Denim Days-Vest to Jacket

 Hello Readers. This little white vest has been in my closet for quite a while. I wanted to add some excitement and add some more room. It was a little too tight.

 

Before and after. 

 

 I liked the white denim vest a lot. But what if it was a little bigger? I liked this lace shirt a lot too. What if I put them together? They would make a great combination. The denim is classic and the lace would add a little something extra.

 

This lace button-down style shirt is the perfect source of the extra fabric I needed to make the vest a little bigger. It is really pretty white eyelet lace fabric. The lace shirt was too big and I could cut some of it off and use it for my vest. 

 

My first step was to cut open the sides of the vest. 

The next step was to cut the sleeves off this lace shirt. I cut around the arm holes and then I cut about 3 inches from each side of the shirt.

These small side pieces are what I needed to make the whole vest bigger around.

 

The pieces went together sort of like a little puzzle.  

The lace sleeves were a pretty way to turn the vest into a jacket. 

I love the eyelet lace with the denim. And I love that is is looser and fits better too. 

 

I didn't stop there, I added some eyelet lace to the collar too. I didn't have to, but why not?

 

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

And if you are wondering about the leftovers from the lace shirt, I sewed it back together. It is still a great summer shirt.

*Year End Note From Chickie- These were fun summer pieces. White eyelet lace in the summer is always a favorite.

 

 

 

Too Tight Sweater

 Hello Readers. It's April and I decided to focus on florals all month. I know, florals for spring. Groundbreaking. Miranda Priestly wouldn't be impressed but let's make this sweater fit again. This is a very easy beginner sewing refashion project.

Before and after.

I really liked this sour apple green-yellow sweater. I liked the knit flowers on the front. But it didn't fit anymore. I seem to have out grown it. (Did anyone else use Covid as an excuse to snack a lot? Was it just me?) It's OK. I can fix this.

I cut the side seam open. I just started cutting at the waistband and followed the seam all the way up. The seam ends at the wristband. Once it is all open you can fill the gap in with something to make the sweater bigger.

I thought I could use this ribbon. I liked the flowers and the different shades of green together. Ribbon is not stretchy and because it is so stable it will be easy to work with. The best part is that you can pick any ribbon you like. The wider the ribbon the bigger your sweater will be.

Always measure to make sure you have enough length for your project. I had just enough to finish both sides of this sweater. Like just enough. If  I messed up somewhere I was going to be in trouble.

I clipped the right sides together. I wanted all the parts to stay in place while I was sewing.

The ribbon added some extra room in the sweater. When the ribbon was sewn into the sides of the sweater it added about and inch and a half to each sleeve 3 inches to the body of the sweater. That was just enough for me to wear the sweater comfortably again. I could have chosen a much wider ribbon and made my sweater much bigger.

I like how the ribbon peeks out from the side. It is fun but it is simple enough that I can wear it to work.

Here is one last picture of the sweater so you can see the ribbon. It is one piece of ribbon that is sewn into the side seam to make the sweater larger. It won't be any longer than it was before, just bigger.

I made a basic white woman trip to Target. Yes, I got Starbucks too. It was great. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I really like this acid green color. It's a weird shade but I can't get enough.