IKEA Throw Blanket

 Hello Readers. We were given some nice cozy throw blanket for Christmas. They are soft and lovely and they came from IKEA. This gray one is my youngest child's blanket. I thought it was pretty. I also thought it would make a great scarf. I am game to find fun fashion anywhere so let's try it.

 Before and after.

 

 

This gray one is my youngest child's blanket. I thought it was pretty.

 This is how he uses his blanket. It was perfect to tuck in a few small squish mellow friends.

 

It was soft and draped so nice, could it be a scarf? I think so. It was warm around my neck. The neutral color was nice too. I think it is a great scarf. Maybe IKEA should market them as scarves too. Thanks for reading along, now go find your fun fashion wherever you can. 

Shorten Coat Sleeves

 Hello Readers. Sometimes clothes don't fit perfectly. It is easy to shorten the sleeves of a jacket to fit you better. It only takes a few minutes and you don't need a sewing machine. You only need a needle and thread.

 

Before and after.

 

I liked everything about this trench coat. But the sleeves... The sleeves are several inches too long. The sleeves are going to make it hard to drive and I'm gonna wreck! I need to shorten them. I can do this without taking the whole jacket sleeve apart. 

 

 I tried on the jacket and turned the end of the sleeve in.

 

 I folded the sleeve in until it was the length I needed.  

I ironed the sleeve so I would have a crisp fold at the end of the sleeve. I turned the sleeves inside out. Ironing the sleeve made it stay in place well and I can see where my fold is. Now I need to sew it in place. 

I used a sewing needle to sew this by hand. I also use basic black all-purpose thread. I threaded the needle and tied a knot at the end of my piece of thread and I was ready.

I made sure my needle went through the lining (Only the lining.) of the sleeve and...

Then I made sure the needle went through the edge of the sleeve. I sewed all the way around the sleeve to secure the folded edge to the inside of the sleeve. It doesn't matter if this is messy sewing with some uneven stitches. No one will see the inside of the sleeve. 

It only took a few minutes to sew these stitches all the way around the sleeves. You can see my sewing is not anything fancy, that's OK. I just want to hold the sleeve tucked in the sleeves when I am wearing. 

My hand is out of the sleeve better now and it fits better. 

It's cold and windy where I live, I hope you can stay warm and cozy all winter.

Artistic Jeans

 Hello Readers. Do you like distressed denim? I love almost anything of  denim and jeans are my everyday uniform. But these are a little too distressed for me. Especially in winter. My legs would freeze in these. They were only 25 cents at one of my favorite thrift store! I brought them home and decided to patch all these holes.

 

Before and after.

 

 

The holes in these jeans were not going to work in the winter where I live. It is freezing outside. I would turn into an ice cube. 

I need some patches. I decided to use this fabric I had on hand. This fabric is cotton and has a nice weight to it, it's pretty thick. It is for home interior decorating projects. It will be a good match for the thicknes for these jeans. I could cut out some of the pictures and use them as patches.

I cut out the pictures with my rotary cutter. I cut the pictures out based on the size of the picture and the size of the holes in my jeans. I wanted the patches to be a bit larger than the holes.

I arranged the patches on top of the jeans to make sure the holes were fully covered. I arranged them carefully to make sure my plan would work.

 

I used this iron-on hem tape to hold the patches in place. Pins would also work but they always seem to shift around and stab me when I am sewing so this tape will be safer for me. 

I placed the tape under the patches. I put it around the edges and ironed the patches to the jeans following the directions on the package. 

I unbuttoned the jeans. This allowed me to get the jeans into position on the sewing machine. I used a zigzag stitch all around the patches. The stitching will hold much better than the iron-on tape alone over the long term. 

It took a while to get around all the patches and wiggle the jeans around my sewing machine but it worked out great.

My jeans were finished. The patches were all in place and all the holes were covered. My legs would be warm and covered all winter. 

I love the colorful and fun patches. This was such a fun way to "fix" the distressed spots on my jeans. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Resize a Duvet Cover

 Hello Readers. I love to sleep. Going to bed is my favorite time of day. I love going to bed. That means I think bedding is important. I have a nice weighted blanket that helps me sleep. I wanted a second duvet cover for it. I had a full size duvet cover but my weighted blanket is smaller than that. Instead of buying something, let's resize it. 

Queen size duvet covet got cut down to size.

 

This project started with a weighted blanket that was about 40x60 inches. I like to use it at night to help me sleep. I wanted an easily washable cover for it. I'm sure I could buy one but could I use something I had on hand?

I had this Piltandvinge duvet cover from IKEA. The cover I had was queen size. That would not work for my small weighted blanket. 

I made this very low-tech visual aide to explain my plan. Imagine this is my pink duvet covet. 

 

My weighted blanket is much smaller. The pink duvet would be much too loose to fit on my blanket. 

 

I needed to cut away the excess pink duvet fabric away. I left 2 inches of extra pink fabric all the way around the blanket for my seam allowance and for room to slip the blanket inside the cover. The
pink duvet cover had an opening at one end to get the blanket in and out of the cover. The real cover had the opening where I am pointing. I made sure to keep the opening on a side I DID NOT cut. 

 

I planned to sew the 2 sides I cut and then my new cover would fit my weighted blanket very well.

 

I measured and cut out my pink duvet. There are so many different sizes of weighted blankets, your measurements may different from mine. Just make sure to leave extra room on all sides to slide the blanket easily into the cover. An inch or 2 on each side would be plenty of extra space, some of that space will be used as the seam allowance.

 

My weighted blanket had loops all the way around it to attach it to the duvet cover. I used chalk to mark on the pink cover where the loops were. I wanted to add ties to my cover at each spot. That way I could attach the blanket to the cover and prevent the blanket from shifting around the cover and getting piled up in one corner. The weighted blanket is heavier than most blankets, it will be better to try to hold it in place.
 

I put the right sides of the duvet cover facing each other and then sewed the new side seams. I added a piece of ribbon too. I added the piece of ribbon to the spots I had marked. They need to line up so the blanket and cover fit together well and can be nice and smooth on the bed. 

I used ribbon for my ties. Any ribbon would work for the ties. They are hidden inside the cover and no one will see them. I cut my ties about 6 inches long, 8 inches would have been even better.

 

Here you can see how I tied the blanket and cover together. This makes the blanket stay put and keeps it spread out smoothly in the cover. 

 

When everything was tied together, I flipped the cover right-side out and shook it out to make the blanket and the cover spread out. 

 

The easiest way to get the blanket and cover sorted out was to hang them over the stair railing and give it a good shake. 

 

I liked the pink cover a lot more than the industrial gray blanket. It looks nicer on my bed and it can come off for washing once a week with the sheets. Thanks for reading al, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garment Bag to Winter Vest.

 Happy New Year Readers! I have been really trying to use fabric and sewing supplies that I have already. I have so much stashed away, I don't want to buy more until I use some of this stuff. One thing I have had for over 20 years is this garment bag. It was part of a travel set that Longaberger Baskets sold. The fabric was a collaboration with Vera Bradley. I also have a matching tote bag. I just never used the garment bag. Like ever. Let's use it now.

 Before and after.

This garment bag is a cotton fabric with a layer of batting like the Vera Bradley bags and purses you might be familiar with. It would make a great jacket. 

I used my Bog jacket as a guide for this project. 

I cut out my pieces and I though it was all going to turn out great. But I made the sleeves too narrow. That is why I ended up making a vest. That's OK. This will be a great vest. 

 

I cut out pockets and made sure to get some of the other pattern on the back of the garment bag. 

 

I made a button hole at the neckline. I wanted to leave the vest open but I also had a pretty blue button I could use. 

 

My vest was done. I wanted it to be roomy enough to wear over other layers. 

 

I like the color blue so I knew I would like this vest. It turned out great and it was just in time for much cooler weather. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

Sparkly Gold Formal.

  Hello Readers. It is Dressember 2024. I am wearing and refashioning dresses all month to participate in this fund raiser. This organization works to help the victims of human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world. Currently there are an estimated 27million victims around the world. Most of these victims are women and girls. That is why we wear dresses all month, to raise awareness of this issue. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month. Visit their website to learn more.

 It's New Year's Eve. Are you going out somewhere fancy or staying home? I am probably staying in this year but with this sparkly dress, I will be ready for a spontaneous night on the town.

 Before and after.

This dress was so pretty. I found it at an unusual thrift store located in a warehouse. I was on a road trip and stopped in. It was a diamond in the rough. 

It was just way too long. Even my highest heels couldn't fix this. It needed to be shortened.

 

I gave this dress a big cut to shorten it. 

 

The original hem was a visible and wavy lettuce leaf hem. I wanted to recreate that. 

 

I set my stitches as close together as I could and I gently stretched the fabric as I sewed. That would give me the look of the original hem. 

 

My dress was shorter but what about the fabric I had cut off. Let's use it. 

 

I had this piece from the hem. What if I made a shawl or wrap to go with my dress?

 

I sewed the cut edges together with the right sides facing each other. 

 

 I always like to use all the fabric and this was a great use. When I go to my next formal party I will be ready. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.