s that wonderous diversity that really shines through when a bunch of women – and man! – who essentially do the same thing, and are given the same materials to work with, come up with such an inspiration smorgasbord! Fabulous.

Anyway, where was I…? Right, me no likey denim. Having said that, the dress I made from the denim shirt two years ago, and the off the shoulder top I made from a man’s shirt last year have both been much loved and much worn, so I wasn’t worried in the slightest about the #jeanius brief. I headed straight for Pinterest and started thinking in terms of how to make denim work for me and my aesthetic ideal. While I love the unstructured off-duty look, and could definitely rock a floaty chambray trapeze dress, we’re talking jeans here – heavy duty fabric, built to last not drape – so I found myself drawn to an uber feminine silhouette, immediately excited by all the curves and figure sculpting potential of panelled jeans denim…

 As I was hatching my plan, a favourite 80s film suddenly sprang to mind, and one scene from A Fish Called Wanda in particular where Jamie Lee Curtis meets John Cleese for the first time and pretends to be a nerdy law student in order to strike up a conversation with him, and happens to be wearing a knockout denim dress that barely contains her bosom so what hope does the poor man have anyway?  And so it was decided – I set out to make the Wanda dress….

I came home from the charity shop with three pairs of men’s jeans – two mid blue and one a darker indigo, with a view to making a panelled wiggle dress contrasting the light and dark denim in order to further accentuate the curvaceous silhouette.

Luckily our Kim Dress pattern could not have been more perfect, and with a little hackaroo to the petal skirt I had me the perfect pattern, and better yet, all the panels fit perfectly on my limited supply of fabric harvested from the jeans.

The construction was pretty straightforward, although when I say it took me all day to turn the bodice out to the right side, having joined the shell to the lining (a pretty printed cotton I snaffled from Amy aka Almond Rock’s recent destash), I literally mean exactly that. The summer holidays had just begun so I had sewn up the lining and joined it to the bodice one morning while my son was watching post-breakfast cartoons. I started trying to turn it out to the right side through the shoulder straps before heading out to the skatepark, but quickly realised it would be one of those that gives you a bit of hell before it magically pops out and you have yourself a bodice, so I took it out with us.

I wrestled with that bodice, I fought, I gnawed and clawed while my son skateboarded, throughout lunch, back at home, back out at the park… I had a break over dinner then hit it hard again at bathtime (not mine of course), and by God it was 10.50pm by the time I got the whole thing out, minus two nails and having significantly compromised the integrity of my front teeth. That lonesome beer I found lurking at the back of my fridge must have been heaven sent.

After the bodice debacle, the rest of the dress came together super quick and was a dream to sew.

The finished dress fits like a glove, and feels like a pair of super-Spanx with bonus in built lower back support, but in a really sexy way. I have never received more wolf-whistles, propositions and “Corrrr, blimey!”’s in my life, and so my conclusion is this – me likey denim now!

Finally, and in homage to the image that inspired me to make this dream dress come true, I felt it would be rude not to try and recreate that scene. I’d like to thank the two random blokes we dragged away from the pub for being such great sports, and my sister for her flawless direction and photography skillz.

Thank you Portia for having me on the Refashioners again! It has been a meaty challenge, as ever, and one that has left me with a newfound love and respect for denim as well as a killer dress – score and score!

Sheesh Elisalex!! I’m not even sure what to say to this one except maybe….AROOOOGA! (Another 80’s reference Jessica Rabbit is the only clue you’re gettin’!) I am literally speechless. Such a well conceived and brilliantly executed idea. I can only apologise for the strain caused to your nails and teeth trying to turn that bodice and in terms of pushing you out of your comfort zone…you are most welcome!

You can find Elisalex here or here. And if you’re inspired to get your refashion on and enter the Community Challenge and be in with a chance of winning some epic prizes…DO IT! Deadline for entries is 30th Sept. Midnight GMT.

….I think you’ve got the idea now right? Essentially we want you to refashion some jeans! (You can find the full details/small print of the brief here). BUT, if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of these amazing prize packages you need to SHARE that refashion with us in one of the following ways:

• On Instagram: Share a pic using the hashtags #therefashioners2016  and #jeanius
• On Pinterest: There is a community board here where you can pin your makes. (You will need to request an invite to join)
• On Facebook: There is a community board here where you can post your makes (You will need to request an invite to join)

Only entries shared via the above 3 methods will be entered into the competition. Closing date for entries is 30th September 2016 Midnight GMT. Good luck!!

I used the legs of two pairs of jeans to create the fabric for the vest, which is essentially an open-front poncho.

The fabric panels for the vest portion of the jacket were simply the legs of the jeans. Bonus: you now have some jorts to wear in the summer, if that’s your thing.

Simply trim the pieces of fabric until they are identical in size, and you’re ready to start sewing.

I lined-up the bottom hems of the trousers to create the bottom hem of the vest. Face the fabric inwards and sew both the two pairs of panels together horizontally across the top edge. These are the two shoulder seams.

Now that the shoulder seams have been sewn, we’ll sew up the back of the jacket. Place the two long panels RS together and sew along the back, stopping short of the shoulder seams.

Now you have created an open-front poncho. You can stop here and ponder different variations. The remaining edges can be finished and worn as a vest.

You can leave an opening for the collar and continue sewing down the front for a top, or you can add  sleeves to create a jacket…

Which is what I did! I decided to get a bit adventurous and used two more trouser legs to create the arms for a jacket. I cut the fabric in such a way that I was utilizing the finished hems of the trousers as much as possible while constructing my jacket. (they ended up being my cuffs)

Simply line-up your trouser leg with the shoulder seam, pin it in place, and sew it on. Once those have been attached, you can sew the side seams and finish the front edges.

 As a very optional last step, I decided to use a natural indigo dye to create a single deep blue shade for the entire garment, but this isn’t really necessary if you start with a pair of dark wash jeans.

And there you have it!  A simple denim poncho jacket ready to wear!

The fun part is that you can do the same with a closed front if you prefer a shirt, or you can skip adding the arms for a shorter length vest or top. Hope you enjoy!

Gloriously simple right?!! The earliest clothes were made from simple rectangles of fabric and while clothes have gotten alot more complicated construction wise since ancient times; the appeal of simple styles and shapes has endured through it all. If anything it’s seen a significant resurgence in recent years. Refashions (sewing in general in fact) needn’t be complex. It’s all just shapes sewn together. So start with simple rectangles, (conveniently you have some sat right there in the legs of those unloved jeans!) sew them together in different configurations, try stuff….see what happens 😉

You can find Erin here or here. And if you’re inspired to get your refashion on and enter the Community Challenge and be in with a chance of winning some epic prizes…DO IT! Deadline for entries is 30th Sept. Midnight GMT.

….I think you’ve got the idea now right? Essentially we want you to refashion some jeans! (You can find the full details/small print of the brief here). BUT, if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of these amazing prize packages you need to SHARE that refashion with us in one of the following ways:

• On Instagram: Share a pic using the hashtags #therefashioners2016  and #jeanius
• On Pinterest: There is a community board here where you can pin your makes. (You will need to request an invite to join)
• On Facebook: There is a community board here where you can post your makes (You will need to request an invite to join)

Only entries shared via the above 3 methods will be entered into the competition. Closing date for entries is 30th September 2016 Midnight GMT. Good luck!!

This year’s challenge for “The Refashioners” refashion series is to remake a pair of jeans into something, with the majority of the finished project coming from the source garment, that is, it should be a mainly denim item.

Personally, I rarely work with denim as I do worry that I’d get carried away and end up with something like this, that is, something very obviously having been made from a pair of old jeans. It looks a bit strange because there are very few garment types that are typically made from the same heavy denim as jeans are – even denim jackets use lighter weight denim.

So, my target garment for this fabric had to be another pair of jeans. Cut up jeans to make more jeans, you ask? What is the point?

Well, the look I’m hoping to emulate is a designer pair of jeans which is made from… old jeans. These Vetements Fall 2015 jeans originally retailed at $1450 (here they are on Net a Porter) and they came in several different styles. The label basically bought up loads of vintage Levi 501s (!!) and cut them up using their own pattern to make an interesting new style.

Key to the look is the ‘pocket within a pocket’ shapes on the back (no actual back pockets), seams down the front and back legs, and uneven, unfinished hems.

These were absolutely everywhere at one time… like you could barely read a fashion blog without seeing them at some fashion week or other.

I actually read quite a few articles praising these jeans before coming across one that mentioned they use TWO pairs of vintage Levis for each finished pair. Two! Pairs! Of vintage, wearable jeans!

Of course, I’m going to emulate these using something ugly and turning it into something… interesting, if not 100% beautiful.

I started with a pair of ordinary jeans.

These particular jeans are bog standard Marks and Spencer dad-jeans of absolutely no fashion merit of any kind (no vintage Levis were harmed in the making of this project). The only criteria for selection were that they were a little big on me (but not massively outsized) and they are a fairly light wash (so the pocket shapes will show up once the pockets are removed).

I picked these up in my local Cancer Research shop for £2. Bargain!

First step obviously was to remove the back pockets and remove the lint (urgh). Note the lovely colour difference between the washed areas and the original denim (this is key to getting the look).

I unpicked the waistband everywhere except the centre front section (that would be hard to sew back on).

I also unpicked the back seam.

I merrily cut up the back legs and at ninety degrees into the centre back seam.

Sewing the back sections in gave me the look I wanted for the pocket sections, but my overenthusiastic seam allowance left me with a bit of a gap at centre back, as it turns out.

Trying them on, I made a new centre back seam.

Because of the aforementioned gap, I ended up with a dark blue stripe in the middle. No big deal.

I cut up the front legs, making sure to cut far enough away from any rivets that I could sew it back together without having to sew over any.

I included the pocket bags in the seams, so the front pockets still work.

The slight colour variations in the wash help emphasise the new style lines, I think.

I made some fitting adjustments on the back seams to make them a bit tighter, but overall the fit was OK.

The only issue was to shorten the waistband accordingly.

I cut it and reattached it in two places (to avoid bulk from seam allowances at the join between the centre back seam and the waistband). I actually ended up sewing the belt loop back on by hand as it was more than my machine could take!

And here are the finished jeans!

There is room for my phone in the front pockets, just about.

I left the hems uneven and unfinished. To get them to unravel a bit, I just ran them through the washing machine.

The back pocket pattern I think looks great!

Thank you Portia for asking me to be part of this series again!

Yep, been seeing these everywhere too! Such a subtle change that completely transforms a pair of jeans from shapeless and styless to fitted and edgy. Not only does this process provide really interesting style details but it also fixes the issue of a too big pair of jeans. Win win I’d say! Thank you so much Sally!!

You can find Sally here or here. And if you’re inspired to get your refashion on and enter the Community Challenge and be in with a chance of winning some epic prizes…DO IT! Deadline for entries is 30th Sept. Midnight GMT.

….I think you’ve got the idea now right? Essentially we want you to refashion some jeans! (You can find the full details/small print of the brief here). BUT, if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of these amazing prize packages you need to SHARE that refashion with us in one of the following ways:

• On Instagram: Share a pic using the hashtags #therefashioners2016  and #jeanius
• On Pinterest: There is a community board here where you can pin your makes. (You will need to request an invite to join)
• On Facebook: There is a community board here where you can post your makes (You will need to request an invite to join)

Only entries shared via the above 3 methods will be entered into the competition. Closing date for entries is 30th September 2016 Midnight GMT. Good luck!!

“They (jeans) have expression, modesty, sex appeal – all I hope for in my clothes.” -Yves Saint-Laurent. {My challenge motto.}

The Refashioners always been a yearly inspirational series for me. I love challenges that get people reinventing something that once-was and making it up-to-date. Anything that inspires people to think out of the box. This year grand-theme of “jeanius” got me whistling ‘Tiny Dancer’ while rummaging every local charity store around. Yes …. some occasional pirouettes were also witnessed by the locals.

For a long time I been looking for an excuse to draft a Lanvin inspired one-shoulders flounced denim dress.

One of the things that makes having a jeans theme so fascinating for me is that the material- ‘denim’- is consider one of oldest fabrics in the world but is the epitome of youth/cool. Never gets ‘dated’ so rummaging for older pieces felt like a personal treasure hunt.

At first I as looking for the perfect combination of shades of blue. Strangely my biggest challenge was to find the ‘raw materials’ with reasonable prices. Where the second hand shops valuing the jeans using the price of gold? Luckily Portia came to my rescue with a car boot full of used denim. For my body con design to work my denim had some level of stretch.

I came home with 3 pairs with different percentages of lycra content. When working with materials with different characteristics is important that placement is done correctly as the fabrics will behave differently when sewn together. I had to stabilise some of the side seams. I’m glad it all worked perfectly including the side zipper.

My self drafted pattern looked like long strips of rhythmic gymnastics ribbon. A total of 6 pattern pieces using mainly the legs. As each denim pair had a different leg length I had to apply creative problem solving.

The different patches end up being my favourite design feature. The only piece of old the bolt-fabric used was the flounce which was made by cutting a circle. A piece of one of the waistband was used as an epaulette. If you fancy trying this design but don’t want to draft a pattern you can simply unpick each leg forming long strips and drape over a mannequin or yourself.

My plan was just to have a denim dress. Simplicity in itself. But you know when you look at a finished project and feel is missing something? More is more suddenly. Fringe is always a great compliment for denim because the way the fabric is weaved. I imaged someone else would probably do it so I went for contrasting colour fringe trim instead.

After watching Gucci on snapchat (seriously addictive stuff and future subject for long therapy sessions) I felt so inspired by all their embroidery work over Tian prints. If you are into fashion & history of art I highly recommend looking at their latest work. It was inspired by “Bird and Flower’ Chinese 10th century painting.

This thoughtful ‘feeling moment of harmony’ influenced me on choice of design and colour of my embroidery. One of the places I teach, CCB Rochester, has a selection of embroidery machines. I was able to sew the embroidery design with a six needle embroidery machine. You can freehand embroidery on whatever machine you own.

That’s all from me. Many thanks to Portia for hosting such a creative and inspiring challenge! Now my pirouettes will look a lot more fun in this dress.

So Rachel returning to that ongoing theme with jeans refashioning….narrowing her pattern pieces so she could squeeze them out of narrow trouser legs. It’s a key way of overcoming the scarcity of fabric, as pretty much all our bloggers have demonstrated. Let’s not forget the perks of stretch denim too! Perfect for form fitting refashions like this. And embellishment! Yay! Embroidery (elaborate like this or simple like sashiko), applique/patches, (floral, modern or like the beautiful japanese boro textiles Marilla and Wendy referenced). Oh and while we’re at it, have a think about bleaching ( a la Rosie!) and dyeing too. Techniques like shibori/tie dye and batik can be used with dye, or in relief with bleach. There are soooooo many ways you can transform the fabric itself before you even sew a stitch!

You can find Rachel here or here. And if you’re inspired to get your refashion on and enter the Community Challenge and be in with a chance of winning some epic prizes…DO IT! Deadline for entries is 30th Sept. Midnight GMT.

….I think you’ve got the idea now right? Essentially we want you to refashion some jeans! (You can find the full details/small print of the brief here). BUT, if you want to be in with a chance of winning one of these amazing prize packages you need to SHARE that refashion with us in one of the following ways:

• On Instagram: Share a pic using the hashtags #therefashioners2016  and #jeanius
• On Pinterest: There is a community board here where you can pin your makes. (You will need to request an invite to join)
• On Facebook: There is a community board here where you can post your makes (You will need to request an invite to join)

Only entries shared via the above 3 methods will be entered into the competition. Closing date for entries is 30th September 2016 Midnight GMT. Good luck!!