Black Pants 2.0

Hello Readers. This is my second pair of black pants. OK, they aren't really black. They're navy blue in the bright light. I am cheating a little, do me a favor,  just pretend they're black.

These dark denim pants have a lot of stretch and I like the style. They are more dressy than normal jeans. They are more like trousers. But they don't fit at all.

These pants are a no-go.                         I am dreaming of a better fit.

I took the sides in little by little. I didn't want to mess them up. I just kept trying them on and making them smaller. Some areas needed more taken in more then others. I also hemmed the bottom about and inch.

The belt loops were right on top of the side seams. I had to unpick the stitches and remove them. I did all my sewing and then put them back on.They were easy to re-attach. I just stitched over them where the previous stitching was. 

They are my size now and they have a nice stretchy waistband, these might be my new Thanksgiving pants. They are a little nicer than jeans but don't need ironing. Yeah!!!

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

Black Pants 1.0

Hello Readers. I have a few pairs of pants I need to work on. I am going to do them all in a row for fun. Today is the first pair. These are lightweight black pants or trousers. My tall daughter gave them to me. She could wear them as they were. Me? No way!

These pants fit so well until you look at the bottom of the legs. Ugh, seriously long here. High heels will not correct this problem. They need to be shortened obviously. I decided to make them into shorts. Making shorts should be easy right? I have made horrible shorts in the past. They always seem too tight or too loose. These are fitting well so I decided to try it.

I used a pair of shorts I liked as a guide. I made sure to line up the crotch and leave enough length to make new hems on each leg.

I got the new hems all finished. It is hard to see but I cut off the lower half of the back pockets. The extra fabric bunched up when I wore them so I just cut them out and stitched the cut edges to stop any fraying.

What is this? I didn't feel like getting the iron out and found that the flat iron for my hair works great on hems and edges. It applies heat from both sides and pressed my new hems in no time.

My new shorts are all finished. They were a quick and easy project and they will come in handy as the weather gets hotter and hotter. Shorts are fun, you can make them any length you want.

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

The Super Maxi Skirt

Hello Readers. My last post was about a skirt I didn't end up liking too much. Today I am posting about a cool striped skirt that turned out much better, in my opinion anyway. 

It began as a maxi skirt that my daughter didn't want anymore. (Thanks Cookie!) Check out those chevron stripes. I liked it but as you can see it is not just maxi it is "super-maxi". I didn't want to change it too much but the length needs help and it is a bit loose in the waist. The waistband is really wide too, I'm not sure I like that.

I started by taking the waist in a little on both sides. That made a huge difference in the fit. So far, so good. I didn't take the skirt in because I need that room for the caboose, if you know what I mean. I don't want this skirt to get tight and ride up when I am wearing it.

I folded the waistband over and stitched it down. The more narrow waistband will be easier to wear, I think. I think the wide waist was intended to be worn low on the hips but if I did that the skirt would just look saggy.

You can see some progress here. The waistband is finished and I cut some length off the bottom. I could go shorter but decided to try a mid length first. I can always take more off if I want it knee length.

I gave it a quick hem. It isn't going to fray but I thought a real hem would look more finished. I only turned it under once so it won't be too bulky or heavy.

This skirt has a nice A-line shape. It is perfect for hiding all the lumps and bumps. No one needs to see or know about those. Shhh....

This skirt is ready to wear and I won't trip and kill myself on the hem anymore. (I am clumsy, this is a real possibility.) Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.

How I Spent A Few Days Making A Skirt I Hate, From A Pair Of Jeans

Hello Readers. I had this pair of jeans in the refashion pile waiting to be made over. The jeans themselves were in good shape. They just didn't fit or flatter me in anyway.

 They are too low at the waist and way too long. Ridiculously, too long!

I decided to make a skirt out of them. I have seen other people make really cute denim skirts and I love anything made of denim. It seemed like a great idea. What could go wrong? I started by cutting the legs apart along the inside seam. That part was easy.

When I looked at the jeans at this point I started to lose my focus. I didn't like how the center seam curved to the right. I wasn't sure what to do.

I connected the legs at the center a sewed a new seam. I wasn't sure if this would work.

Here is the center seam from the back. I trimmed some of this off and then stitched it down so it would stay put. I was really not sure what I was doing at this point. This skirt seemed doomed.

I used the bottom of one leg to fill in the front of the skirt. I tried to keep my center seam straight and positioned the seam of the pant leg in place.

I pinned it in place so it wouldn't shift around. I used some thick gold thread to sew it together because that was the thread used in the original jeans. I thought it would make it more unified. I was honestly not sure of any of my decisions anymore.

Here is the finished front and back of this new skirt. It came out better than I thought it would.I trimmed the bottom to make all the pieces even and I stitched all the way around with the gold thread. Sitting here by itself it seems harmless. It looks so much better here than is does on me.

This style just doesn't work for me. It is too straight and narrow. It makes my upper body look like a huge gorilla or something. I can't figure it out, it's just off. I am passing this skirt on  ASAP!

I think this face pretty much sums up how I felt about these jeans before and after.

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

"Small" Black Floral Dress

Hello Readers. How is everyone today? Feel free to reply in the comments section below. I hope you are all well and happy. My project today is a pretty black floral dress that was handed down to me from a fabulous woman who was cleaning out her closet. (Thanks Sharon!) I love it when people do that. It helps me with my goal of not actually buying anything to refashion. I have cheated once or twice and gone to the thrift store but almost everything on this blog was free to me.

You can see from my face, something is wrong. This dress is a size small but it is still quite big. The arms are loose and baggy and so is the body of the dress. A loose dress can be nice in the summer heat but this is too much bagginess.

I tried it on and got an idea of what needed to be taken in. I wanted to leave that nice full skirt alone. I thought if the arms fit better the dress would look more appropriate on me. I pinned a new seam along the arms and sides. I moved the new seam in about an inch, and tapered it out at the waist.

Here is the finished dress. You can't see the little tie/belt/sash thing in the back. I just left it as it was. Cutting off the excess fabric caused some fraying inside. I really want a serger because it makes those kind of seams so nice and neat. But a zigzag stitch will control that crazy fraying.

I wore it out that night to get my hair done. This is the face of a woman that needs to get out more.

As always, thanks for reading.

The Green Dress Skirt

Hello Readers. I found this dress at a clothes swap (of course) and loved the style and the color. When I got home I discovered the top was saggy and too skimpy to cover what I wanted covered. I was disappointed, I thought it would be a great dress for summer.

You can see how it sags in the front. A saggy chest area is not the look I want. Does any woman want this look? Something is wrong with this dress.

I cut the top off. I was careful to keep the waistband intact. I cut very slowly to get as close to the edge of the top portion without cutting the seam of the waist. It was going to make an easy skirt. 

I made an opening in the waistband and ran elastic through it. I had already checked it against my own waist to know how long to make it.

I connected the two ends and tucked it all in the opening I made. I know the elastic is striped, no one will see it. It's OK. 

Here is my easy finished skirt. I wore it to a picnic. It was nice and cool in the heat. After I saw this picture I started to dislike the shirt. I don't know why but it isn't working for me. Maybe it's the dorky pose? I look like I am on a ship scouting for land.

                                                        

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

Baby Clothes Display Shelf

Hello Readers. I saw that my neighbors were getting rid of this shelf, so I took it. That's right, I took it. As soon as I saw it I knew what it should be.

As you can see. it was a little beat up and it appeared that it had been chewed on a little by their dog. That's OK, I can work with this.

I sanded the rough damaged areas with some sand paper. I didn't try to make it perfectly smooth, I just wanted to get the worst of the chips off.

I dusted it off and started painting with this white paint. The shelf isn't the important part of the end project, it is just going to be used to hang some special things.

It took a few coats to really cover the original brown wood. I painted really heavily on the scratches to help fill them in.

When I finished it was a nice clean fresh white. The flat paint makes the rough spots less prominent. Glossy would have made them stand out more. And it will be hung on a white wall which will also help it blend in.

It made a great display shelf for some of my little guys cutest outgrown clothes. These are all special for different reasons, so it is sweet for me to see them.  

It looks nice above his dresser. While I was hanging the clothes he was emptying the container of baby wipes. It's his new favorite activity.

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