An RBG Memorial T-shirt

 Hello Readers. By now you have heard that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has passed away. I am not an expert on legal issues by any means but... I played sports in school, I had a bank account in my own name when I started working, I rented an apartment for myself based on my income without a co-signer and I was not fired when I got pregnant with my first child. RBG did so much to change the laws that negatively affect women. I can't cover it all here. T-shirts are one off my favorite things so, let's make a t-shirt in her honor.

This is a basic black t-shirt that my husband did not want. It is a men's large.

I searched all my sewing supplies and found the biggest most obvious lace I had. This lace is a fast cheap imitation of RBG's famous dissent collar. The collar she wore is obviously more detailed and fancy. We have to work with what we have, right?

I cut the sides of the shirt down a little because I wanted it to be more fitted. 

This shirt is subtle nod to RBG but I think I I could wear it anywhere.

I also wanted to make some matching shoes. RBG is special enough to warrant a whole outfit. And I already had the black Converse. Why not dress them up? I considered all the white trim I had available.

I settled on this white trim that my mother-in-law gave me. I actually used a needle and thread and stitched the trim on by hand. It was easier to sew through the sneakers than I thought it would be.

The trim on the sneakers is very subtle, just like the shirt. I think people ho are familiar with RBG will recognize what I did here.

I wore this outfit to the doctor for a check-up but I would definitely wear this to work too.

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

 

 

 

The Ruffly Denim Dress

 Hello Readers. Are you in the middle of a beautiful fall? The weather in my area is just gorgeous, but everything else is a disaster. It seems as though the rest of the U.S. is in the middle of a hurricane, waiting for the next hurricane, on fire, unemployed or  just trying to survive in a world that seems very unfair and unjust. Ugh.... everything is a disaster. I can't really do much from here to change any of that except vote. And I already voted.

 So, let's do some sewing and just try to breathe for a while. 

 

This dress was cute but these elasticized shoulders never stay put on me. If I move my arms at all the off-the-shoulder suddenly becomes on-the-shoulder. So annoying!

 

 Thee shoulders and sleeve ruffles ride up and then the dress is suddenly really short. It makes it difficult and sometimes awkward to wear. (No one was flashed in the modeling of this dress.)

I decided to cut the dress up a little. The shoulder ruffle had to go. I decided to keep the ruffle at the hem, it was fun. 

I made the dress into a skirt. The shoulder elastic would make a perfect waistband. Win for me, I don't need to scrounge around for elastic or anything. It was right in front of me. It's a no-waste waistband.

Look at the decorative thread colors. Are they screaming "FALL!" or what?

This skirt is a perfect transition piece between hot summer and cool fall. Those days in between that can be too warm for the heavy fall clothes but you don't want summer colors anymore. The perfectly matching scarf is a free bonus from my closet.

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

1 Last Summer Outfit

 Hello Readers. Summer is over. At least it seems that way where I live. This is the last summer refashion I did before the weather turned cooler.

This light brown linen shirt was a cast off from my husband. He didn't want it any more. I love linen. I love how it wrinkles. I love how it breathes. This shirt just needs a little help to suit me.

I used a shirt I already had as a pattern. I wanted a loose fitting sleeveless shirt not a tight tank top.

I cut out my new shirt and put it all together. I used the bottom of the shirt so I could keep the hem that was already there.

I had a nice loose fitting tank-top when I was done.

I added a small bit of elastic in the back to give it a little shape.

These pants were too wide and long on me. I made them shorts because they were white stripes. I thought white would be a timeless summer look. I saved those 2 leg pieces though. I have a plan for them. You will see them again soon.

I only wore this once or twice and then the weather changed and things have cooled off quite a bit here. I think I can layer the top with other clothes through fall. The light brown is a great fall color. And unless we get a hot day, the shorts are going to have to wait until next summer to get more wear.

 

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

Sweats 2

 Hello Readers. I am back with my second pair of gray sweatpants. Again these were not wanted by one of my family members so I made them mine. After too much lounging, I am trying to get in the habit of exercising more. I always plan to do it and I fail to follow through.  Maybe some sweat pants that fit well will help.

These were nice sweats and pretty new. I liked the gray color but needed to work on the size.

I decided to take these pants in on the sides. That means I had to say goodbye to the side stripes and the side pockets. These were not high-waisted on my man but they are high on me because I am shorter than he is. I like a high waist, so that works for me.

I ended up with a pair of joggers that I really needed and really liked.

And there is even a back pocket for my phone! It shouldn't be unusual to have pockets in women's clothes but I am always excited when I get a real working pocket. Why is this such a rare occurrence? It's like finding a unicorn!

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

Sweats 1

 Hello Readers. Do you feel like sitting on the couch in your sweatpants eating cookie dough? Me too. The only problem was that my sweatpants and shorts are too tight. But that's OK. I have access to my man's cast offs.  Today is 1 of 2 sweat pant refashions.

These sweatpants were simple, gray and basic. The color worked for me. They need to be resized and it was hot the day I was sewing. That made me want shorts.

I cut off the pant legs and made new side seams. There was a drawstring but there was also an elastic waistband in there. I cut the drawstring off and kept the elastic.

I was able to keep the back pocket! It is really handy because it is large enough for my phone. Real pockets are always a big plus for me.

 My shorts were done and it was time for me to take a walk. I have been trying to exercise more. I always plan to do something active but I don't always get to it. New cozy shorts might help right?

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

The Polka Dots Dress

Hello Readers. How is September looking for you? Things are OK where I live but If you are on the west coast there is fire and terrible smoke. It looks just awful. I'm so sorry. I really hope you are all safe and well.

I am not sure where I got this polka dot dress. It may have been at a clothes swap before Corona shut everything down. It may have been a hand-me-down. (I know it was free because that's who I am.) Either way, it didn't fit well. The arm holes were too low and there was some side-boob. It was also supposed to be loose and flowy but it seemed overly loose and a little to billowy.

The revealing sides worried me but I knew I could fix it. I am all about free clothes and being thrifty but the fit is also important to me.

I made 2 new side seams and made the dress a little more narrow. This is a really easy fix and this nice dress is now a great dress.

This dress is so versatile it can do it all. (Like most modern women.) It can get dressed up for a regional meeting that could have been an email. Or it can be dressed down for weekend comfort and fun.

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

The Crayon Dress

 Hello Readers. How are things going with you? I am still trying to hype up my homeschool Kindergartener. This simple navy blue dress was the perfect canvas for some school themed trimmings.

 This dress fit well but the arm holes were too low. It made half my bra hang out. There was a lot of side meat showing. I needed to raise the dress up a couple inches.

The low armholes were easy to fix. I just made the straps shorter. I do this often with tank tops and camis because they can be too low cut on me. I must have short shoulders or something. 

I added the ribbon at the shoulders and the crayon buttons just to make the dress more fun and add a little color.

I added some ribbon at the hem just for fun. It had little crayons of all different colors. The added color brightened up the dress. My 5 year old noticed the crayons and thought this was really cool.

 This dress is like a Tshirt and will be comfy to hang out in. It will be perfect for hot days. Fall is on it's way but right now it is still really hot where I live.

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

 

Paper Shoes & Double Waistbands

Hello Readers. I have back to school excitement to spare. I used that energy to make some fun shoes for school. I wanted them to look like notebook paper. These were easy to make, you can do it too.

 These tan shoes were fine. They were boring imitation leather, but fine. Do we have to settle for boring? Can we make things a little more fun here? I think we can.

 I started by filling these shoes with things to hold them open while I paint them. I used a variety of random plastic items. These shoes has elastic on the sides. You might not need to do this with your shoes.

I used basic acrylic paint to paint the shoes white. I let this dry.

 When I made these lines I used a permanent marker to mark where I wanted the lines. I painted over the marks with acrylic paint to make the lines more visible.

 These shoes are a perfect match for the shirt I made last September.

 What should I wear with this shirt and shoes? Let's refashion some jeans to go with them.These jeans were low-waist/ed. My mom tummy doesn't do well with low rise jeans. The pudge just comes out over the top shows it. How could I raise the waistband?

 I could add a second waistband above the original. That would raise the waist up a little. I cut the waistband off another pair of jeans. I tried to pick a similar shade of denim so they would match well.

 I pinned them together. Pin. Pin. Pin.

 I sewed them together. Sew. Sew. Sew. Be careful of the rivets. They will break your needle.

I removed the belt loops from the lower waistband. They were distracting, there were too many loops. My belt didn't need double loops. 

 

 My new paper shoes, my old paper shirt and my higher waisted jeans were ready for school.

Thanks for reading along, best wishes to everyone trying to start the school year in these crazy times.