A 2-Tone Top

 Hello Readers. This week I have been putting things together to make 2 tone clothes. This shirt was a quick project. I wanted to see if I could put 2 stretchy knits together and make smooth seams.

Before and after.

 

These 2 shirts were plain and I didn't mind cutting them up.

 

I started cutting the shirts into 4 pieces. 

 

I wanted to put my new shirt together like this. I double checked each piece to make sure they were all the same height and width. The gray piece on the lower right was a little wider than it should be, I trimmed it so it would fit with the other pieces. 

I clipped each top piece together so I wouldn't sew them together wrong. 

I sewed the top 2 pieces together and then the bottom 2 pieces. Next I sewed the top to the bottom. 

I liked this color combo a lot and it was soft and comfortable. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update***- This was a fun exercise top. I really like this one.

 

Making 2 Tone Jeans

 Hello Readers. Can I put together 2 pairs of jeans for a fun 2 tone look? Sure I can! I have been wanting to do this denim project for a long time.Read along and then try it yourself.

 

Before and after.

I have been wanting to make a pair of 2 tone jeans for a while. I had to wait until I could find 2 pairs of jeans with a similar cut and fit. I couldn't match up a pair of loose fit jeans with a pair of skinny jeans. These 2 were both a straight cut and fit me a tiny bit loose so, they would be a great pairing. (Don't use jeans that are too small or just barely fit, you need a bit of extra room for all the new seam allowances. Try for jeans that are at least 1/2 a size too big.)

I started cutting the jeans open with sharp sewing scissors. I needed each pair of jeans cut into 4 parts. I wanted the front and back of each leg separated and I wanted the left and right legs separated.  I cut up the side of each leg, using the side seam as my guide. Then I cut the jeans apart in the center/crotch seam.

 

 Basically I cut along the right side of the big seam in the center of the backside. I cut the blue jeans the same way. Cutting each pair of jeans the same way will make it easier to put the pieces together later.

 

I cut apart both pairs of jeans This might sound confusing. Keep reading for more pictures and explanations. It will make more sense in a minute.
 

I matched up the front and back pieces with pieces of the other color to show how I plan to put them together. There is a blue leg and a black leg in front and in back. I did not cut the zippers. I kept them intact. Let me show you what I mean.

I kept enough fabric on the left side this zipper so that I could sew it to the blue side of the jeans. (About 1/2 an inch.) I did not want to remove the zipper completely stitch by stitch, just to sew it back in. This was much faster. 

Here is a look at the zipper from the back. You need about half an inch of fabric next to the zipper to sew in to the other front piece. You can see how I sewed the 2 front pieces together with the right sides together. There was just enough black fabric to sew it to the blue half of the jeans. Cutting the front pieces like this also kept the button attached to the zipper piece. You will need a sewing machine for this project, I can't imagine sewing all this by hand.

 

I sewed the legs with the right sides together using a straight stitch. I started at the waistband and sewed down. I went back later and used a zigzag stitch on the edges to keep it the new seams from fraying. I wanted strong seams and sewing twice makes me feel more secure. You will end up with a pair of jeans that is inside out when you are done sewing all the pieces together with the right sides facing each other.

They looked like this when they were done and I turned them right-side out. The fronts and backs are blue and black. The blue jeans were a bit longer than the black. I cut off the excess blue so they would be even all around the ankle. I did not hem them. I wanted the frayed/released hem look.

 

Here is a good look at the back of the jeans. You can see the big seam from the black left leg is sewn on top of the blue right side. This is the only seam I did not sew with the right sides facing each other. I wanted that seam to show like a normal pair of jeans. I stitched right on top of the 2 lines of stitching that were already there.

 

I wanted to switch the pockets to the other colored side of the jeans. 

 

 I used a seam ripper to unpick the stitches on the back pocket. This took a little while but it wasn't difficult. I worked my way around both of the pockets and separated them from the jeans. 

I sewed the pockets back on the jeans. I stitched over the stitching around the pockets.

It was easy to put the pockets in their new location because there were stitch marks where the pocket was originally. I just switched the sides and reattached the pockets.  You can see the pockets were not the same size. You can see there is some roughness to the areas where the pockets came off the jeans. All that distressing is part of the look. It gives the jeans a lived-in vintage vibe.

I really liked how they turned out. They are fun and casual. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update***- These were one of my favorite projects of all time. I loved these jeans and when they got too tight I was really bummed.

 

 

 

An Asymetrical Wrap Skirt

 Hello Readers. I made a wrap skirt with an asymmetrical drape on one side. I have seen them and thought I could put one together for myself. 

This wool has been sitting in my sewing stash for a long time. I thought it would be perfect for a wrap skirt. It is a little thicker and heavier since it is wool so it will work well. 

I had more than enough for a skirt and 

 

 I liked the colors.

 

I started by wrapping the fabric around myself to see how wide it was and if it would hang the way I wanted. I was also checking what length I wanted.

I cut the length I wanted and moved it to my dress form. I pinned it to the dress form and wrapped it around the way I wanted it. I wanted excess fabric in front to create that draped effect.

I needed to make some tucks in the waist to improve the fit. I pinned 2 tucks in back and 1 on each side.

I sewed the tucks and I was almost done already. 

I didn't need to make a waistband because I used the selvedge side of the fabric as my waist. The fabric was woven like this and that edge was perfect for the waist.  

I didn't hem the skirt in the traditional way. I pulled the horizontal threads all the way around the hem so I would have a sort of "fringe".

When the fringe was long enough for me, I stitched with a zigzag stitch above the fringe. I thought this would keep it the threads from loosening more over time. I don't know for sure if this was necessary, I was just making all of this up as I went along. (That is how I usually approach sewing, and life!)

I used a large brass pin to secure the outside of the wrap skirt. I liked that because it was easy and because it would be easy to change the fit any time I wore it.

I secured the inside of the skirt with Velcro. I did that so it would be adjustable as well. I could have used a button or hook and eye closure but those would not be as adjustable. 

I liked the drape on the side. It is just a front panel that extends out wider than a normal wrap skirt. This was such an easy skirt to make, and it is so adjustable I know it will always fit me. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update***- This skirt was so easy to make and I still love it. The waist is adjustable so it fits even when I hit the cookies too hard.

Stained Glass Window to Coffee Table

 Hello Readers. I wanted to turn a stained glass window into a coffee table. Why? It was pretty and I had no place to hang it up. It was fast and easy to change it to  table. Let me show you.

One of a kind thanks to my MIL.

 

This picture is about 25 years old. (That is my husband, daughter and nephews having dinner and grandmother's house.) The stained glass window is hanging above the kids. It was always there as far back as I can remember.
 

This window was so pretty and it was given to me by my mother-in-law when she down-sized. It is special to us but I just did not have a place to hang it in my house. We tried to find a spot for it for about a year. There was no good place. My daughter suggested a table.

 

Before I did anything permanent, I put the window on these wire baskets to see if I liked it as a table. We lived with this for a couple weeks. It looks questionable but it helped me be sure I liked it and the size was great for a coffee table.
 

This window was heavy. The hook that was drilled into the frame seemed large enough that it would have gone at least a couple inches into the frame. That told me I could drill into the outer edge of the frame to add legs to this window. But first, I needed to remove this hook and chain. 

My husband used pliers to twist open the chain link and remove it.

He twisted the hook around until it was loose and then he removed it from the frame.

I ordered these metal table legs from Amazon. There were many options and heights... whatever style you want, it's out there. The set came with all the screws we needed.

The window frame had couple marks on it. I wanted those marks to be hidden so they will go on the underside of the table. I put the window down on the floor and put the good side down. 

With the good side down on carpet to protect it, we could mark where the screws would go. We centered the leg in the corner and made a dot where each whole should go. You can see the style of the legs would allow us to drill along the outside of the window frame and not drill too close to the glass.

My husband used a drill to make small holes where we had marked the frame. He used a very narrow drill bit, smaller than the screws we were going to use. These holes will make it easier to put the screws in and keep them straight.

The next step was to use the drill to put in the screws. We lined up the holes from the leg with the holes in the frame. We changed the drill bit to a Phillips head drill bit so we could turn the screws. We could have done this with a screw driver, but this was much faster. We attached all 4 legs in the same manner.

 

 We flipped the table over and it stood very nicely on the legs. 

I wanted to camouflage the holes where the hooks had been. I needed some fine grit sandpaper just to smooth the edges of the hole. I didn't have any, so I used a nail file. It worked great for this tiny job.

I picked up some wood filler from the store and tried to match the color of it to the frame. 

I smoothed the filler over the holes with gloves. I didn't want it to stick to my skin. 

I wiped the excess off the frame with a wet paper towel to clean it up where needed. 

The table was done. I was happy we were able to use it in such a pretty way at our house. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.