Make Small Shirt Bigger

 Hello Readers. Do you ever have a t-shirt that gets a bit small or a bit too tight. But you really like that t-shirt. What can we do?  

Before and after. I loved this t-shirt with the "golden spiral" on it. It is based oh the math concept of phi (Not my area of expertise.) and looks like the inside of a seashell to me. Anyhoo, I like the shirt but it was a bit tight and it was not very stretchy so I never wore it.  

I started cutting up this button down shirt. It is going to be the sides of my new shirt and I cut out the middle of the shirt. I kept the side pieces as wide as possible to add ad much fabric to my new shirt. 

 

I cut my t-shirt as wide as I could too. I wanted a loose fitting shirt so larger pieces will give me the bigger shirt I am looking for. 

 

Now I needed to sew the pieces from the 2 shirts together. I put the right sides together and sewed the pieces in place. I made sure to line up the shoulders because my shirts are different lengths. That's OK, I can fix that next.

 

My striped shirt was a bit longer than my t-shirt. I cut the tips of the striped shirt so the lengths matched up better. 

 

I turned the edge under and sewed it down to make a smooth edge that connected with the hem of the t-shirt.

 

My new shirt was finished and I liked how it all turned out. 

 

I also found a fun way to use the collar of the striped shirt.

 

I used some Fray Check on the cut edge of the neckband that I cut off of the striped shirt. 
 

Fray Check is basically like a permanent glue that you can use on a cut edge of fabric to control fraying. 

 

I went through my buttons and picked out a bunch of black, gold and silver buttons. 

   

I sewed random buttons all around the collar. There was no order.

 

I thought it was a fun accessory, almost like a necklace. 

  

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long Plaid Dress Makeover

 Hello Readers. I found this dress at a thrift shop and I loved that it was home-made. I took it home with me but it did not fit very well. That's OK. I can sort it out. 

Before and after. And after.

  

This dress had a top piece that just did not fit me well. But I liked the plaid. I decided to cut the top of the dress off and keep a bit of it to make a waistband. 

I cut the waistband so that I could keep the lowest button in place to open and close the skirt. 

 

The waistband was made with 2 layers of fabric so I tucked the cut edges in so I could sew them down. 

 

This is what I ended up with. Full Disclosure - I didn't love it. I thought I would like a long skirt, but it felt like I was about to jump on a wagon and go west. 

Let's keep working on this. 

 

I cut over 12 inches off the skirt, I thought shorter was going to be better than my pioneer look. I gave it a new hem to finish it up. 

 

This was much better for me. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Cashmere Beenie & Scarf

 Hello Readers. I found this cashmere sweater at a thrift store and washed it when I go home. It got smaller after that trip through the laundry. What could I do with it? I had an idea. Let's make a hat and scarf from the sweater.

 Give an old sweater, a new life. 

I started by turning the sweater inside out and spreading out out flat on my cutting table. I cut out the hat shape from the body of the shirt. I held the sweater up to my head to get an idea about size. The hem of the sweater will be the opening of the hat. That makes this a fast p[project. .  

I cut a notch out of the top of my hat. This will help it fit better.  

I took one side of the hat and folded it with the right sides facing each other so I could sew that notch closed. 

 

I sewed the notch closed of both sides (The front and back.) of the hat. 

 

Then I can sew the 2 sides, the front and back, of the hat together. I sewed up one side around the top and down the other side. 
 

I turned the hat right-side out and it looked like a nice beanie. I wanted a pompom on top because ... why not?

 

I sewed the pompom on by hand and my hat was done. 

 

Remember the sleeves from the sweater? Let's use those and make a really soft cashmere scarf. 

 

I put one sleeve inside the other with the right sides facing each other. 

 

I sewed around the cut edges so the sleeves were connected. 

 

When I was done, I turned the sleeves right side out and it looked like this. It was sort of like a long narrow scarf but I wasn't quite done yet. 

 

I took the ends of the sleeves, the wrist cuffs, and folded one around the other, with the ends all together.

 

Then I folded the other end around the first. 

 

I sewed the ends or wrist cuffs together with a needle and thread. These stitches won't show so just stitch it together with out worrying about how pretty it is. 

 

When you are done you will have an infinity scarf with this nice, almost knotted look in the front. 

 

 Using a cashmere scarf made these super soft, cozy, and it will keep you warm too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shorten a Dress but Save the Details

 Hello Readers. I loved this dress. I thought the colors and design were so pretty. It was great but as a short person, you can see what happened. It's way too long. That's OK, I can fix that.

Before and after. 

The drawstring waistband really did a lot of work to make this dress fit but I thought the prettiest part of this dress was the colorful ruffled hemline. I didn't want to get rid of that. But I needed to make that dress shorter. 

 

I decided to remove the middle of the skirt. The dress didn't need all the fabric from the middle right?

 

I wanted re-attach the colorful hemline piece to the dress again. 

 

I used clips to hold the bottom piece to the dress. I made sure the fabric was spread out evenly along the skirt. 

 

I used my serger to connect the 2 pieces. This would keep the inner edges from fraying. 

 

I ironed the dress a little to make the new seam smooth and flat. 

 

I loved the new length and I was glad I could keep the colorful hemline. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maximize Closet Space

 Hello Readers. There is never enough closet space, or at least it seems like that to me. I really wanted to make the most of my little closet. I think we all want to get the most from our space so let me show you how I organized to get the most out of my closet space. 

 I couldn't make the closet larger so I had to maximize the space I did have. 

 

 

When the seasons change and you need to wear different (Heavier or lighter.) clothes, it's a great time to clean up the closet. My closet is not that big so I really need to keep it neat and I wanted to try to make the most of the space I had. I also couldn't afford an expensive closet makeover so I tried to be as cheap as I could. 

The first thing I did was bring my jackets to the front. In summer I put the jackets in the back of my closet but it is colder now. I am going to need them easy to access so they went in front.  

 

I want more room available so I decided to put some summer stuff away. I got a plastic tub/tote and labeled it so I would know what was in there. Keeping my summer items in the tote will protect them and keep them dust free all winter.

 

 I gathered the summer items that I knew I wouldn't need. I wouldn't need any swimsuits, or summer shoes and bags. They can go up on a high shelf out of the way. 

 

I put the tote up on my highest shelf but I can always get something out if I need to. Sometimes the shelves can be too high to reach easily. So...

 

I keep a step-stool in my closet at all times to help me reach the high shelves. It helps when I change over season to season but also helps me reach things without having to go down to the storage room to find a stool. I like this one because it has a handle to hold on to when I use it. It keeps me from falling off the stool and breaking my neck. 

 

I also put my warm sweaters in front and used this plastic tote on it's side to keep them neat. The pile of sweaters would fall over if the tote didn't keep the piled upright. I wanted to stack them up high to use that space as much as possible. 

 

Next to the sweaters is an old shoe box where I could put extra hangers. I wanted a place to put them to keep them all together in one place when they were not in use. When I do laundry and need to hang up clothes the hangers will be ready to grab. 

 

My next step was to create a place to hang my scarves. It's cold in the morning, I am going to want to grab a scarf. This is designed to go on the back of a door but I had another idea. 

 

 I hung this from the front of the upper shelf. It stays on securely and I can use it to hang scarves above my sweaters. Its a great use of that open space.

 

I put the scarves on the rack and it's great to be able to see them all and grab them easily.

 

I turned to focus on the other side of the closet. There is a set of shelves that I like to use for shoes and belts. The belts hang on the tips of the vertical poles of the shelves them selves. I didn't need to do anything, just use the architecture of the shelves themselves. I also wanted to fit in as many shoes as possible on these shelves and use all the space. I came up with another shoe box idea. 

 

The shelves are taller than they need to be for shoes. There is more space in there that can be used.

 

I cut one of the long sides off a shoe box to open it up. 

 

I used the shoe box like a little shelf. 

 

One pair of shoes can go under the box and one pair of shoes can go on top of the box. It is a much better use of the space. 

 

I hope that you can use some of these ideas to get and stay organized and maximize your space. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.