Lining a Lace T

Hello Readers. How are you? I hope you are well and getting through this strange time. I am trying to stay busy and be patient. Part of staying busy for me is sewing. I think it keeps me calm. I am still trying to get my antique sewing machine working so today's post is all hand work.

This freebie promotional t-shirt was given to me by my daughter. I loved the color. I am not sure where I got the shorts...a clothes swap somewhere, I'm sure. The shorts were nice but too long on me. They ended right at the bend of my knee and were not comfortable when I wore them. They also had some paint on them.

One thing that annoys me is see-through clothes. Why do manufacturers make so many sheer and see-through tops like this lace shirt? I want my clothes to at least cover the parts I am legally required to cover! (Maybe cover even more than the law requires.) Otherwise why bother with clothes at all.

There was no lining behind the lace on the front of this t-shirt. The entire front was see through lace. That means I needed to wear 2 shirts. For some reason that just irritates me.

I decided to use this freebie promotional t-shirt my daughter gave me to solve this fashion problem. I loved the blue color. I didn't love the logo on the front. I cut it open in the front and used the back of the t-shirt as a lining for the front of the lace shirt. I put them on my dress form inside-out and pinned them together along the seams. The blue t-shirt will not fray so it made an easy to attach lining.

I used a needle and thread and stitched them together by hand like a village woman from ancient times. I also churned some butter and ground some wheat into flour. (Just kidding!) But I really can't wait until I have a sewing machine to use again.

The denim shorts had some paint splatter on them and they were way too long on me. I cut them to a shorter length and rolled them up once. (Easiest no-sew refashion ever!)

I like the lace t-shirt a lot now that it isn't see through. It seems a little dressier than a plain shirt but is just as comfortable and easy to wear. The lace really pops with the blue fabric behind it. I didn't line the back of the lace t-shirt, it was a solid off-white fabric that did not need to be lined.

 I hope it warms up enough to wear shorts soon. It is a little too cold right where I live.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
Stay well and safe.

Overall Repair by Hand

Hello Readers. I am still following the "stay-at-home" order and doing it without a sewing machine to keep my busy/sane. So I am only hand sewing for a while. Maybe I will switch to glue..I am not sure. I had to work on these overalls that I posted about a few months ago. I loved them.

But I got bleach on them when I was doing laundry. I was so bummed. I had to try to save them.

 

I tried to cover the bleach marks with a black permanent marker. I know it sounds crazy but I was desperate. I would give this cover-up job a C-. It might have been good enough but the location made it a complete fail. The blurry part was very prominent on my chest. I didn't like it. It felt more noticeable.

 I had to try a second cover-up. I made a pocket out of some small fabric scraps. I have always liked this sneaker fabric. I made a pocket out of the scraps and attached it to the chest of my overalls. I used some hand sewing and the rest of the iron-on tape I had.

Here is my pocket. I liked the patterns together.

These overalls are perfect for lounging at home when you are not allowed to go out and they are great for walking the dog which is an approved activity. I hope you are well and safe where you are today.

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

Going Sleeveless

 Hello Readers. I am writing from Corona virus isolation/quarantine. I hope you are well and safe. I'm having a sewing machine malfunction. It's more than a malfunction. My machine is done for good and when I started using my daughter's machine, it started to malfunction as well. We sent it off to get serviced. I moved on to my mom's old machine and it literally locked in place. It is still frozen in position on my sewing table. 

So, let's have a flashback to a 2016 refashion. My daughter gave these shirts to me recently. She refashioned them back in 2016. Read on to see what she did.

Hello Readers. It is the last hot, hot days of summer. I am battling a bad case of poison ivy and the heat just makes it even more itchy. I am taking lots of medications to try and get rid of it but since I am not at my sewing best, I am going to share a little of my daughters recent sewing. She has finished college and is working in an office and has been trying to add to her work wardrobe. She was working on a couple tops this week.

This first top looked so cute and fresh with this blue and white color scheme. The only problem was the pattern went from cute to overwhelming and crazy when she put the top on. Her solution was to remove the sleeves.

She simply cut the sleeves off right next to the seam and then turned the raw edge under twice and stitched it down. Below you can see actual sewing.

Here is the new seam. It is very small and narrow. It was very easy and the fabric didn't pucker or twist. She made the smallest seam she could to keep the armhole about the same size as it was originally. I think this helped the shirt keep it's shape.

The new shirt is great for summer and it seemed to calm the wild pattern down when there was less of it. Sometimes less really is more.

***UPDATE- I made this shirt a few inches shorter because it was so long on me.I used iron-on tape since I don't have a sewing machine. I will stitch it down someday so it is stronger.

She also used the same fix for this floral top. It had puffy cap sleeves that were just a little too puffy.

The new simplified arm holes were quick work.

She liked the new look much better. It was just a cleaner simpler look.

***UPDATE- My daughter made these shirts over 3 years ago and I am really happy she gave them to me. Staying home is really getting to me. Stay safe everyone. 

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

Easter Dye

Hello Readers. How are you doing? Spring is here. That makes being told to stay home 24/7 a little easier. A daily walk makes me more cheerful even when I am not social-distancing. I like the mild weather of spring. And I like to wear skirts when it gets warmer. Today's project is a skirt and top.

This top fit well but it was such a blah color. Off-white can be so depressing. But check out the pretty design at the hem of the shirt. The skirt was brown/black and off-white. I wanted to brighten them up and improve the fit of the skirt.

I used some Royal Blue Rit dye in my washing machine and the color was much better but the shirt didn't take the dye evenly.

The skirt was actually a skort. I don't have any problem with that in theory. The lining was a loose, static charged, nylon that was really uncomfortable. Nylon makes me itch. It had to go. I removed the loose baggy under-shorts.

I took in the sides a little. It didn't need much to make it fit better. The skirt did much better with the dye.

 When I tucked the shirt in the dye looked even enough. I liked it with this black shirt under it. I actually wore this on Easter Sunday. I made a big brunch, took a walk, watched our church on TV and had cake and ice cream for dinner.

We ate this cake right here. My 5 year old helped me decorate it.

 It tasted much better than it looked.

This bunny has seen some things!

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

Blue for the Red Sox

Hello Readers. I hope you are doing well where ever you are today. I am on furlow because of the Corona virus so I am home and trying to stay comfortable. That means T-shirts and I had one that needed help. This Red Sox shirt was too tight. It didn't really have any stretch either. But I like the Red Sox. I know baseball has been cancelled, like everything else but I am still a fan.

 (*More about the Red Sox at the end of this post.)

If the blue shirt is too tight, what can I do to fix it? I could have added fabric to the blue shirt to make it bigger. The part I liked was the team logo so what if I just removed that logo and added it to a different and larger shirt?

 I cut the logo off in a rectangle shape. Easy!

That blue piece will cover the corporate logo of this red shirt my daughter gave me. These freebie T-shirts are everywhere and great to use for refashions.

I wanted to stitch the rectangle on the red shirt and decided to add a button. Why the button?

I wanted a little baseball button but I didn't have one. I painted the fabric button white and added the red stitches with a red Sharpie.

I thought the button and the red stitching added a nice touch to my T-shirt.  

 My baseball T-shirt was done and I liked it a lot.

 I wanted to make the jeans shorter and I wanted an uneven released frayed hem. I did some very messy cuts .

 The jeans didn't fray like I thought they would. I just had jeans with a crazy uneven cut hem.

 I rolled the jeans up to get a boyfriend jeans look. I was happy with that. I went for a walk around my neighborhood. I got caught in the rain and only wore this outfit for about 27 minutes. It was great while it lasted.

Thanks for reading along. And stay well. 

*In October of 2004 I went to visit my brother and his family in Boston. It was an eventful trip. A lot of wild stuff happened; a car fire, a screaming fight in Faneuil Hall with a crazy lady who was scaring my kids, sweet tourists from Japan that didn't speak English but tried to help me, a broken stroller in the middle of a big crosswalk, a crazed sprint up the Bunker Hill Monument that gave my SIL a serous asthma attack, so much fun. It was my first time in Boston and it was the week of the MLB playoffs. The Red Sox had lost the first 3 of 7 games. The city was full of manic energy. We were downtown everyday to see the historical sights and enjoy the city. Everyone was obsessed with the game coming that evening. The statue of Paul Revere had been dressed in Red Sox clothing. Every shop and museum seemed full of nervous energy. There were signs in every window to support the team. After a day downtown we would watch the games in the evening. They had to win EVERY game after the third so we were glued to the TV screen. They won the last 4 games of the series (It was historical and enchanting.) and went to the World Series. They won that too. It was exciting and fun and I was pulled into the whole team spirit.