Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Tablecloth to Dishtowel

 Hello Readers. I have been upcycling a couple tablecloths I had. The last scrap of fabric became a dishtowel. 

Before and after.

I made a bathrobe, and honestly, it was difficult. 
 
I also made a 2 piece set that had a weird flower/crotch situation.
 
I used my serger around the edges of the scrap piece I had. It was a rectangle so it was almost a dishtowel already. 
 
I turned the edges under and sewed them down. 

Here is my new dishtowel. It was a simple project and it will be handy in the kitchen. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

Tablecloth to Awkward 2 Piece Set

 Hello Readers. I thought this tablecloth would make a cute top and matching shorts. I was partially correct but problems developed as I got into it. Let me show you what I mean. 

Before and after. 

 
I used this shirt to cut out my top. I wanted a loose fit and this top was a great pattern. 
 
I used this sleeve as a pattern to cut out my sleeves. 
 
I had all my shirt pieces ready to put together. Everything was going well. 
 
I added bias tape to the cut edges of the shirt. 
 
I prepared to cut out my shorts. I didn't see my mistake yet. 
 
My pieces cut out fine. I still did not see that I was going to have a problem. 
 
I sewed the shorts together and added a waistband. 
 
 
And here it is. The flower placement is really... unfortunate. I could wear the shorts with a floral crotch center or a floral butt crack. Either way, this was not great.
 
I wore them to a watch party at my daughter's house and either way the shorts do not look great. The shirt is fine but the shorts were not a winner in my book. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
Warning- Watch you flower placement. 


Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Tablecloth to Robe

 Hello Readers. I wanted to make a light-weight robe. I didn't think that it would be that difficult but it was a hot mess and I still don't know exactly how I feel about it. 

Before and after.  

I actually had 2 of these tablecloths. I thought one was plenty big enough to make a simple lightweight robe. Keep reading to see how much this went off the rails. 
 
I used a robe that I made with the Bog Coat Pattern. It turned out like a dream. I love this gold robe but it is too heavy for summer where I live. 
 
I cut out my rob and I can see now that the front panels were not wide enough. They needed to over lap more to be a robe that closes over itself. 
 
I added this red ribbon to the edges of the front and used it as a belt. I liked how it looked but when I tried it on it did not overlap enough in front. 
 
I took the red ribbon off and added a panel along the front and around the neck. This added about 5 inches on each side and it overlapped and closed much better. 
 
I liked the red belt but I discovered when I tried it on again that it was really short. Like REALLY short. I was out of fabric. 
 
I added some napkins. Yes, cotton napkins. I cut them in half and folded them into pleats along the bottom of the robe. I was literally running out of fabric, options, hope and sanity. 
 
(Morning hair.) 
Here is my robe. It has been so frustrating and I am not sure how I feel about this robe. But thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, September 4, 2025

Dress to Apron to Over-Skirt

 Hello Readers. I have been having loads of fun refashioning this blue dress. I made an apron, a pair of shorts and today I made a fun skirt. 

Before and after. 

I liked the blue apron I made but honestly, I have a blue apron already and I treasure it because a friends mom (<3 Betty Lou) made it for me. So, I decided to keep remaking this dress into something else. 
 
I used my seam ripper to remove the top of my dress. I had to un-do all the stitches across the front of the waistband. 
 
I ended up with an open skirt with the tie around the waist already in place. I sewed that waistband closed where I had opened it. 
 
I wanted to wear the skirt over the shorts I posted about last time.
 
I cut the skirt shorter so that it was just a bit longer than the shorts. And I tied it in front.
 
That means I had to cut and iron and ...
 
Sew a new hem all over again. That's OK. 
 
 I really liked how this skirt turned out. I can wear it over the shorts or just wear the shorts alone. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 
 
 

 

 


 

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Dress to Apron to Shorts.

 Hello Readers. I found this dress at a thrift shop and made an apron, but I didn't stop there. I kept sewing.

Before and after. 

 
This dress was really long on me originally. So I shortened it. 
 
When I shortened it, I cut off a lot of fabric. 
 
I cut off over a foot of fabric and I found the biggest hem allowance I have ever seen in my life. There was about 5-6 more inches more fabric in the hem that I could use. I was thrilled. 
 
I decided to cut out a pair of shorts from the extra fabric. There was plenty of fabric for a pair of high waisted shorts. I have used this pattern before, it is starting to fall apart but I love it so much. It is from a sewing book called, "One Piece Wearables". 
 
There was even enough fabric to make pockets. I went off on my own with this, I had no pattern but who doesn't want pockets?
 
I folded the edges in, and ironed the edges to keep them nice and neat. The pockets are the size that I could make with my extra fabric. They couldn't be bigger because the fabric was limited.

I sewed the top edge of the pocket down to make a nice edge. 

I pinned the pockets on each side of the shorts. I wanted to sew the pockets on before I sewed the shorts together. It is much easier this way. 

The shorts pieces can lay flat while I sew each of the pockets in place. When The pockets were done, I sewed the center seams together to connect the shorts pieces. 
 
I had some blue elastic to I used that to make the waistband. 
 
I attached the elastic around the top of the shorts.
 
Then I turned the elastic under and stitched it down with my sewing machine. 
 
These were very easy shorts but I love how they came out. They were a great use of all that extra fabric. Thanks for reading along, believe it or not, I am still not done with this dress. Check back tomorrow to see what else I did with this dress. Now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Dress to Apron

 Hello Readers. I am usually very decisive but this blue dress had me changing my mind again and again. Let me show and tell you all about it. 

Before and after. 

I found this dress at a thrift store and could tell it was hand-made. (If I see a hand-made dress at a thrift store,  I almost always buy them because I know how much work went into making a dress yourself.) I also really liked the bright blue color.

 When I tried it on later I had a small problem. It was too small around. I could not tie the back tight enough to close it. It was also way too long. That's OK, I can work with that. 
 
I opened up the seam that went down the middle of the back of the skirt. It was a straight line and opening it made more room for me. 
 
The seam was easy to open with my seam ripper. 
 
I also cut off about 20 inches of fabric from the bottom. It was so long, it really needed a big cut in length. (Spoiler- This was going to pay off later in a big way.) 
 
I gave the dress a new hem with my sewing machine. 
 
This dress became a shorter, better fitting apron. 
 
I really liked it. It was cute and useful, but I wasn't really done. Come back tomorrow ans see what I did with the extra fabric. Now go make something fun for yourself.