Red Plaid Dress

 Hello Readers. I hope you like red plaid because I have a lot of it here to show you. This dress was at a clothes swap and it was really eye catching. It was a lot of plaid though. Like, a lot of plaid. Like too much plaid for me.

 

Before and after and after.

 

I had to give this dress some thought. I liked the colors but the style was giving me 1980's home school mom vibes. (I do home school but not in dresses like this.)

I knew the dress had to be shorter but now it was giving my school uniform vibes. I didn't like that at all.

I thought if I added the second plaid pattern by wearing this shirt under the dress, it would help. It did help a little but I wasn't in love with this look.

I decided to really put the shirt and dress together. I cut the shoulders off both the shirt and the dress. 

I literally put them together.

I liked this a whole lot more.

The bottom of the long plaid dress was a great scarf. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Year End Update- Y'all. I liked this but I can't find it. Where did it go? I have 3 kids and a husband so maybe it got misplaced in the laundry? I will wear it again if I can find it.

 

 

 

Refashioning Pajamas for Daytime

 Hello Readers. What can you do with a flannel pajamas shirt besides wearing them as pajamas? I loved the plaid flannel. It was soft and cozy but it was pajamas, I couldn't wear pajamas out in the world. I was inspired to put 2 different items together in big block pieces. Read on and I will show you what I mean. 

Before and after.

The flannel shirt had red piping along the edges. It was clearly a pajama shirt, I couldn't pretend otherwise. I loved the flannel and the sleeves did not look like pajamas to me.

 

This red shirt was on clearance for $1. I am a serious cheapskate but even I can afford a dollar.

 

 The plaid shirt got cut into 3 pieces. This will make more sense when I put it all back together but this was my first step. 

 

I also cut the red shirt into 3 pieces. 

 

I wanted to put the middle of the red shirt together with the 2 plaid side pieces. That way the red piping and collar would be replaced by the red shirt. I thought it wouldn't look like pajamas anymore. I would sew the cut pieces together with the right sides facing each other. This will be easy to do because it is just 2 straight seams.

I used my serger to sew this but you could also use a sewing machine to do it. The flannel doesn't have any stretch so it would be easy to stitch with a straight stitch (To connect the seam.) and/or a zigzag stitch (To keep the seam neat inside the shirt.).

 

Shoulder close up.

 

My new shirt is done. I knew how big I had to make the shirt to fit me well. You can measure yourself before cutting the pieces to make sure you make your shirt the size you want. The bigger you make the shirt, the looser and baggier the shirt will be.A loose over-sized fit would look great too.

 

I really liked the plaid sides with the solid red center in this shirt. 

I thought I could put the other pieces together and I was right. The red piping really makes this look like pajamas to me. I can wear this as pajamas. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

P.S.

My son and I were matching in red and black and he thought we should take a photo together. Of course, I agreed.

***Year End Update- I still like this combo of fabrics. And my son is still trying to get in pictures.

Fun With Flannel

 Hello Readers. I have been having fun swapping parts of clothing with parts from other clothing. Read on and you can see what I mean. 

I started with a few items that all had black or black and white as the color palette. The flannel shirt and the hoodie just didn't fit well in the sleeves. I needed about 6 inches of arm. I was having the same problem with the hoodie. Short arms are a serious problem in my everyday life.

 I decided to do some cutting and swapping. I shortened the sleeves of the flannel shirt. I went for a 3/4 length sleeve. It was more flattering and I could use my hands. Win-win! I used the waistband of the hoodie to reshape this flannel. It is narrower, shorter and it is pulled in at the waist a little. I can pull it over my head.

 

This black skirt fit but it was SO full. It felt too twirly. Is that even possible? I guess it is, because that is how I felt. I liked the length though.

 I decided to do some more cutting. I took a big chunk of fabric from each side. It looks like a bat here but I promise it is a skirt. It is still full but not quite as puffy.

I thought the new fit of these clothes was great and I always love separates that I can mix and match with other clothes.

I am still working with the rest of that hoodie. You will see it in a future post. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-Where is this shirt. I love it and I haven't been able to find it for a while. I have no idea what happened to it. Very sad.

Comfort Clothes

 Hello Readers. How are you? Are you a little panicked at the thought of the United States in a complete melt-down? Yes, me too. I have been eating comfort food and wearing comfort clothes. And avoiding too much news so I don't go crazy. My post today is about comfort clothes. Flannel is soft, fuzzy, comfortable and comforting. I hope so anyway. 

This refashion started months ago when I saw these 2 shirts at the store. I liked the plaid and solid combination. Did I buy one? No. You know by now that I am cheap as heck and I didn't buy anything. But I thought about how I could make something like this for myself. 

I had a gray and white flannel that was handed down to me from a friend (Thanks Miriam!) and a gray and white hoodie that has been around for ages. Guess what? They are getting married!

 I started by cutting the flannel shirt open in the front and removing the button placket. 

I used my dress form to arrange and pin the flannel and the hoodie together.

I used my sewing machine to connect the hoodie zipper and hood to the flannel shirt. I only connected the zipper and the hood. The rest of the hoodie was cut away.

I love that it has a zipper. It is so easy to layer and remove if I get hot. 

I can also show a little of the Baby Yoda shirt my mom gave me for Christmas! (Thanks Mom!)

I can still tuck the shirt in as well. What more could I want? (Maybe social and political stability? That is for another blog post I think.)

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. Or go eat some comfort food. Whatever helps you get through these times. I went for chips and brownies. 

Peace.

***Chickie's Year End Review- I loved this plaid shirt. I accidentally bleached it with a load of towels and it got ruined.

Buffalo Plaid Sleeves

Hello Readers. It has been so cold around here. We need to wear many warm layers to stay warm. A sweater is a great layer, but not if it has short sleeves.

This black knit sweater dress would be much warmer with long sleeves. I thought this dress had a hood but it wasn't big enough to stay up on my head. It was just a big collar that spread out across the shoulders. That seemed like it would be nice and warm too. Those short sleeves just had to go.

I decided to replace the sleeves on this sweater dress so my first step was cutting off the existing sleeves. I followed the seam around the arm hole. I didn't remove that seam because the arm hole would really stretch out of it's original shape. 

What was I going to use for sleeves?

Flannel baby! It's a great fabric for cold weather and that red and black buffalo plaid material is so much fun. This was a men's large, so I had a good amount of fabric to use.

I cut the sleeves off the flannel shirt and pinned them to the sweater the best I could. I did some careful stitching with my sewing machine.

Inside out view.

I felt warmer just looking at this dress with it's long flannel sleeves. It was soft and cozy to wear as well.

I later decided to make this into a top just to see how it looked. I love it just as much as the dress.

I know what you are thinking. What about the rest of that flannel shirt? I only used the sleeves. Did I throw away the rest of that shirt?

Of course not! 

I cut the bottom of the shirt off just under the arm holes. I folded it in and connected the cut edge to the bottom of the shirt and I had.....

A long tube or a scarf. I cut my hair shorter and then the polar vortex came. My neck is cold all the time. I am wearing all my scarves, even at home. This colorful red and black flannel will be great for the rest of winter.

The shirt buttons connect the ends to make an infinity scarf.

The body of the shirt was just big enough to make an infinity scarf that goes around my neck twice. It is very cozy too.

So snowy and cold!

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

 *Year end update-I still wear and love this top and scarf. I really like red so buffalo plaid is always my favorite.