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. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corduroy Dress

 Hello Readers. I love this color blue. I would call it ultra marine but Google disagreed. According to them it is Phthalo blue. Or Thalo, there were so many color options. I did not learn anything from my color research. Anyway...I loved this jumper dress because the color appealed to me. 

 

It's Phthalo???

 

I found this at a clothes swap and did not realize it would be so baggy. I still loved it and wanted to make it fit. 

 

I tried it on inside out and pinned the sides where I wanted new side seams.
 

I sewed new side seams and cut off a bit of fabric from each side of the dress. 

 

Here is a look at the new side seam.

 

I didn't change the dress in style or shape but I love the new fit. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

Dress to Shirt

 Hello Readers. I liked this dress but I didn't need it. I really needed some long sleeve tops to layer under sweaters. My part of the world has become arctic and I need more long sleeves. Could this dress be a shirt? Sure it could.

Before and after.

This knit dress was like a long T-shirt. I needed some long sleeve shirts so I decided to make this dress into a shirt I could wear more often. Especially in the cold weather we have been having. 

This dress had a waist seam and I decided to cut the skirt off about 3 inches below that seam.

 

I removed the zipper from the back of the dress. I had to cut it in the middle when I shortened the dress anyway. I unpicked all the stitches and took out the zipper completely.

 

The back of the new shirt was open like this. That's OK. I can now sew the 2 sides back together. It went over my head fine without the zipper. 

 

I sewed up the back seam and it only took a minute. 

 

This is the inside of the new shirt. I wanted to sew the bottom of the shirt to the waist seam. That would create a waistband of sorts at the bottom of the shirt. 

 

Here is a look at the shirt from the outside. You can see how the bottom looks like a waistband. It's an easy way to finish the shirt without buying anymore sewing supplies. 

I liked to little floral pattern with this cream colored outfit. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

Sparkly Gold Formal.

  Hello Readers. It is Dressember 2024. I am wearing and refashioning dresses all month to participate in this fund raiser. This organization works to help the victims of human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world. Currently there are an estimated 27million victims around the world. Most of these victims are women and girls. That is why we wear dresses all month, to raise awareness of this issue. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month. Visit their website to learn more.

 It's New Year's Eve. Are you going out somewhere fancy or staying home? I am probably staying in this year but with this sparkly dress, I will be ready for a spontaneous night on the town.

 Before and after.

This dress was so pretty. I found it at an unusual thrift store located in a warehouse. I was on a road trip and stopped in. It was a diamond in the rough. 

It was just way too long. Even my highest heels couldn't fix this. It needed to be shortened.

 

I gave this dress a big cut to shorten it. 

 

The original hem was a visible and wavy lettuce leaf hem. I wanted to recreate that. 

 

I set my stitches as close together as I could and I gently stretched the fabric as I sewed. That would give me the look of the original hem. 

 

My dress was shorter but what about the fabric I had cut off. Let's use it. 

 

I had this piece from the hem. What if I made a shawl or wrap to go with my dress?

 

I sewed the cut edges together with the right sides facing each other. 

 

 I always like to use all the fabric and this was a great use. When I go to my next formal party I will be ready. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.