The Bow Sweater

 Hello Readers. I am an avid thrifter. Not everything at the thrift store is in perfect condition. Sometimes things have a bit of damage. This sweater was like that. It was nice soft cashmere but it had a few small holes in the front. I thought I should mend them. 

I made a bow sweater. 

The holes were not big, I just didn't like them.  

I saw this sweater on TikTok. It was so cute! The bows gave me an idea. I could mend the holes and add a bow to cover the spot.  

I grabbed some ribbon. 

I sewed the ribbons on all over the front of the sweater to make it look like the original sweater. 

 

It was done but I did not like wearing it. When I wore it the bows fluttered around when I moved and it drove me crazy! I ended up removing all the bows a few days later. 

 

I saw this sweater on Pinterest. It was cute too. 

 

I found some pom-poms.... should I sew these on the sweater? Will they drive me crazy too?? Any thoughts? Let me know in the comments. I am in a sewing idea spiral. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

Mending Old Jeans 2

 Hello Readers. My daughter found these wonderful appliqued jeans for me at a thrift store. The floral details were so pretty. They were seriously distressed. I like distressing but these were a little too much for me because of the location of some of the distressing. Some parts of me need to be covered. I am picky like that. Let me show you how I patched them up. 

 Before and after.  

I loved these jeans but the holes on the upper thigh were too revealing for me and it's winter. And I would freeze with all these holes. The knee holes would make me really cold as well. The length was not right either, but I can fix all that. 

 

I wanted to patch some of these holes for warmth and modesty. I was particularly worried about the holes at the hips. (My underwear would show through some of these holes. I can't go out like that!)

  

I do not have enough scrap denim to patch all these holes. I did have some of these iron-on patches.  

  

The patches are denim looking but they can do so much for me than scrap fabric could do. 

 

The reverse side of the patches are shiny. That shiny side goes directly on the fabric. When the patch is ironed, it sticks to the fabric. 

 

I turned my jeans inside out and placed the patches on the holes I wanted to cover. I used all the different shades of blue that I had on-hand. I wasn't worried about matching the jeans exactly but you can match your patches if you want to. I placed the patches shiny side on the fabric and ironed them in place. I used a very hot iron, (Similar here.) follow the directions on your patches in regards to the desired temperature needed for the iron. 

 

I turned the jeans right-side out. I ironed the patched spots again from this side to make sure the patches were well adhered to the denim fabric. I didn't want loose patches. 

 

Here is a look at one of the patched spots. The fraying covered the patch quite a bit. To add strength to my patches I sewed over the jeans and patches. I used light blue thread to match the fabric. I sewed forward and reverse, back and forth, over and over. The stitches will keep the patches in place for sure, even over time with washing and drying. The holes will be covered and I won't have to worry about it.  

 

Here is another patched spot. You can see the stitches clearly here. I kept sewing back and forth to cover the spot. I did not patch every single spot on the jeans, just the larger ones on the hips and upper thighs. 

  

 The knees also bothered me. The holes were actually not on my knees. They were lower because I am really short.  I decided to patch them using the same kind of iron-on patches, these were just larger patches because the holes were larger in these 2 spots.

 

I ironed these patches inside the jeans with my iron, just like I did with the other patches. They ironed in place just as easily. 

 

 I could not get the leg of the jeans under my sewing machine so I reinforced these patches with some hand sewing. I sewed around the hole and around the patch to attach the patch to the jeans. I think sewing the patches in place makes them MUCH stronger and they will stay in place much better over time if you take this step. 

 

These jeans were so distressed that I did not hem the pant legs, I just cut them to the length I wanted. The edges will fray and that will match the rest of the distressing in the jeans well. 

 

 I had a sweater that matched the applique design really well. I really liked these jeans. They had a fun bohemian vibe and I love the distressing, patches and visible mending. Repairing things that we use and love makes me feel good. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

Mending Old Jeans 1

 Hello Readers. When I find a bargain, I can't resist taking it home. These jeans were only 25 cents because they were so worn and damaged. I have been thinking about how much we throw away and how wasteful we can be with clothing but also all sorts of things. I want to take the time to mend and repair the things I own and love so... I bought the jeans and decided to try and rescue them.

Before and after. 

These jeans were really worn in and the denim was so soft. It takes so long to break denim in like this. When I saw these for such a low price, I saw a lot of potential. But there were a lot of problems. These were men's jeans. They didn't fit me well. There was also some wear and small holes in embarrassing places.  

You can see the hole right next to the zipper. That is not going to work for me. That is an area I really want covered. I started unpicking the crotch below the zipper. 

 

I unpicked several inches of the seam. I didn't un-do the zipper itself. Just the crotch seam.

 

With the seam un-done I could pull the right side of the pants over to the left and cover that hole. These jeans Had plenty of room so this will actually improve the fit for me. 

 

I wanted to sew the jeans back together like this. That hole will be covered up. 

 

Let's zoom in. I stitched the jeans back together in the new position. I sewed slow and used a new needle because multiple layers denim can be tough to sew through. A denim needle will work best. 

 

There was a similar hole on the back of the jeans. It was right next to the pocket. I do not want a hole in the bum of my jeans. That is another area I really want my jeans to cover is my bum. Let's mend that hole.

 

I found a scrap of denim to use as a patch. I wanted it to be much bigger than the hole. It is going inside the jeans and it will be right over the hole. 

 

I sewed back and forth over the hole and patch to re-enforce the fabric. My stitches are extending about 2 inches beyond the hole to add strength to the whole area. 

 

You can see my stitches here. I sewed forward and backward over the area in both directions. That will make the patch stronger too. The pocket was a more complicated spot to fix but it wasn't too difficult. I stitched vertically next to the pocket and then horizontally above the pocket because I had to work around the corner of that pocket. 

 

I wanted to narrow the legs of the jeans a bit so I sewed along the inner seam to make a new seam that was a little smaller. I turned the jeans inside out and made sure the leg of the jeans was flat and smooth before I sewed my new seam. 

 

I also cut the jeans a bit shorter. I cut at an angle so the front of the pant leg was a bit shorter than the back of the pant leg. 

 

My new/old jeans were great now. They fit so much better. The holes are patched, filled in, and covered. Thanks for reading along, now go repair something fun for yourself.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quilted Sweateshirt

 Hello Readers. Free promotional shirts are so common at thrift stores, we all get them from festivals and events.They get donated often. They are usually covered with advertising and they are not very cute. Let's make this promotional sweatshirt as cute as can be. 

 Before and after some simple alterations.  

 This sweatshirt was boring and blah. I can change that though. I have some scrap pieces of a quilt. I want to use some of this quilt to decorate this sweatshirt and make it special. (This is a modern quilt made in a factory, it was not made by my grandmother or yours. It's not antique or vintage. Please do not get upset about cutting up this quilt. It's OK. I have 2 quilts made by my great grandmother and I solemnly swear to never cut them.) 

 I measured the area that I wanted to cover. This shirt has printing on the front and back. I want to cover both. I cut a square-ish rectangular shape to cover the printing. I don't want to see any of the writing peeking out around my quilt piece so i used the size of the writing as a guide for how big to make my quilt piece I made my quilt piece a bit larger than the printing I wanted to cover.  I un-picked the stitches of the front pocket. I saw there was a stain on my shirt at the waistband, that's OK. I just cut it off. The pocket came off with the bottom of the sweat shirt. It looks short right now but I will fix that later. 

I pinned the quilt piece in place over the printing with a lot of pins. I wanted the quilt piece to stay in place and not shift around at all while I was sewing. The pins will do this.

 I used a zigzag stitch on my sewing machine and stitched along the edge of the quilt piece. The stitches will cover the cut edge and make it look nice and neat as well as attach the quilt piece to the shirt. The light blue is a nice color with the quilt and the sweatshirt. 

 When I was done sewing the front and back pieces onto the sweat shirt. I got a long horizontal piece of the quilt. It had a really pretty scalloped edge and I wanted to sew it on the bottom of the sweat shirt. It would add the length that I had cut off and it would be a fun look. 

 My new sweat shirt was cute in front and back. I liked the new look. 

 I added some light blue ribbon through the hood casing because it didn't have any string in it. It was just for fun and added a touch of matching light blue to the hood. 

 

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

Can a Skirt Be A Dress?

 Hello Readers. Can a skirt become a dress? It can if you want it too be a dress. Let me show you what I mean. 

 This is a quick refashion project. 

This skirt was a little too long and a little too big but I loved the color and pattern of it. It would be difficult material to shorten at the hemline so I had another idea, Let's make it work as a dress. 

I spread my skirt out flat with the back and front centered where they should be. I cut just under the elastic waistband. (DON'T CUT THE WAISTBAND ITSELF!) I cut in 4 inches on each side. That will make my new armholes because this baby is going to be a dress. 

 

I wanted the waistband to look like shoulder straps. I turned the ends of waistband up. I just folded the waistband on itself at a 90 degree angle. 

 

I sewed the waistband on itself to make the straps. I sewed it in place on both sides in front and back. This made the straps go straight over my shoulders nicely. And it only took a few minutes.

 

I sewed around the armholes using a zigzag stitch just to make it look more finished. This skirt is a knit so it won't fray, but this extra step just makes it look nicer and neater. 

This dress is very loose. That's OK. Trust the process. 

I added a belt to cinch in the waist a bit. 

I added a sweater because it is cold as ice outside where I live. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.