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.

Dressy & Casual

 Hello Readers. I love this ultra marine color. I always want the clothes I see in this color. When I saw this dress I thought for sure I could make something I liked with it. 

When I tried this dress on at home I thought it fit well but it was just too long on me. I didn't think this dress needed a huge change to be great. Look at the satin ribbon belt and the cute collar and buttons. This dress was great.

I wanted to cut off 5-6 inches. 

I used my serger to stitch the edge of my new shorter skirt. Then I turned the edge under and stitched it down with my sewing machine. I did not want to turn the edge under twice and stitch it down because I thought it would make a heavy, bulky hem. I thought a lighter weight hem would look better.

You can see how much shorter the dress is now. 

I liked this dress so much. It was dressy but still comfortable. 

But what if I want to be casual? This dress can do that too. I put on a white t-shirt and knotted it in the front. I tucked the knot under.

It's perfect for a movie. I went to see the new Black Widow movie. How long has it been since I have been IN a theater? I can't even remember. Why did I bring that big purse? It might have sushi, brownies and an adult beverage in it. Shhh.... don't tell anyone.

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-I still have this dress and I still like it an think it has a great retro vibe to it.

Wide-legged Jumpsuit

Hello Readers. I am loving the spring weather and the ability to wear less bulky clothing. My daughter gave me this jumpsuit while ago. She is about 8 inches taller than I am so it fit her very well. You can see it was much too long on me. 

I love me a jumpsuit y'all but this one was just way too long. Even high heels wouldn't fix this. I used to love high heels. My poor feet can't deal with them anymore. And honestly, I was still short even in heels. So, I need to fix this situation.

This jumpsuit spoke to me very clearly and I knew what to do. I cut the legs much shorter. I wanted a slightly cropped length. I used the gold design as my guide and just cut off the whole thing on both legs. Using the design as a cutting guide helped me make even length legs quickly and easily. I used my sewing machine to make a quick hem on the bottom of each leg.

When I ironed the jumpsuit I found the legs were more wide than I first thought. That was cool because wide leg pants are really having a moment right now. The whole jumpsuit is more simple without the design at the hem. I think sometimes simple is better. It was easy to layer for cool weather too. Why do I have the goofy look on my face? I have no idea.

 I was going to shorten this jumpsuit even more into a romper for summer but I really liked these wide loose pants. Here is a terrible but creative photo image to give you an idea of what it would look like if I did that. 

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-I loved this jumpsuit. It had a loose fit that still works for me.