Dress to Shirt & Shorts

 Hello Readers. I saw this shirt dress and loved the stripes. I thought they looked a little like pajamas. I wanted a shirt from this dress. And could I make shorts? Was there enough fabric? Could it be done? Let's see.

Before and after. 

Love the stripes, don't love the length of the skirt. Let's make some shorts.

I cut the top of the dress off. I made my cut right under the waist tie. I left a little extra to make a new hem at the bottom. 

 

I hemmed the bottom of the shirt. And that was it. My new shirt was done, but what about the shorts?
 

I used a pattern to make the shorts. I thought if I positioned the pattern just right, I could keep the pockets. 

I cut the pieces out and it was looking good so far. 

I put the shorts pieces together. 

They looked like shorts! Yay! I needed to hem the legs and add a waistband.

I added some really ugly elastic but...

I turned it under so no one will really see it.

My new combo makes me think "pajama chic" loungewear. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Year End Update***- I love these stripes. I wear the shirt a lot. The shorts? Not so much.

A Summer Dress to 2 Piece Set

Hello Readers. I know it seems like fall will arrive soon but I know it won't show up where I live for another month. It is always hot in September. Let's refashion a summer dress.

Before and after.

 

I love this gauzey cotton fabric. It is so light and it never needs to be ironed!
 

I cut the dress right under that bust seam. I wanted to make this into a 2 piece set. I had elastic to match the skirt so I could add a waistband that would match perfectly.

I used a zigzag stitch to connect the elastic waistband to the outside of the skirt. This was a quick and easy way to make a separate skirt. I didn't mind having a visible waistband because it matched so well.

When I flipped the elastic up, it looks nicely finished and hides the stitches.

I shortened the skirt quite a bit because it was so long on me. I am short so I usually shorten almost everything.

I hemmed the bottom of the shirt and took a little fabric out of the sides. This made the shirt a little more fitted and made the armholes a little smaller. That gave me the fit I wanted.

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

***Year End Update- I loved this color and I wear the skirt with other things a lot.

Change a Shapeless Dress

 Hello Readers. It was also shapeless and just kind of blah. It was made of cozy sweatshirt material so I thought it had potential to be cozy. I thought it just needed a little reshaping. 

Before and after.

 

If you have trouble sleeping at night, just look at this dress. It will put you straight to sleep. The shape and length are not doing anything good for me and while I do like navy blue... the color is not very thrilling either.

I thought this dress needed a defined waist. It would give it more shape. I also thought a 2 piece dress would be more modern. And I could wear the pieces separately. The dress is a little wider than the orange skirt. I could use that extra fabric from the sides later.

I decided to use navy blue elastic. I was going to make a visible waistband. I thought it would kind of look like a belt and break up all the stripes. The navy color would match the sleeves too. 

I cut the dress in half based on the length I wanted the skirt to be. I wanted to add the elastic waistband to the top of the skirt. I made the elastic into a circle based on my waist size. I used a zigzag stitch to connect the ends of the elastic.

The new waistband brings in the waist and gives the whole look more of an hourglass shape. I thought that would be more flattering. The new look is not more "dressy" but that is OK, I didn't want it to be dressed up, I just wanted it to be less shapeless.

I made a small waistband for the shirt from the scraps I had left when I made the skirt. When I wear it this way the elastic waistband is hidden by the shirt. 

Here is a close up of the new shirt. I really like the cropped length. The stripes change direction in the waistband and it breaks up the stripes a little. 

 

I like the navy blue waistband on the skirt too. This was an easy refashion project but I really liked the results. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

 

***Year End Update- This outfit is like a big blue sweatshirt so of course I love it.
 

Dress to 2 Piece

 Hello Readers. How is August treating you? It is so hot and so humid right now. Wearing dresses is much more comfortable than wearing shorts and pants to me. I wanted to update this floral dress a little and make it a 2 piece outfit.

Before and after.

This dress was pretty. It was cotton and the flowers were perfect for summer. The length was not right on me at all. I was too short for this dress. It was too long on me. It needed some adjustments. 

I cut the dress into 2 pieces. I cut under the waist seam and left a little bit of fabric so I can turn it under and stitch it down.

 

 I used my serger around the cut edge at the bottom of my new shirt (Gray thread.) and then turned it inside so I could stitch it in place.

 

  I stitched it down with a straight stitch. You can see it along the bottom edge of my new top.

I had a plan for the waistband. Here is a quick overview of what I was going to do.

The next step was to make the waistband look nice and neatly finished. 

To get a smooth waistband I pulled the elastic very gently and made it smooth while I was sewing. When I let it go it will gather back together on its own. This keeps it stretchy enough to pull on and off.

My 2 piece dress was finished. I liked how it turned out. I used the bottom of the dress for this skirt and it made a nice A-line shape.

The elastic waistband looks nicely gathered and it was easy to make. 

It was great for a little dinner out. Happy Anniversary to us. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was so much more flattering a s a 2 piece outfit. It will be back in summer for sure.