Shortening Linen Tunics

 Hello Readers. A lot of my sewing stems from being super short. I am only 5' tall. Clothing manufacturers do not have me in mind when they make clothes, everything needs to be shortened. That's OK, let's talk about shortening tunics. Tunics are meant to be long but what if you want a shorter length? How do you decide on a length? 

Before and after.

Is it a tunic or is it a dress? I like to thrift and I ended up with these 2 linen tunics. I love linen, it's so nice for summer. These tunic tops were too much to tuck in when wearing pants and not enough to wear alone as a dress. I really wanted 2 shirts. Shirts are kind of boring but we all need those kind of basics in the closet. Let's make a couple shirts from these tunic tops. 

 

You don't need a paper pattern from the sewing store, you just need a shirt you already own and like to wear. If you want to tuck your shirt in, get a shirt from your closet that fits you well and tucks in nicely. If you want a more cropped length, grab a shirt you already own that is a good length for that. I used a shirt I already liked as a guide for the length I wanted to make my new shirt. Using a shirt you already own and like is great because it doesn't cost anything and you know you will like the fit & length because you like the original shirt's fit & length.

 

I like the length of the floral shirt here and used it to cut the excess length from my tunic. I didn't cut it the same length, I need extra to make the new hem. Linen frays like crazy, a new hem has to be sewn. I left an extra inch in length to make the hem. Use sharp sewing scissors to make a clean cut. That will make it easier to sew the new hem.

 

I used the floral shirt for the pink tunic too. I left an inch of length to make my hem on both shirts. 

 

I used my serger on the cut edge of my tunics. I stitched all the way around the bottom of each shirt. Linen frays so quickly and easily, I wanted to keep that fraying to a minimum. 

 

You can see the serger seam here. I ironed each shirt with a very hot iron. I wanted the edge turned in so I could sew my new hem. I could have turned the edge under twice but linen can be thick and I did not want the hem of the shirts to be too thick or bulky. The serger will keep it from fraying and...

 

I used my sewing machine to sew the new hem in place. I sewed using a straight stitch all the way around the hem of my shirts to keep the hem in place and keep the serger stitches hidden. 

 

The shirts had long sleeves and my arms are pretty short. (Short woman-Short arms.) The blue shirt had straps and buttons to keep the sleeves pulled up a bit and out of my way. 

 

The pink shirt had plain simple sleeves and they were too long on me. I decided to add elastic so I could push the sleeves up and keep them out of my way. 

 

I used my seam ripper to open the end of the sleeve. I didn't take out the whole seam, I only needed a few stitches removed. 

 

I used a safety pin and narrow elastic to alter the sleeves. I attached the pin to the elastic and threaded the elastic through the opening at the end of the sleeve. This only took a few minutes. You can wrap the elastic around your arm to get the size correct. Everyone's arm will be different size so check your elastic before you put it in the shirt. 

 

I tied my elastic in a little knot to connect the ends of the elastic. When I was done, I tucked the knot into the opening. 

 

I sewed the opening closed again so that it will look nice and neat. The elastic is hidden but I can keep the sleeves out of my way. 

 

 Both of my shirts turned out great, I love the new length. And those long sleeves cover my arms but stay pushed up, out of my way. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use Purse Handles for Display

 Hello Readers. Is that a weird title? It probably is, but stay with me. I had these adorable embroidered dish towels. I believe my great grandmother made them. I am not going to hang them on my oven. I have kids and these heirlooms will be used to wipe up chocolate milk off the floor before I can stop it. I want to display them in a "safe" place and in a pretty way. Let me show you what I did. 

I want to display my special things, of course, but without damaging them. 

 I believe my great Grandma made these about 75 years ago. (I can't verify that.) I love them. They are so adorable. 

 These towels are special to me but any towel could be displayed like this, just for fun. Even a modern store bought sassy towel like this. It would be cute hung-up in a bathroom or powder room. You could even display a beautiful scarf in the bedroom using this idea. 

I looked all around my house for a way to hang these towels. I have lots of crafty stuff in my sewing room. I went through my drawers of supplies. I must have something somewhere I could use. Like these handles meant for bag making. 

  I had these bamboo purse handles and these black plastic purse handles as well. Which would be better? I think I can make either set work. That's great, it's nice to have options. I wanted to hang the towels in the kitchen but not in a spot my family would think these were towels to use for everyday. I think the little spot on the wall will work nicely. Its on the opposite wall from the sink so no one will walk all the way over here from the sink to dry their hands.  

I measured to find the center of the wall and marked where that would be for my nail holes. These towels are light and won't pull on the nail like something heavy would. I am also not taking them off and hanging them again like a much used dish towel. Small nails will be fine here. 

 I put the nail in the upper spot first. I just tapped with a hammer and it was done. I based the height of the towels on how high I could reach. I didn't over-think it. I just wanted to display my great-grandma's towels at close to eye level. There were two towels so that was easy. 

 Now I can try the different handles on the wall to hold the towels to see what looked best. What do you think of the bamboo? It is light in color so that might be a good choice.  

 The black handles are darker and might be too dark for some kitchens. I really like how it looked with the black stitching.

I actually used these handles upside-down. To keep the towel on the black handle I tied some narrow cord from one end of the handle to the other. The cord won't show under the towel so, shhh, don't tell anyone.  

 Which handle would you choose? I chose the black and I love how they turned out. The handles are not altered or damaged so they can still be used to make a bag or purse someday if I ever want to. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

 

Easy Bunk Bed Storage

 Hello Readers. Does every kid want bunk beds at some point? I did and all my kids did. When friends offered us these bunk beds we were happy to take them. Our youngest was very happy to have bunk beds. The only problem with bunk beds is that there is no bedside table or night stand for the top bunk. I wanted to fix that.

 Easy bunk bed storage. 

 

 I used several pairs of jeans. I used men's jeans but because the pockets are the largest. Denim is so strong, the material is sturdy enough to make some storage out of it.

 I cut the legs of the jeans off with my sewing scissors. I just wanted the waistbands and the pockets. 

 I cut the jeans open so they would lay flat.  

 

 I cut my jean pieces based of the jeans them selves. One pair was ripped in back, as you can see here, so I used that as the place to cut the whole thing flat.  

It can be cut in any arrangement that you like and think that works best for the jeans you have. 

 The first thing I had to do in my child's room was get this bed out of the way. I also vacuumed and cleaned the room. We moved this whole bed out of the room.  

 When the bed was gone we were able to assemble the bunk beds. They were pretty easy to put together, according to my husband who did most of the work. We made the beds and then I got to the storage part.

I needed a way to hang the jeans. I had these S hooks and they would be great for hanging my storage pockets.  

The S hooks can hang on the bed and hold the jean pockets at the same time. The S-hooks move easily too. That is helpful if you need to move your stuff around often. 

 

This is the perfect place to keep small stuffies close by. They won't get lost when they have a pocket to sleep in. 

 

This is also a great place to keep your latest book so you have it close by and you can read before going to sleep. 

 

The pockets are great for other items too. If you like a note pad or journal, put them in a pocket. You can also keep tissues, cough drops, a water bottle, eye mask... whatever needs to be close by can go in a pocket.

 

If you want to use something else to hang your denim that's OK. I tried using 8 inch pieces of grosgrain ribbon and that worked really well. It held securely and couldn't get knocked off the rails by accident. 

 

I also tried small zip ties and they worked great as well. 

 

I cut the long ends off with scissors so no one would poke their eye out when they rolled over in their sleep. 

 

Whatever you use to hang your storage pockets, you can fill the pockets with whatever you think is important. And you can change your mind at anytime. This is great for kids because they always seem to  have a lot of "stuff". 

 

Our bunk beds were set up and had enough storage for all these little friends and so much more. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself and your bunk bed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Altering Men's Shorts to Fit a Woman

 Hello Readers. I found these white men's board shorts at a clothes swap and I thought white linen shorts like this would be great for summer. They were designed for a man but maybe I could make them work for me. 

Before and after.

These shorts were long and were not cut for a woman. Men's pants and shorts are usually cut very straight, they aren't designed for a woman's more curvy figure. I was going to re-cut the shorts and there was a draw-string and that would help make the waist fit well. Let's see what I can do. 

 

I tried the shorts on inside out and checked the fit. I marked the side with blue sewing chalk where I wanted to make the new side seam. The shorts just needed to be more narrow at the waist and just a bit more narrow through the hips and legs. You can adjust this as you need for your body shape.

 

I cut the shorts to a shorter length. I will need to hem them later but this is a good start and it got some of the extra fabric out of the way. 

 

I cut the extra fabric off the side seams where the blue marks were. That cut into some of the pockets. I cut the rest of the pockets along the top, just under the waistband. These pockets were going to have to be taken out. It would be difficult to keep them and alter the size. The shorts had back pockets so, it's fine. 

 

The front and back of the shorts were cut to the size I wanted and just needed to be sewn together.

 

I used my serger to sew the side seams. This linen fabric will fray like crazy so the serger is great to sew the new side seams and keep the material nice and neat inside the shorts. You can also use the zigzag stitch on your sewing machine for this. Just sew along the edge of the fabric and the zigzag will wrap around the edge. 

 

I ironed the new hem in place so it would be nice and neat when I sewed it in place. I turned the edge in twice and ironed all along the leg opening. 

 

I used my sewing machine to sew the new hem in place and since these shorts are white, it was easy to match the thread. 

 

My new shorts were done. The waist tie is still in place. The draw-string is attached at the sides in the new side seams. I tried to make the waistband fit around my waist well but the drawstring still works in front of the shorts, I can still use that to get the fit just right around the waist. 

 

 The back pockets and the seams are all white and they can show through the shorts. White fabric can be a bit sheer. Beige underwear didn't quite work with these shorts, the seams still stood out. I found that white underwear in a boy-shorts style like these, worked better with these white linen shorts. I was always taught to go with a color that matches the skin tone but in this case, the white underwear was much better.

 

The new shorts fit well. White linen is nice and cool in summer, and linen breathes so well in the heat too. Stay cool everyone and go make something fun for yourself.