Linen & Bleached Denim

 Hello Readers. It is super hot and really humid here. I know schools are starting and that means fall is on the way but my weather says summer. When I saw this linen shirt I thought it would be great for the summer heat. Refashioning the shirt inspired a bleached denim refashion as well. 

This button-down shirt was a little boring. Zzzzzz....

 

I didn't really want the collar. I cut that off as soon as I could. I thought a round neck would be good.

I changed out the buttons and added some cream colored lace to the neckline. This seemed like an easy way to refresh this shirt and break up the solid color. 

Here is my final shirt. I liked how the lace and more feminine buttons looked.

I really liked the cream colored accents. When I went to the store I saw some cream colored jeans like this. I really liked them. I thought they would look amazing with my new shirt and I did not have any cream colored denim. But I am not shopping/spending $ in 2021, what could I do?

I decided to make my own. I had these tan jeans in my refashion stash. Could I lighten them? I could try.

 

 I knew what I needed. (This is not an ad. They do not know me.)

I washed and soaked the jeans in bleach and water for 2 hours. This is what I found when I opened the washer. It worked out perfect! Thanks Clorox!

Like every pair of jeans I have ever owned, they needed to be shortened. You can see the thread did not lighten like the denim fabric did. I liked the way it looked. I used the same tan shade to hem them and made the same wide band at the hemline of each leg. I wanted the waist to be fitted and the legs to be loose. I keep seeing looser fit jeans are in style and I want to embrace the new look.

My new outfit was great. I really like how it all came together. 

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-I love these jeans. The bleach did just what I wanted it to and they are a fun neutral color. The shirt is great too but it seemed more summery than the jeans.

 

Stripes & Lace

Hello Readers. I can feel that summer is coming to an end but there is still time for a summer refashion. I liked both of these blue and white striped shirts. I like blue and white and I like stripes. So, what's not to love?

The mostly blue shirt was a little tight and the mostly white shirt was one of those off-the-shoulder tops that doesn't stay where they are supposed to. When ever I wear these they ride up and become a cropped shirt and I don't like that much of my mom-tummy to show. But look at that gorgeous lace trim!

My first step was to start removing that beautiful lace trim. I used my seam ripper and got to work. I set the lace aside until later.

My next step was to cut off the back of the mostly blue shirt. I did not cut off the entire back. I only cut  under the arms, across the back and down the sides.

I planned to sew the back of the mostly white shirt into the mostly blue shirt.I used the piece I cut off as a pattern but made it a bit wider at the bottom. This will add a few inches and make the shirt more roomy.

Now it was time to add the lace back on at the waistband. It was so pretty. It was the highlight of this whole refashion. I just used a narrow zigzag stitch in white thread and stitched over the lace. It was easy to reattach.

I cut the sleeves a little shorter and then added the white lace on the sleeves as well. I wanted to use as much of that pretty lace as I could.

This shirt fit better after all these additions and the lace made it so much more fun to wear. I don't know if you need to wear masks at work but I do. Check out the "No Sewing Required!" mask below.

***   No Sewing Required Mask   ***

Remember the piece I cut from the mostly blue shirt. 

I cut this oval shape and made small slits on the sides. The measuring tape is just a guide. Your face might be a different size. 

I like to tuck the mask in on the sides of my nose. It seems to keep my glasses from fogging up. 

I had enough fabric to make 2. These masks are my favorite because they are soft on the ears and they stretch to fit my face easily. The knit material doesn't fray at all. It's washable and you can layer more than one at a time if you want a thicker mask. 

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-I liked this top. It went together like I planned. It hasn't been out since summer though. 

 

Kids Club House

 Hello Readers. I found a playhouse a few years ago. It was on the side of the street in my neighborhood. It didn't seem broken, just really faded. I knew I could fix faded. So, it came home in my car. (It was sticking out the doors of my Honda Civic but I got it home.)

 

I washed it off and put it together. It was solid but the door was broken. The roof was very faded. And so were the red shutters. The gray and tan walls looked fine so I wasn't worried about them. 

 

I gathered all the acrylic paint I could find and started painting. I used a light blue on the roof because I had enough of it to cover the whole roof with at least 2 coats of paint. 

 

 

The acrylic paint adhered very well to the plastic. I let it dry between coats. 

 

 

I painted those faded red shutters and then it got more fun. The little house had a whole designed interior. It was embossed in the plastic but there was no color to it. I decided to follow the images they put in the plastic and make them stand out more with some paint. You can see there is a little kitchen area and a floor lamp. 

 

On the other wall there was a fire place. I painted the fire and the fireplace to make them more colorful. 

 

There were a couple potted plants that needed some color too. Again, I did not create these, they were already there. I just painted them. 

 

There were even pretend outlets!

 

Since the door was broken I just hung a piece of fabric as a door. 

 

Thanks for reading along. I wanted to extend the life of this little club house because this plastic will sit in the landfill for ages. It was old but it did not need to be trashed, it just needed a little make-up. (I can relate to that on so many levels. Old but not trash. Just add a bit of make-up!) Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. Or your kids. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-This was so fun. It is still in my backyard.

Chair Covers

 Hello Readers. I like to do projects around the house and one project I have been wanting to do for at least 5 years is slipcovers for my kitchen chairs. 

These chairs came with this vintage table. I love this retro table. The chairs seem to have been recovered in the popular colors of the 70's. These greens and golds do not match my house at all. 

My house is all blue and white on the first floor. Like, all blue and white. These chairs do not fit in.

I decided to get to work and make some slip covers using whatever I had on hand. I didn't want to break the no shopping in 2021 ban I put on myself. (I can only buy thread and needles in 2021.) What did I have that I could use? I had not really looked in the stash. I had a denim bedspread with a few holes I could cut it up for parts. 

I had a matelasse bedspread with an ink stain I could use that.  I have tried everything I could to get the ink out.

I had a little of this blue striped fabric I could use it as well. 

I did not know where to start so I turned to my daughter for help. She figured out a pattern I could use for the slip covers. I knew I needed a pattern for this and I knew I did not know how to make a pattern. She did some magic and made me a pattern.

It took a long time to cut all the pieces out. I was careful to make sure I had enough for all 6 chairs. I wanted to use all these different fabrics but I also wanted to make each chair exactly the same. 

 It was finally time to sew. I made the seat covers first. I used some of the blue and some of the white. The white had a pretty scalloped edge that I liked. The covers sit on top of the chairs and tie on the back legs. I have a 6 year old and I knew I needed something I could take off and wash. (*He got chocolate on it 2 days after I put the cover on.)

I made the covers for the seat back next. I used all 3 fabrics for these. I had all these fabrics and trim pieces on hand so this is a 100% freebie project. I didn't really have much choice as to what fabric went where. I just had to use the fabrics that could fit the pattern pieces.

I used the blue denim on the back, The white on the top and the stripe on the front of the covers. I put the pieces together and then top stitched all around. They tie on each side. I did not have enough zippers to make the slip covers with a zipper in each one. So, ties it would be.

It took me so long to get to this project but I am so glad I did it. 

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-My chairs look so much better. I have washed them a few times and they was well. They made my kitchen look more put together.

Halter

 Hello Readers. Do you remember this silk dress? I got it from a swap because I loved the color. And everyone love silk right? The halter top of this dress was very skimpy and low cut. It wasn't my style. What was I going to do with it?

 

The dress originally was a low cut halter style that tied behind the neck. It was SO LOW that I was not comfortable even modeling it. (I have 3 kids. I nursed them all for at least a year. This is not a good style for me.) 

I made the skirt of the dress into a shirt. But now that top was actually just what I needed. That's right. I needed a skimpy backless halter top. But why? Don't get too excited, it was actually pretty boring.

I finished the bottom of the halter top so it would look nice and neat. When I cut it off the skirt of the dress I left about 1/4 inch extra fabric. I tucked that extra fabric under and used a zigzag stitch to cover the cut edge. 

Here is a close up. The was an elastic seam already in place so I pulled the fabric smooth while I stitched to make sure I was getting all the fabric together.

The elastic gathered back again when I was done sewing. This made a nice elastic band at the bottom of my new halter top. It was still so open and low in the front. I wanted to fix that too.

I folded the top together and stitched the v-neck closed. I wanted the top to be less low cut. I made sure all the ruffles were flat and sewed the v closed from the inside.

Doing this gave me more coverage in the bust. The ruffles hide this and it just looks connected.

The top is still has that classic V shaped neckline but it will stay closed and nothing will pop out that should stay closed. 

I know lots of people would wear this out dancing or to a fancy date night. Where did I wear my new halter top? The doctor. It sounds weird but I had to get allergy test and I knew I would have to be backless for a little while. My youngest was with me so I thought if I wore a halter top I would be less uncomfortable and naked during this whole changing/testing/getting dressed process. They did give me a paper jacket to wear but the halter top made me feel more comfortable. (Is that a tattoo? Yes, I was young once. And I got the smallest tattoo I could. It is a very faded shamrock. )

This silk top doesn't have to just go to the doctor. It deserves an evening of disco dancing. I don't know if that will happen but maybe someday. 

 

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-This top was really useful but I have not worn it again.