Dressember #7-The Plaid Jacket

 Hello Readers. I have been talking about Dressember every December for the past few years. They do amazing work to fight human trafficking and they do it with a style challenge. I like clothes and dresses especially so, of course, I was in. Dressember estimates that in 2021 there were 50 million people trapped in human trafficking situations worldwide. This problem won't just go away and survivors need help. All my refashions this month are dresses and I am wearing a dress or tie everyday as an advocate.

I have seen so many jackets as dresses.  I thought I would try to make one of my own. I found this jacket a few years ago at a swap and it just screamed Christmas. I used the sleeves last year to make a belt. This year I want to use the jacket itself.

Before and after.

I removed the shoulder pads because they were the largest shoulder pads I had ever seen in my life. I used my seam ripper to unpick the stitches and pulled the pads out of the jacket. 

 

 I wanted to turn the edges of the armholes under so I had a sleeveless look. I turned the edges under and sewed along the edge of the armhole.

 

 I added a strip of Velcro to keep the front of the jacket closed when I walked.  Put the Velcro under the button closure.

The jacket was too low cut for me so I wore a shirt under it. It is definitely a mini dress. What do you think? Would you wear a jacket as a dress? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This seems like it's only going to be worn at Christmas but I like it a lot.

Push Up Your Sleeves

 Hello Readers. I have a quick refashion idea for you. This is a great idea if you have short arms and find your sleeves too long or if you have long arms and find your sleeves are too short. 

 My arms are really short, like really short and my sleeves are always too long. It is annoying and I alter a lot of my sleeves to make them fit my arms better. I can't go to work or do anything with my hands covered by my jacket sleeves. This jacket needs a size adjustment.

I could just shorten the sleeves of this jacket that my daughter gave me. (Thanks H for helping me refashion for free in 2021!) I also like to push my sleeves up. It looks more casual and it keeps my sleeves out of my way. It also makes petite women look taller from what I have read. Of course, I want to look taller. First, I made a small opening in the inside of the sleeve. 

 I got a small piece of elastic leftover from an old project and threaded it through the opening. The color is fine because no one will see the green elastic. I connected the elastic so I had a circle going around my wrist. Basically, I made an elastic bracelet inside the jacket sleeve. The elastic tightened the cuffs of the jacket enough that they would stay up on my arms.

It worked like a charm! The sleeves can be pushed up so I look casual and effortless in my hand-me-down jacket. I thought this light blue color was so perfect for spring.

This was a fast and easy refashion that only took about 5 minutes. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-This was a great jacket to me because I love the faded denim color. It has a little stretch too. It is comfortable and easy to wear.

More Blue Overload

 Hello Readers. You might remember this snazzy blue blazer from last week. I loved the blazer but not the blue under-layer that was sewn into it. 

 

I took it out to make the blazer more versatile. I wanted to wear it with other shirts.

When I removed the under-layer I was impressed with the construction. I didn't want to throw it away. I try to save and use all my sewing left-overs. What could I make from half of a tank top?

 Well, I could try to make an entire tank top! I had a blue tank that I liked to wear under other shirts but I got something on the front of it and I could not get the stain out. I cut the cotton tank in half and used the back of it to go with this velvet front.

I could put them together and then I would have a stretchy blue tank top. It would be a really fun layering piece. The velvet/velour was such a pretty color.

These two parts made a complete tank top pretty easily. The stretch in the fabric made this tank really comfortable to wear. I am thinking about the next refashion.

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-This tank is handy and I love the color. Win-win!

Blue Overload

 Hello Readers. It is possible that you are snowed in. It seems like most of the U.S. is in some sort of arctic blast right now. (Unless you are in Hawaii, you guys are enjoying some warm sun.) If someday I get dressed and go out, I have a great jacket to wear.

 

This jacket looks like a fairly normal blazer. I loved the blue color, it was a wonderful jewel tone.

 Here is where things got fun you guys. It is SUPER stretchy. This was great news for me. I love stretch in my clothes. It makes everything more comfortable. Everything should have a little stretch to it! But what is happening inside the jacket? It has a built in tank top? But why? That is a lot of bright blue velvet. Blue velour? Whatever it is, it's not great. Even I have my limits. This seemed like too much. It really limits any mixing and matching with other tops. I don't like that at all.

 

My first step was to remove the tank top. I just wanted the jacket. The tank top had to go. Buh-Bye!

 

The next step was to get the shoulder pads out too. I don't really like them. They are a little too big and I feel like a football player in them.

 

Here is what I removed. It is the complete front of a shirt. It has darts and everything. It would be a great shirt on its own. If only it had a back.

 

When I was done I had a great jacket that is SO comfortable and cozy.

 

The sleeves can be pushed up which gives it a more casual vibe. And when I open it, I can have a regular shirt under it. No more blue-on-blue overload!

 

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-I love this blue blazer jacket. It is stretchy and feels like a sweatshirt. Love it.

The 80's Blazer

Hello Readers. Do you remember the 80's? Depending how old you are this fabulous blazer might remind you of the past. The oversized fit and the wild geometric patterns remind me of junior high and high school fashion choices I made way back when.

This blazer was crushed velvet. The material was a little heavy and stiff. It also has a cool gold button in the front that you can't really see in the busy fabric. I decided to make a wrap skirt. The stiff fabric would be great as a skirt.

I cut the body of the blazer off. It was almost a skirt already.

I put the fabric on my dress form and started pinning. I made two darts in the back to bring the waist in a little. I also pulled the front closed and over on itself more so it had enough overlap to keep me covered when I wore it as a skirt.

I used some simple bias tape to finish the waist and use as a tie to close the skirt.

I moved the button so it still worked with the button hole. I thought it would be a way to keep the skirt even more closed. I don't want the skirt to blow open in the wind. That button is just a little added security.

The best part of wearing a wrap skirt is it is adjustable. If I make cookies for my kids and eat 3 giant handfuls of cookie dough (True story.) I can still be comfortable.

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

And have some cookies too.

 *Year end update-I love this skirt. It's a wild one of a kind skirt.

Wearing My Heart on My Sleeve

Hello Readers. Today is Valentine's Day. I wanted to do something special for the holiday but I didn't want something so over-the-top that I couldn't wear at other times of year too. Here is my solution, a jacket with heart shaped elbow patches. Get it, I'm wearing my heart on my sleeve. Well, 2 hearts on my sleeves. I also altered these red velvet jeans because who doesn't need some red velvet.

So, let's start with the jacket. This is a wool jacket but it felt more like a heavy sweater. It was cozy and really warm. My sister-in-law gave it to me. I think she put it in the wash by mistake. When you wash wool it shrinks of course but it also becomes thick and the material doesn't fray when you cut it. It is really fun to work with. Some people cut up washed wool sweaters to make bags, slippers, and other things. The first thing I did was iron this jacket the best that I could. It was very thick but it looked a lot better when it was pressed.

My next step was to cut out 2 red hearts from some scrap fabric and I stitched them on by hand. I had already tried the jacket on and figured out wear my elbows would be. It didn't take long to do the hand sewing.

You can see the elbow patch here. It brightens up the jacket nicely but is not overwhelmingly with red hearts and valentines.

 

I resized the jacket a little so it would be more fitted. I thought it would be more flattering if it had a more fitted style.

These red velvet pants are cut like jeans. They have back pockets and a zipper fly just like a pair of denim jeans. They also have so much stretch that they feel like sweat pants. This is a win-win if you ask me. They were a couple sizes to big and also too long on me. I made new side seams and gave them a new shorter hem. I kept the bootleg fit, I just made it smaller.

Here is my complete Valentine's Day outfit. It is perfect for the day but I can wear these pieces separately too.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Valentine's Day to you!

*Year end update- I wear these red jeans a lot. They are great for almost anything. The jacket is very warm so it only comes out on very cold days.

Sometimes You Just Need Alterations

Hello Readers. Sometimes I like to do change garments dramatically and sometimes I like them as is. I was given this fabulous sweater/blazer last winter. I never got around to altering it. The black velvet pants I found at a clothes swap. Every woman needs a pair of velvet pants right? They just needed to be shortened.

This blazer is made of a heavy knit material almost like a sweater. It is more comfortable than a blazer because it is soft and flexible like a sweater. It was too large on me. It made me look big and round through the body and super scrawny in the legs. 

Kind of like a chicken.

I used the side seams and the arm seams as a guide to make the jacket smaller. It was easy but the material frayed a little when cut. I did a simple zigzag stitch on all the raw edges to stop it from fraying. It was almost like sewing it twice but it looks nice and neat inside.

Here is what I took off the inside of the jacket. I took a little extra off the waist to make it give it a more flattering fit. It is still loose enough to wear over another top. It's cold out there, I need layers.

Here is my finished jacket with a new fit and my velvet pants just needed a quick hem. It is hard to photograph velvet. It just absorbs all the light and the photos don't show up well. You know what a new hem on a pair of pants entails, so no pics of that.

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