Dress to Top

 Hello Readers.I recently made some new bedding from clothes. The color and patterns were a fun mix but I had some scraps left over. I don't like to waste scrap fabric so I made this top from some dress leftovers.

Before and after. 

I cut the skirt off this dress to make a pillowcase. That left the top of the dress. Lets use that top piece. 

The top had a zipper down the back and a nylon lining. Ugh! I hate nylon. 

I decided to remove the lining and the zipper. It took a while to unpick the stitches but it wasn't difficult.

 

When I removed all the lining the neck, armholes and hem were all unfinished. I had to fix that. 

 

 I used my serger on all the edges that would fray with out the lining covering them. Then I turned the edges in and used my sewing machine to stitch the edges down.

I sewed the back closed and hemmed the bottom of the shirt.

 

It looked just like it did when I started. The only difference is that the lining was gone. I thought it needed a little something.

 

I decided it needed some sleeves. I wanted to use part of the sleeves from this white sweater. 

 

I cut the ends of the sleeves at an angle. 

 

I thought the sleeves would look cute and sometimes I don't want to go sleeveless.

 

I was almost done. 

 

I added some trim to the seam around the waist. I wanted another white detail. 

 

This was an easy way to use the top of the dress. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 ***Year End Update***- I made another top with the same rosy pink color and I wear that one more. I gave this one away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dress to Tie-Front Top

 Hello Readers. I made some new bedding from clothes and had some left over pieces. I don't like to waste fabric scraps so let me show you my new top that I made from a dress. 

Before and after. 

In my last post I showed the pillowcase I made from this pretty linen dress. I only used the skirt of the dress. So what did I do with the top of the dress?

The first thing I did was remove the lining by unpicking it stitch by stitch. I hate nylon. It is so hot and sweaty. I don't need this lining for my new top. 

I threw the lining away. I couldn't think of a use for this fabric. 

There was a zipper up the back of the dress. I didn't want the zipper so I cut it out of the dress too. 

I folded all the cut edges under and stitched them down. I also used the scraps to make small strips of fabric to use as ties. 

 

I folded these strips of fabric in and stitched them down so the ties would stay folded up.
 

I planned to wear this backwards. It has a boxy shape and it looked about the same either way. The back that had a zipper is now the front with ties to close it. I attached 3 sets of ties and didn't think it looked right. I put elastic through the ends of the sleeves as well. It gives the sleeves a more feminine shape.

 

I added 2 more sets of ties. I like this loose shirt/jacket. It is such a fun color and the linen is going to breath and be comfortable in warmer weather. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

***Year End Update***- I love this top. I wear it a lot. The colors are so pretty.
 
 

A Dress Cut in Half for Dressember

 Hello Readers. It is December and it is the month of the Dressember fundraiser. It is such a busy time of year and participating in Dressember might seem like too much. This month I am wearing and refashioning dresses to raise awareness about the work they do. Is it hard to wear dresses all month? It was not possible to wear dresses at my old job so I wore a lot of ties. (That counts too.) If you can't or don't wear dresses, you can wear ties. Buy a tie from a thrift store or borrow from someone you know. It's easy. If you wear a uniform at work, it's OK, you can participate in your off hours. Head over to Dressember's website to learn more. 

I found this beautiful floral dress at a thrift store and bought it without much thought. It was way too long on me (I'm 5'0") but luckily I have a tall daughter. (She's 5'8") Usually we can swap clothes.

Before and after.

I saw this floral fabric and couldn't resist. I bought it. The dress didn't really fit my daughter or me. That's OK. There is always a way to make things work. 

My daughter cut the skirt off. She really liked it because it was a long length on her. Skirts tend to be too short on her so she was happy. 

She knows I don't throw away sewing or fabric scraps so she gave this top back to me. I used my serger around the bottom of it. 

I turned that serged edge under and then added elastic around the bottom. 

The elastic pulled the hem in and it looked more finished. Basically I made a cropped top. It looked great with this skirt. This would be a lot of visible stomach for me. (I'm 51 and I have had 3 kids. My stomach is not for public viewing.) 

Same top and skirt with a sweater on top...This would work better for me. 

It worked really well with high waisted over-alls like this. I will save this outfit for January when the Dressember fundraiser is over and I can wear pants again. The dress was cut up but it's not thrown away. It has a new look, a new use and a new life. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- I always feel good when I can save scrap pieces. I love this combo too.

When The Dress Is Too Short

  Hello Readers. How are you doing? I hope you are holding up the best you can. I see and hear craziness in the news and I am sure you do too. Ugh! It can't go on like this forever...... Right?

 Sometimes clothing doesn't fit as intended, it needs a bit of help. Today's post is about a dress that just needed a little change to be great.

 This dress was cute but it was too short on me. This has only happened a couple times in my life. I am really short, 5' is short. Dresses are never too short for me. This dress is a rare find. I could have worn it over a pair of leggings just like this but I can't wear leggings to work so....

 

 I didn't do that. I decided to shorten the dress into a flowy loose top. I could wear it to work with a jacket or sweater and look business casual. 

Here is a look at this new top and my new normal work look. The mask is mandatory at my work place and the ponytail makes it easier to wear the mask. Am I wearing make-up on my eyes and forehead only? Yes! Did I really skip the lower half of my face? Yes! Do I regret it? No! Am I embarrassed? No! I am winning this mask game! Saving time and saving money on make-up.

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