Thrifting

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorials

Refashion: Fleece Sweatshirt to Minimalist Cropped Jacket

01/25/16

It’s been all about the cozy around here. Temperatures as we know have been less than balmy and Shedquarters has been a little chilly to say the least. So an extra layer (or two) has been a prerequisite recently. Enter this oatmeal coloured “blah” fleece!

“Blah” because of the shape. But the fleece itself is super soft and has the appearance of felted wool….except way way softer! So I set about chopping it up….and this is what I ended up with!

A cute little cropped cardi/jacket with simple lines, that sits just on the hip at the front and dips down at the back. Couldn’t be simpler really. No raw edge finishing required as the fabric doesn’t fray. Just a few cut’s and minimal sewing. You can apply this to any similar fleece or sweatshirt. Here’s what I did…

Trimmed away the neckband close to the stitching and rounded off that V shape a little (optional)…

Cut straight up the middle to create the opening….

Cut a dipped/curved hem, removing the hem band in the process…

Cut the sleeves down to my preferred “bracelet” length, leaving a little extra for turning…

Turn and hem the cuffs and bottom hem…

Turn and stitch a narrow hem arround the neckline. This would normally be a no no but as this fabric had a degree of stretch (and I didn’t have any fabric left for a facing) I went with it and it worked fine 🙂

Then turn under and stitchÂ either side of the opening….

In all instances stitch as close to the raw edge as poss. This will give you a super clean finish and as you can see, that rule breaking I did with turning rather than facing the neckline? Not a problem 😉 Still a nice clean corner there . You can also see a double row of stitching along the vertical edge of the opening. (Partly decorative. Partly functional)

And that’s that! It’s a perfect little extra layer to chuck on and much much less blah than the original! Even better, it takes about 30 mins. Gotta love fleece/sweatshirt fabric! More sweatshirt stuff coming up this week. Watch this space!

DIY, how to, refashion, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, Thrifting, Tips and Tricks, trousers, Tutorials

Top Tips: For “Skinnifying” Jeans & Trousers

01/11/16

When looking for jeans or trousers I have the relativelyÂ common problem (especially when you’ve had kids!) of trousers that fit me in the waist/tum/bum area being waaaaay to big in the legs for my liking. Luckily I sew 🙂 So for years I’ve been addressing this minor annoyance by buying (usually thrifting) jeans than are super comfy in the waist/tum/bum area and simply reshaping the legs to fit my style. “Skinnifying” them if you like. I’ve been asked a few times if I am going to do a tutorial on the subject. Well, yes and no. This is a tutorial of sorts. But I hold your intelligence in high enough esteem to know that you probably get the gist that narrowing trousers means pinning the legs. Sewing a new seam and cutting away the excess. So while this post touches on that obvs, I wanted to focus on some of the other considerations you might want to take into account….

Fabric & Stretch: The “jeans” predominantly featured here are not jeans in the truest sense. They are not constructed in quite the same way as “traditional” jeans. (I’ll touch on that a bit further down) But they are made from a stretch denim. In my experience, denim with stretch is by far the most forgiving and easiest to work with when refitting the legs on jeans. And lets’s face it, the most comfortable to wear too! It’s also not a heavy denim. Another consideration when you’re using a home sewing machine which simply won’t have the power of the industrial machines that would have been used for heavy denim when they were originally produced…

Seam Construction: Both the inner and outer leg seams of this particular pair of jeans were constructed using standard straight seams. These are your friends when it comes to reshaping the legs on jeans or trousers; because it means you can easily narrow the leg evenly on both sides. Traditional construction uses a flat fell seam, usually on the inside leg, which is tougher and harder wearing. If you can avoid those….do. Â I’ll touch on that a bit further down…

Prep: To prepare the legs for reshaping it’s easier to completely unpick the hems then press the hems and the sides seams completely smooth and flat. Put on inside out, then pin to your desired fit. Take them off and even out the row of pins. Watch out here that you don’t narrow soooo much that you can’t get your foot through the ankle. Yep….done that. 😉

At the ankle, where you are going to hem, the pins should be at right angles to the original hem fold for the whole hem section. That section needs to be the same width above and below the hem fold in order to allow for proper hemming….

Blending: In order to make the new and old seams blend seamlessly (so you don’t get an obvious dimple or tuck on the outside once you’re done) pin then startÂ sewing within the original seam allowance and gradually cross over the original seamline to your new line of stitching…

Back & Front Leg Ratio: The back leg of a pair of jeans/trousers in general, will be wider than the front to allow for the calf muscle. You’ll want to retain this ratio in order to keep the side seams completely vertical when wearing. So when you press and pin make sure that this excess fabric remains distributed at the back leg…

Ensuring Even alteration: You’ll want to ensure that you take away the fabric evenly on both legs. To do this I pin one leg to my desired fit. Then I line up both legs along all seams and use those pins to pin through both legs at the same time…

So essentially you have both legs pinned together with the pins on top marking an identical line on the other leg underneath. Make sense? Â You can also see in this pic the additional fabric of the back leg all bunched up in the middle…

Marking: Obviously I can’t sew it like that! So I mark on top and between the pins on both sides to mark my new seam line…I have a set of pastel pencils that make an awesom alternative to tailor’s chalk btw!

Sewing: Then simply remove the pins, sew on top of my chalk line, zig zag close to that line, then trim off the excess and hem…

Considerations for “traditional” Jeans: So I mentioned flat fell seams. Â Traditional jeans will generally have a standard seam on the outside (your friend) and a flat fell seam on the inside leg (not your friend!).Â You can see below the amount of stitching involved in a flat fell seam. This makes it super sturdy which is fantastic for the longevity of your jeans but not so great if you want to take it in at that seam. It is not possible to smoothly narrow Â and blend that seam without unpicking all that stitching first. Even then you have that point wher the crotch and inside leg seams intersect to contend with. I haveÂ tried in the past and I will never bother again! So to my mind, and in my humblest of all humble opinions, it just isn’t worth it. I prefer to accept the limitations of traditionally constructed jeans and only narrow the leg on one side…

This does of course limit the amount you can narrow the legs by before it starts looking uneven; and that is just a matter of trial and error and personal taste. When narrowing just one side of a pair of jeans I will always use a long stitch to baste my new seam line and test the fit first before committing to cutting away the excess fabric.

If you are altering traditional denim then another consideration is the thickness of the fabric; especially at the hem. To retain the original hem you’ll likely be sewing through 3 layers of denim (see the pic below) plus an additional 3-4 layers when you sew across the intersection of the flat fell seam!Â

My machine is not powerful enough to do that on sturdier denim. So I reduce the strain by removing that bottom section of hem…

And opting instead for a single fold hem with the raw edge zig zagged or overlocked…

Another area where it can get pretty bulky is up in the hip pocket area. If you are beginning your blended seam as high up at that then there will be studs, pocket bags and top stitching to navigate. Which is why when I select jeans to refashion…I opt for those that don’t need taking in at the hips (these were the other half’s jeans)…

Tools/Equipment: I thoroughly recommend using the right tools for the job. In my opinion and for my machine, denim needles make a difference in the ease of sewing and the quality of the resulting stitch. For an authentic looking hem, then top stitching thread matched to the original colour willÂ give a professional finish. For sewing over the bulkiest part of the hem, placing a shim at the back of the presser foot will keep your presser foot horizontal and help avoid the skipped stitches that occur when sewing over bulky seams and the presser foot has to “climb” at an angle over the bulkiness of it all. You can buy shims. But a folded piece of card does the job for me. Also, machine needle cases are almost the perfect thickness to do the job; and if you’re lucky your presser foot may have a little button on the side that locks it into the horizontal position.

So that’s that. My top tips for skinnifying jeans and trousers. Anything you want to add?? Please feel free to share!!!

Happy refashioning!

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorials, Uncategorized

Refashion: Contrast Texture Sweatshirt

12/18/15

This sweatshirt has been sitting in my refashion pile for several weeks. I have a preference for raglan sleeve sweatshirts as I find the fit more flattering. But this sweatshirt was so soft I nabbed it from the charity shop anyway. What’s more the underside of the fabric was really interesting to me (loopy terry texture and a pinkier colour than the right side) and even as I was lifting it off the rack in the shop, I knew I wanted to play with contrasting the wrong side of the fabric with the right side…

Whilst I am not overly sold on the final fit of this garment, I am in love with the contrast elements of it. I think it’s a really effective way of adding some interest to a plain sweatshirt and has applications for both refashioning and “from scratch” dressmaking. I’m sure it’s not just me that looks at the “wrong” side of the fabric and thinks….well that’s just as interesting as the intended right side. In fact I often spend time deciding which side of the fabric I prefer and want to use. The answer could be…..use both sides!

The sleeves were a simple case of removing the ribbing cuffs and creating a turn up to display the underside of the fabric.

The triangular panels are also pretty simple. I did wing this a bit as it was an experiment. So there’s a couple of areas where I’ll tell you what I should have done to make things easier. But hey, the outcome is pretty much the same!

I began by opening the whole thing out. I knew I was going to need to reshape it at the side seams anyway. So began by cutting it open along the side seams and underarm seams…from the hem all the way to the cuff. Both Sides.

In this pic the whole thing is opened out (like a big cross) and then folded along the length, lining up sleeves and side seams so it lays flat and I could deal with the front and back of the sweatshirt separately. This is the front. I marked out and cut a wedge from the side. From the underarm to the hem. Cutting through both layers at once…

With hindsight, I’d actually advise removing the hem and any other bulkiness like it (I had those bulky hem vents) before marking and cutting the wedge. And actually I would measure and mark each side separately rather than cutting through two layers at once. The bulk of those seams and the double layers of thick sweatshirt fabric skewed my scissors resulting in slightly “non-identical” wedges. We need them to be identical for the next step.

Flip those wedges over and apply them to the opposite side of the sweatshirt (with a scant seam allowance) from which they were cut. Essentially reconstructing the shape of the sweatshirt. But now you have those contrasting wedges either side!Â

Press SA towards centre and top stitch.

Then repeat that process on the back…

…and reconstruct the sweatshirt by placing RS together and sewing together from cuff to hem on both sides…

I wanted to continue the “contrast triangle” element onto the neckline and swap out the ribbed triangleÂ …

Plus I prefer a slightly deconstructed look as opposed to a thick band of ribbing…

Pretty simple to do this using reverse applique.

First of all I made a snip up to the stitching line on the neckline ribbing…

…and cut that ribbing away right next to the stitching line.

I’d shortened the sweatshirt at this stage so had some scraps left over…

I cut a square large enough to cover the triangle detail I was looking to reverse applique…

…and pinned it behind the triangle with the textured side facing outward…

Make sure it is smooth and flat.

Over at the sewing machine, line up your needle with the existing top stitching around the outside of the triangle…

Then stitch right on top of that line of stitching to secure the new scrap of fabric in place…

This is how it looks on the reverse….

Trim away the excess on the inside close to the line of stitching.

On the outside…make a snip into the “old” ribbed fabric that you want to remove being careful not to cut the new fabric behind!

Then with small sharp scissors cut away the old ribbed fabric close to the stitching, to reveal the new fabric behind!

Hem…and that’s that!

I’m planning on revisiting this concept with my preferred raglan sleeve sweatshirt shape as I don’t feel 100% comfy in this shape. As I said, the fit part of this I’m not entirely content with. The contrast element concept though??

Well, I think I should call that part a win don’t you??

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorials

Refashion: The Wonky Top

11/02/15

So, yeah! This is a top that on paper…shouldn’t work…but absolutely does! It’s made from this thrifted crepe jersey skirt and was a bit of an experiment that kinda really worked out!

The skirt itself is a quarter circle construction so everything is kinda on the bias. The resulting top therefore drapes in a really interesting way. The side seams are not actually horizontal but twist slightly around the body and it drapes differently on one side than it does on the other. Hence the “wonky” moniker! But hey…if Levi can get away with twisted denim…I think I can call it a design element on this top right??

You can see in the images above the difference in drape. It’s fairly standard on the left (middle pic). But the circle element is really apparent on the right; giving the whole thing a really interesting asymmetric feel.

The skirt was really simply made…

You can just about see in this pic how the grain runs on the diagonal…it’s a relatively heavy weight crepe jersey…

VERY simple steps in this refashion. I wanted to retain the original curved hem. So I folded the top portion over…

Then cut along the fold. This will become my neckline for the top…

I sloped the shoulders and cut out a neckline curve…

After sewing along the shoulders I lined up the side seams and cut out a short kimono sleeve and curved that into a new side seam…

Worth noting that the armhole is still sealed at this stage as that was the original side seam…so that had to be trimmed off to open up the armhole/sleeve…

After that I just sewed up the side seams (plain ole narrow zig zag on a standard machine with jersey needles). The hem was already finished so all that was left after that was to turn and stitch a simple narrow hem on the sleeves and neckline and that was it!

This was one of those makes that took no time at all and worked out even better than I had envisaged. Don’t you just love it when the sewing gods smile on you like that?

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, the refashioners, Thrifting, Tutorials

The Refashioners 2015 – Me (gulp!)

08/28/15

Aaaaand here we are! Unbelievably, at the end of an entire month of refashioning inspiration and…lets face it….more thanÂ a little genius thrown in for good measure! Helloooo again everyone! Feel like I haven’t seen you for aaaaaages!!

The trouble with organising an event like this is that, as the host, there’s an inevitable weight of expectation. Real or imagined. Actual or self imposed. Playing alongside this line up of talent is mildly intimidating. I can’t lie! But “comparison is the thief of joy” so let’s be real and stay true to ourselves. I’m not a couture technique kind of gal. Â Never will be. I like simplicity. Both in terms of process and the finished garment. If I churned out something amazingly clever that just wasn’t me and I would never wear, you guys would know in an instant. Â Trying to be something I’m not is not really my bag. So true to form, here’s a simple but oh so effective little refashion for you…..(secret squirell…..shhhh…..I actually really love this….just because it’s easy…don’t mean it doesn’t count, ha ha!)

Ever noticed how an oversized man’s shirt, when worn, has the perfect armhole size, dropped shoulder and wide sleeve configuration for a kimono jacket??! That was my starting point….

This shirt had been sat in my stash for months. Even before my first email went out about this series. I think it was originally intended for a magazine article. But I ended up taking a different direction so it sat there. What I loved about this shirt was it’s size. Lots of fabric to work with. It’s colour. I love a versatile neutral. and last but not least, the fabric. Not easy to photograph, but it’s medium weight and drapey with a very slight sheen.

I started by removing the pocket. Often the biggest obstacle in a shirt refashion is having a pocket when you absolutely don’t want one. Luckily I managed to all but vanish the stitch marks using this technique.

Next, cut all around the button bands and collar to remove…

Stay stitch the neckline so it doesn’t distort as you work. If you’re like me and do lots of trying on and test pinning as you work out what you’re going to do (I tend to work things out on the fly rather than have a plan) then stabilising that neckline curve is a 2 minute job that’s well worth doing…

Here’s how it looked at this stage. (I actually quite like this shape too!) But I continued…

Fold up your shirt along the length, lining up the shoulders and armhole curves…

This enables you to cut both sleeves equally in one go. I cut mine just below the elbow…

I reviewed the shape and proportions at this stage and decided on my next steps…

Lop off the shaped hem to shorten and create a boxier hemline…

Take a line from the shoulder point/neckline curve right down to the hem….it’s a gentle diagonal in this pic…but you could also go straight down at right angles. Either will work.

Mark a cutting line on both sides (eyeball if you’re brave…but I had a rep to protect on this occasion, lol!)…

And there you have your basic kimono shape. Just the neckline, hem and sleeves to finish…

Enter “donor” shirt number two! I had a moment of panic here. The stuff that I had planned to use for the kimono bands didn’t work out ( it was the remnants of this top and the combo really worked but in truth I bodged it!!) and I had nothing left in my stash that worked. So I nipped out to the local charity shop 10 minutes down the road and bought this one!

I pieced a band from the sleeves, interfacing the pieces before I joined them….you’ll want the finished band to be about an inch shorter than the neckline/opening or your jacket so measure accordingly…if you want a less structured, more fluid lapel, you could try skipping the interfacing. Which I may try next time.

Folded in half , RS together, the ends sewn, then turned through and pressed. (use a point turner or knitting needle to get those corners crisp) I had my neckline band…

Two important steps before applying the band. First press up the raw edge of the bottom hem by about half an inch.

And notch into that neckline curve…up to but not through the stay stitching.

Baste or pin the band all the way around the RS of the neckline and opening like so. It’ll need a little bit of easing on around that notched neckline curve…

When you get to the hem part flip it over like so. Â The WS of the hem flips over to the RS and encloses the bottom of the neckline band like so. (Ignore the extra seam allowance of the shirt fabric on the right. I was just playing with the placement a bit)

Sew right to the end of your hem fold like so and backstitch to secure…(I know this looks a bit odd if you’ve never used this technique before…but bear with me. It will make sense in a moment)

I trimmed and bound my raw edges at this stage. I didn’t take the bias tape all the way down to the end. Because we’re going to turn that through in a minute and I didn’t want the extra bulk preventing a nice sharp corner….

So here’s where we are at. This is the outside of the jacket. Looks a bit odd I know…

But look what happens when you turn that corner RS out 🙂 Creates a lovely clean finish.Â

Here it is from the outside. Simply hem along that line where the pin is, and up to the seam where the band is joined to secure the hem allowance.

Here’s where we’re at…

Measure the sleeve opening….

Create matching cuffs!

Baste/apply…

trim, bind, turn through, press everything…alot…

And you’re done!! Simples!

And that’s it! Our job is done for another year and now it’s over to YOU!! Grab a shirt, get refashioning, share it, and be in with a chance of winning that awesome prize. Now worth just under Â£700!! Jaw dropping right?! We’ll be sharing a selection of your refashions right here throughout Sept and there’ll be inspiration posts to give you even more ideas and directions in which to go with your shirt refashioning. You have until 27th Sept to submit yours.Â

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the talented stitchers who shared their ideas with us this August. I for one, have a much longer sewing queue than I did at the start of August; there are so many ideas I want to try out!! Love and hugs and much gratitude to everyone involved. Phew…that’s it…we are done!

What now?

Over to YOU….show us what ya got!

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, the refashioners, the refashioners 2015, Thrifting, Tutorials

The Refashioners 2015 – Erin

08/27/15

Hello everyone, and a huge thanks to Portia for inviting me to take part inÂ The Refashioners! First things first, I have to preface this by saying that I am a complete sewing novice who was absolutely terrified and intimidated by this project! But when Portia asked me if I’d be interested in participating, I knew it was just the kick in the butt that I needed to venture out and try something new. So I dove right in, scissors first, and completely destroyed my first “dummy” shirt. I suppose in retrospect that I could have drafted up some sort of pattern using butcher paper, but hindsight is 20/20, my friends. And it’s all a part of the learning process. So when it came to tackling my second try, I knew immediately that I was going to have to do something that maintained as much of the integrity of the original shirt as possible while still transforming it into something more wearable for me.

Making this simple shirt took only a few little snips and stitches to complete. I tried it on to determine the length that I wanted to crop it up to, then used the excess fabric at the bottom of the shirt to fashion the ties for my wrap. Then I simply cut out the new neckline, sewed everything up, and added the wrap ties. Most wrap tops and dresses have a hole in one side to thread the tie, but because my ties were at the very bottom, I skipped that step entirely. In retrospect, I think I will probably add that little slit into the side, but it is still perfectly functional as is.

I like the way the back of the shoulders is now a front yoke detail, and that it has a slightly oversized fit, but doesn’t leave me completely swimming in the garment.Â

1. I started with a really nice vintage men’s shirt made in a textured cotton linen blend. I had actually bought it prior to the challenge thinking it might just hem it into a crop top and wear it with an oversized fit. At this point in the photo, I’d already removed the front pocket and inner tags using a seam ripper. The back of the shirt will eventually become the front, but don’t worry about the seam across the back! This will become the front bib of your new wrap top.

2. I tried on the shirt and marked where to cut the new hem, leaving a bit of sewing allowance. Then I simply chopped off the bottom of the shirt using the grid pattern on the shirt as a guide. If it had been a solid, I probably would have used a straight edge to help myself along. The remaining pieces of the shirt will later become the ties for the wrap!

THE REFASHIONERS 2015 - ERIN - CALIVINTAGE

3. After cutting the shirt, I simply ironed the new hem in place and took it for a pass through the sewing machine.

4. Since I don’t have a dress form, I just went ahead and put the shirt on again to mark the new neckline and wrap back with a few pins. To cut, I folded the shirt in half lengthwise to try and get both sides to mirror one another. Then I simply ironed the new hems and sewed them up!

5. The last step isn’t pictured, but all I did was cut the remaining fabric in half lengthwise and then sewed them into two simple fabric ties to affix to the ends of the wrap on the shirt.Â If you’d like your wrap to be a bit more secure, you can cut a hole along one side seam of the shirt to thread your belt through, but since I have them affixed to the very bottom of the shirt, it also works just fine like this.

Â And that’s a wrap! (See what I did there?)Â It may not be the trickiest of ideas, but it works for me. The best part is that it’s something that I will genuinely wear and I’ve learned so much in the process!

Just goes to show, that even if you consider yourself a novice sewer, if you keep it simple you can still totally transform your shirt! I love this Erin . Thanks so much for leaping in and trying something new! Â The yoke front and the fact that the wrap is at the back is an edgier twist on a classic wrap blouse. And of course, as ever, wonderful styling 🙂

You can find ErinÂ here and here.Â And donâ€™t forgetÂ amazing prizes to be won as part of The Refashioners 2015 Community Challenge. Including a little something handmade from Erin! So get involved for a chance to win!!! Grab a shirt and get refashioning! You have until Sunday 27th Sept to enter! Tomorrow is the last of the blogger inspiration posts and then it’s over to you!!!

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, the refashioners, the refashioners 2015, Thrifting, Tutorials

The Refashioners 2015 – Sasha

08/26/15

For me â€œrefashionâ€ does not simply mean recovering the fabric from a garment and makingÂ another garment but also recombining the existing elements to give new life and meaning to an old garment. Iâ€™ve always been quite attracted by the styles merging the very masculine with the very feminine so the idea of taking a menâ€™s dress shirt and mixing it with the feminine shape of the victorian underbust corset, as my first refashion was very exciting to me.

The road was not without bumps. I had no clear view of how to go about it and spells of â€œI donâ€™t have enough fabricâ€ anxiety.Â So here it is: my first refashion and Iâ€™m very pleased with the result. I anticipate Iâ€™ll be wearing this a lot.

Process outline:

The original shirt – a menâ€™s size 42 dress shirt in cotton twill.

Take off the collar unit and the cuffs and form a neck dart.

Mirror everything from one side to another ( I used tailors wax tracing paper and a tracing wheel to do so).

Blend the neckline and trim the excess.

Measure and cut along a line under the bust leaving intact the button placket and including seam allowances.

Pin, measure and cut the sleeves and sides to create a sloping/drop shoulder short sleeve which also has the effect ofÂ reducing the overall fullness of the shirt.

PinÂ a couple of pleats in the sleeve, make a slit and attach the cuffs. Depending on the original shirt size they are potentially going to be smaller than yourÂ bicep circumference. I ended up by creating an extension tab with two buttons to close the gap.

Measure the neckline opening, shorten the original collar stand accordingly and use it to create a mandarin collar.

Gather the excess fabric under bust and at the back

Drape a form fitting midsection from a large strip of fabric. Be sure to cut based on the abdomen circ + ease + sa. I mistakenly did not and ended up having to insert some triangles at the sides.

I pinned also a couple of darts to help shaping the back. I considered doing so for the front also but in the end I decided against it as I prefer it more relaxed. With the remaining fabric from the body and the sleeves create a long strip (under bust circ. + hips circ. times three)…

…and create 1″ pleats. I used some light fusible interfacing to help hold the pleats because my fabric was too soft and drapey.

Attach a row of pleats and the original shirt tails&hem (reduced in sizeÂ to fit the waist piece) to the bottom of the waist piece.

Attach the waist piece to the upper bodice sandwiching in between another row of pleats.

Attach the waist piece to the button placket. Trim the button placket and close the hem! Done!

Thank you again to Portia for inviting me.Â When sheÂ asked me to join the stellar cast of this year’s Refashioners I must admit I felt a bit scared.Â Honored but scared. First I never did a refashion before and second have you seen the heavy talent she enrolled!!!

Talent that includes you Sasha! Wow! Hard to believe Sasha’s never refashioned before. But this is exactly why I’ll often approach sewers who don’t refashion to be part of the blogger challenge. You just get a fresher take on things that way. One of the biggest aims of The Refashioners is to show refashioning in a different light. That as well as it’s eco credentials, Â it can be creative, edgy, modern, individual and uber cool. Think I just aptly described Sasha’s refashion there don’t you? Job done then!

You can find SashaÂ here and here.Â We are almost at the end of a month of Â refashion inspiration and ideas! Â Next week sees the community challenge element gather pace and donâ€™t forgetÂ amazing prizes to be won as part of The Refashioners 2015 Community Challenge. Â So get involved for a chance to win!!! Grab a shirt and get refashioning! You have until Sunday 27th Sept to enter!Â

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, the refashioners, Thrifting, Tutorials

The Refashioners 2015 – Wendy (again!)

08/25/15

While I love denim, I used to think that â€œdouble denimâ€ was a bit of a fashion sin. Now Iâ€™m a convert. Whatâ€™s not to love about a unique denim shirt dress? I took 3 menâ€™s Levis denim shirts in different denim washes, all size L and turned them into two very different shirt dresses.

Yes, 3 denim shirts, 2 shirt dresses, there was one shirt casualty that was simply plundered for â€œspare partsâ€, but I think it was worth it. Hereâ€™s what I did.

What do I need?

2 large menâ€™s denim shirts will make 1 shirt dress, 3 shirts will make 2 dresses(ideally all the same size, style and brand so that you know theyâ€™ll be the same dimensions)Â

How to do it?

Remove the collars â€“ using an unpicker, remove the stitching around the top of the collar stand until the collar can be removed. Donâ€™t unpick any further than you need to.Â

If you like a grandad style shirt collar you could leave your shirt like this and just restitch around the top edge of the stand â€“ tack the edges together first to make the machining easier to do and more accurate.Â

Swap the collars around between the shirts. If any of the collars are worn or marked, turn them over so that the side that was on the top is now on the underside of the collar. This is whatâ€™s known as â€œturning a collarâ€ and very thrifty 1940â€™s housewife business!

To reattach the collar, fold it in half to mark the centre. Â Do the same to the open top edge of the collar stand.Â

Slot the collar inside the open edges of the stand matching the pins marking the centre back neck .

Pin, tack and topstitch the collar in place trying to stitch along the original seamline as close as possible .

Collars swapped!Â

Now for the brutal stuffâ€¦.I cut the bottom off shirt 1 as low as I could to keep as much length in the top of the shirt. Simply chalk a straight horizontal line across the shirt and cut it off! Try and go in the middle of two press studs or buttons.

I cut the bottom off shirt 2 as high as I could (just below the pockets) to keep as much length on the bottom as possible. Make sure this line also runs in the middle of two press studs or buttons.

I removed the patch pockets from shirt 3 so that I could remove as much length as possible from the bottom of the shirt. I cut the shirt across where Iâ€™d removed the pockets which gives that nice â€œshadowâ€ of the pocket remaining where the denim has faded around it.

To reassemble the long sleeved shirt dress (made from the top of shirt 1 and the bottom of shirt 2), pin the 2 cut edges together matching up the side seams.Â

Make sure that the press studs or buttons down the centre front of the shirt will still fasten once the 2 parts of the shirt are joined. Machine, neaten the edges together and press the seam down towards the hem. It might need topstitching in place to keep it flat.

To reassemble the short sleeved shirt dress (made from the top of shirt 2 and the bottom of shirt 3), pin the 2 cut edges together matching up the side seams.

Check that the press studs or buttons will still fasten once this seam is sewn. Machine, neaten the edges together and press the seam down towards the hem. It might need topstitching in place to keep it flat.Â

Decide what length you want the sleeves and cut the sleeves straight off at right angles to the top sleeve, leaving enough for a hem (approx. 3cm). Â Chalk a line 3cm above the cut edge of the shortened sleeve on the inside of the shirt. Press the hem up so that the cut edge is level with this line, then turn again along the chalk line and press. Pin in place and machine.Â

And there you have it â€“ 2 totally wearable new shirt dresses from 3 baggy denim shirts destined for the â€œdecorating clothesâ€ pile!

Refashioning “pick n mix” or denim “mash up”! Â Whatever you call it, a GREAT way to mix things up and make plain shirts more interesting! As Â a child of the 80’s double denim holds a little fear for me too, lol 😉 Â But I think I may have been swayed here Wendy …. Thank you so much for this and your previous post. Inspiration aplenty!

You can find WendyÂ here and here.Â And donâ€™t forgetÂ amazing prizes to be won as part of The Refashioners 2015 Community Challenge*. Including a signed copy of Wendy’s Book! So get involved for a chance to win!!! Grab a shirt and get refashioning! You have until Sunday 27th Sept to enter! Stay tuned for more inspiration throughout the WHOLE of August!Â After this week it’ll be over to you. So start sharing your shirt refashions for a chance to win!

*To clarify, the bloggers that have taken part in this year’s blogger challenge (ie the daily posts on this blog throughout August) are not entered to win that prize package. That is JUST for you! I wanted to clarify as a few comments made me think I haven’t made that clear. All of the posts throughout August have been for purely for your delight and inspiration. So go forth and refashion for a chance to win that awesome prize!

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, the refashioners, the refashioners 2015, Thrifting, Tutorials

The Refashioners 2015 – Dixie

08/24/15

Hello all you Refashioners out there! I admit, I’m not usually much of a Refashioner. I get easily overwhelmed in giant thrift stores but I love this challenge and I’ve been participating since theÂ beginning so how could I say no? Plus, I love getting surprise stuff in the mail, so exciting!

This go around I chose to exchange shirts with the lovely Heather Lou of Closet Case Files. She kindly sent me three shirts to work with so I was able to do two refashions.

First I made a loose-fit, sleeveless, peplum top out of a black and white shirt. The key to this top is getting the most fabric you can for the peplum and using a big enough shirt that can still be put on over your head as the buttons won’t be very useful in the end.

I started by taking off the sleeves. I used the front and back pieces from the Grainline Archer pattern to trim the sides off the shirt (the Archer has no darts which makes it a good base for a dart-less men’s shirt). Since the original shirt was only a men’s medium I didn’t have to cut the shirt much smaller to fit me.

Next I took some body measurements and lopped off the bottom thirdÂ of the shirt.

With the leftover fabric from the shirt hem and the two sleeves I cut rectangular chunks out of the fabric, all the same length but varying widths.

I then stitched them all together, hemmed the bottom, and gathered the top.

This flannel check fabric hid the seamlines well and it was easy to match the print.I sewed the peplum to the bottom of the shirt.

Lastly, I adjusted the shoulder line as the shirt originally reached pastÂ my shoulders, and I bound the armhole with self bias tape.

The only problem was that this shirt was a little big on me but not big enough that I could re-draw an entirely new armhole. I had to work with the existing armhole which meant the opening is pretty low. Oh, well, I’ll just wear a tank top under it instead.

*******

My second refashion used a 2XL men’s striped shirt and I turned it into shorts. This works best with a fabric that’s fairly thick (so you don’t end up with VPL) and a shirt that has the longest button placket you can find.

I wanted to try out the Katy and Laney Tap Shorts pattern but with a twist. I chose view A which allowed me to play with the angle of the stripes. This pattern originally uses a side zip opening but I decided to repurpose the shirt’s button placket and utilize that instead.

First I cut apart the whole shirt, including slicing off both sides of the button placket. This shirt was big enoughÂ to fit all my pieces easily.

I assembled the pattern like normal except I didn’t sew up the side seams or add the waistband yet.

From there I folded my seam allowances on the side seams to the right side and pressed. I went ahead and hemmed each leg at this point, too.

Now comes the placket – I split each placket in half, evenly distributing the buttons (three for each side of the shorts). I trimmed each section to make all the piecesÂ the same length.

I folded up the very bottom of the placket pieces 1/4″ and stitched down.

I layered the plackets over the legÂ pieces with the center line of the placket sittingÂ right on the folded edge of the legÂ pieces (buttons on the back side, button holes on the front).

Next, I sewedÂ the plackets up the sides of the shorts following the two rows of original topstitching on theÂ placket. This stitches downÂ the seam allowances from the leg pieces.

As you can see in the photo above,Â theÂ placket pieces were too short compared to the side seams.Â Rather than shorten the legs to compensate, I lowered the waistline and choppedÂ offÂ an extra inchÂ from the top of the shorts.

That adjustment meant I needed to re-draft my waistband piece to be larger, as well as add another 5/8″ on the side seamsÂ to allow for the overlap of the button placket.Â I attached the waistband pieces, made a horizontal buttonhole on each side and addedÂ buttons I had cut off from the cuffs.

And finally, I know from experience that if you don’t at least partially sew the button plackets together you’ll get major gaping so I buttoned my shorts up to the second button from the bottom and stitched the plackets together on either side, again following the original topstitching.

I can still easily get in and out of the shorts by only opening the top two buttons.

Well, that’s it! Thanks for reading and I hope you’re inspired to do your own refashions. – Dixie

It’s fair to say the word “genius” can be over used. Not in the case of those shorts Dixie! A seriouslyÂ ingeniousÂ placement of those button plackets!! Wow!! Wouldn’t a denim shirt be a great base garment for this?! Love the stripe play too. And Dixie makes a good point about the bonus of working with a shirt with a strong check like the first one. You basically have a fantastic cutting and measuring guide built into the fabric!

You can find DixieÂ here and here.Â And donâ€™t forgetÂ amazing prizes to be won as part of The Refashioners 2015 Community Challenge. Including a copy of Dixieâ€™s Bonnell DressÂ pattern! So get involved for a chance to win!!! Grab a shirt and get refashioning! You have until Sunday 27th Sept to enter! Stay tuned for more inspiration throughout the WHOLE of August!

DIY, how to, refashioning, Restyles, Sewing, the refashioners, the refashioners 2015, Thrifting, Tutorials

The Refashioners 2015 – Sally

08/23/15

The raw materials for my refashion were chosen and sent to me by Elisalex from By Hand London. As you can see, naughty Elisalex (never one to play by the rules) selected not one but two shirts in similar sizes and colour schemes.

One shirt was stripy taupe and white.

The other was also taupe and white, but a subtle dotted pattern. The fabric was thinner and had an element of stretch to it.

I donâ€™t know how she found two shirts in the exact same colours, but sheâ€™s right, they were destined to be together.

My ideas for combining contrasting fabrics in shirts were limited to bowling shirts and cowboy/country and western shirts. Since I already have a bowling shirt in my wardrobe, I went for a cowboy shirt.

To combine pieces of one shirt with pieces of another, some fairly drastic shirt surgery was required. I started by amputating the sleeves from both shirts.

I cut the yoke from the donor (stripy shirt), leaving a pointy edge.Â I just cut this by eye, but I did fold the shirt over to try and make it the same on the left and right.

Then I pinned the donated yoke to the recipient shirt and cut roughly around it.

I prepared the yoke for transplant by folding up 5mm and pressing. Then I grafted it onto the recipient with white topstitching.

I also took the opportunity to do some minor cosmetic work; taking in the sides under the arms and using bias tape to finish the armholes.

I made flat felled seams at the sides, in keeping with the original shirt.

For decoration, I added some basic hand embroidery (chain stitch only) in a contrasting shade of pink.

I also cut off the buttons and added pink ones, which I think really helps distance it from its origins.

Overall I like the look of it but now seeing these pictures, itâ€™s crying out for some pink piping to emphasise the yoke shape â€“ I may add that at some point.

All in all, a successful transplant!

Thanks Portia for inviting me to be a part of the series again, I had a blast!

Thank you Sally!! And congratulations on your nuptuals!! (Psss…Sally only went and got married 2 days ago peops!!) Love the way these 2 prints complement eachother. Combining shirts is a great way to give yourself more fabric to work with and add visual interest. This has me thinking….you could probably take two shirts…do this for both….and still end up with 2 shirts with the colour/print blocking in the opposite configuration! Â Hmmmmm…….

You can find SallyÂ here and here.Â And don’t forgetÂ amazing prizes to be won as part of The Refashioners 2015 Community Challenge. Including a copy of Sally’s Bellini shirt pattern! So get involved for a chance to win!!! Grab a shirt and get refashioning! You have until Sunday 27th Sept to enter! Stay tuned for more inspiration throughout the WHOLE of August!

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