Thrift Finds

 Hello Readers. I love thrifting but not everything fits perfectly. That's how it is. I liked these brown pants so much but the length is longer than I expected. Let's make a quick hem so these pants fit better. 

 

New pants, same short legs. 

 

I found these pants at my favorite thrift store. I like the shade of brown and the zebra stripes were fun too. The fabric was loose and light cotton. The only problem was that were just too long.  

I cut off about 6 inches of length. That were really too long. 

 

I turned the edge under twice and made a small narrow hem. 

 

Sometimes simple sewing is all you need to make thrift store clothes work. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

Shorten a Dress but Save the Details

 Hello Readers. I loved this dress. I thought the colors and design were so pretty. It was great but as a short person, you can see what happened. It's way too long. That's OK, I can fix that.

Before and after. 

The drawstring waistband really did a lot of work to make this dress fit but I thought the prettiest part of this dress was the colorful ruffled hemline. I didn't want to get rid of that. But I needed to make that dress shorter. 

 

I decided to remove the middle of the skirt. The dress didn't need all the fabric from the middle right?

 

I wanted re-attach the colorful hemline piece to the dress again. 

 

I used clips to hold the bottom piece to the dress. I made sure the fabric was spread out evenly along the skirt. 

 

I used my serger to connect the 2 pieces. This would keep the inner edges from fraying. 

 

I ironed the dress a little to make the new seam smooth and flat. 

 

I loved the new length and I was glad I could keep the colorful hemline. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If You Don't Trust Strapless Dresses

Hello Readers. I love clothes and dressing up but I don't love strapless dress. They are fine but I don't love them. What if it slips??? I did love this yellow dress. I thought I could wear it  and add some kind of cover at my shoulders in some way. It would be like strapless but not really strapless. 

Before and after. 

 

 I found this yellow floral dress at a clothes swap. It was a fun yellow color and the floral print was so pretty. It was too long though. I also did not like the strapless neckline. I could make straps but I had another idea.  

 

I tried this peach sweater on top of the dress, but it didn't have the bright punch of color that I wanted. 

  

This yellow dress had multiple colors and on of those colors was a pretty aquamarine color. Y'know, the same aqua marine that I just dyed this other dress. (That was a previous post.) I thought they would be great together. This yellow dress was also way too long on me so I would need to address that problem too.  

I decided to wear the dresses together. The yellow would peek out of the aqua dress and it would be fabulous. I needed to shorten both dresses. I wanted them to be the same length so I cut them together. I used a yard stick as a guide. I stood the yard stick up and held it against the dresses on my dress form. Your height will be different from mine but I wanted to cut at the 14" mark. I cut around the dresses at the 14" mark (Moving the yard stick around the dresses as I cut around the hem.) and got the length that I wanted. 

 

I used my serger on the cut edge around the hemline to stop it from fraying.

  

I then turned the edge of the yellow dress under and ironed it in place. Ironing it would make it easier to make a neat hem. And we all want a neat hem right?

I used my sewing machine to stitch the new hem in matching yellow thread. Matching the thread well makes the hem stitches blend in and become unnoticeable.

I liked the 2 dresses together. The bright aqua dress can be worn open and the yellow dress under it is a fun pop of contrasting color at the same time.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poofy Dress Week #1 (Filling in a Low Neckline)

 Hello Readers. I am in a poofy dress frenzy. I wanted to refashion and wear all of the poofy dresses so the dresses on my refashion rack are all getting worked on this week. This green dress is a wonderful cotton eyelet with a cotton lining. I hate nylon linings so I was loving this dress already.

Before and after.

I found this dress at a clothes swap and I love green so I liked it right away. It was a bit long on me, I felt a little lost in there. I look a little like a Hobbit. And it was a little low cut on me as well. If I lean over, all my bits and pieces are visible. I didn't like that.

It was new with tags at the clothes swap! That is always a fun bonus. 

 

I cut about 8-10 inches off the length of the outer layer with my sharpest scissors. It was really long on me and it will look better on me in a shorter length. (I saved this fabric for later.)

 

And the inner layer. The inner layer should be an inch or so shorter than the outer layer so that it doesn't hang out anywhere along the hemline. 

 

I hemmed the outer layer with matching thread. I just turned the cut edge under twice and sewed it down.

 

I hemmed the inner layer the same way.

 

I wasn't quite done. I wanted to fill in the V-neck that was so low on me. I had all the fabric I had cut off the dress earlier. I needed that fabric now. I used the excess fabric to fill in the V-neck a little. 

 

I cut a triangular shape from the extra fabric. I wanted to sew it into the dress and fill in the neckline. The long side of the triangle is actually the original hem of the dress. That saved time because it already had a hem on that edge.

 

I put the triangle inside the dress with the right side facing out and sewed on top of the stitching that was already made up the neckline of the dress. I held the fabric in place snugly. (You could use pins if you want. I usually stab myself so if I can hold the fabric in my hand, that is what I do.) Sewing over that stitching with matching thread will make it look like it was always there. 

 

My new dress was done. The new neckline looks nice and neat and it makes me feel more secure and the new length looks great too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 ***Year End Update***- I am still into this dress. I love the full skirt.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Altering Wool Pants With a Lining

 Hello Readers. I love to go to thrift stores and clothes swaps. I found these wool trousers at a recent clothes swap. They were vintage and still had their tags. That was a great find. Wool is so warm in the winter, these will be wonderful. 

Before and after.

These pants were way too long. (*Spoiler- I am way too short.) I knew I might have to do some hemming but for vintage clothes... it's worth it. 

I cut the excess length off. That was easy.

You can see some hand sewing on the inside of the hem. That is so the pants do not have a visible hem on the outside. I hate hand sewing. Was there a way to do this hem without using a needle and thread?

I had an idea to do this a different way. It is all made up in my head because I will always try to find a quicker and easier way if I can. To start I cut the lining shorter than the outer wool layer. 

My next step was to use my serger to sew the bottom of the lining to the bottom of the wool layer. 

 

When I straightened out the layers the lining held the end of the wool layer inside the pant leg so the stitching was hidden. I gave it a really good press with my iron. 

The hem is invisible from the outside. I think my idea worked! It was quick and easy too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update***- These pants are so nice and warm in winter. This is also one of my favorite colors.

 

Sequins to Dye For

 Hello Readers. Are you a fan of sequins? I am. They are fun, sparkly and seem perfect for holidays. I like fun dressy clothes but I also want to be comfortable. This outfit hit all the marks. 

Before and after. 

 

  I recently took my youngest to the dentist and saw this at the house next door. (Yes, I live in a very small town.) It was like a mini clothes swap for anyone who wanted to help themselves.

I obviously helped myself to these dress pants from Banana Republic. They still had the tags attached. I took them home and washed them right away. When I tried them on I found that the waist and hips fit perfectly. (This never happens for me. I was super happy.) You can see the legs did not fit well at all. I am really short and these are not working on my short legs. 

 

 I did some cutting and hemming to make them fit. I liked the wide leg style a lot and I could wear heels but these pants still needed to be shorter. I serged the edge and turned it under to make the hem. I didn't want to turn it under twice because the hem would have gotten thick and heavy. I thought it would make the fabric too thick at the hem. 

This sequin shirt is just a long sleeve t-shirt. I were t-shirts almost everyday. This is fun and dressy but also easy to wear. The light gray parts of the shirt just look old, dingy and washed out though. The sad color just brings the whole shirt down. I can fix that.

This is my last bottle of dye. I have used what I had stockpiled through this year and this is the end. It is just what I need right now. Fabric dye is a great way yo refresh an piece of clothing.

My new dyed shirt looks fresher with a new wash of dark gray color. The sequins can be the star now that the whole shirt is the same background color. It was a great match to the dark pants. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Chickie's Year End Review-I love, love, love these pants and shirt.

The Indecisive Dress

 Hello Readers. Decisions are hard right? We can all be indecisive at times. What should you do when you can't decide what to do with a refashion? I say refashion the item a little at a time. 

 I had a great dress and it fit well but it was really long on me. It had a fun polka dot pattern at the bottom where I would need to hem it. There was plenty of extra fabric to play with.

I decided to make sleeves from all that extra fabric at the bottom. I was going to hem the dress anyway so I could use that fabric to make sleeves. I used a shirt as a sleeve pattern and traced the sleeve shapes in chalk. I just tried to see if I could do it.

The extra polka dots at the shoulders added a little interest to the neckline area.

My sleeves turned out really well.

I shortened the dress a little and I still felt a little frumpy. This wasn't a great length for me because I am so short. That's OK, I can try again.

I went a little shorter in length. I liked this length much better. But what if you don't want a dress?

What about a tunic length top to wear with leggings? The dress had a waist tie that I tied in front for this look.

I kept going and made a shirt that was more office wear/business casual. I know a lot of people are going back to work in person now. That means work clothes. This top was great for work.

You can see each cut I made in the dress here. It was fun to try each length and I learned a lot about what I like as I was sewing and trying the dress on over and over.

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-This shirt is still going strong.