Lining a Lacy Tank

Hello Readers. I was given this pretty tank top. It had a beautiful lace back. I thought the shirt could be a winner. But it needed some serious adjustments before I could wear it.

The floral design was pretty and the length was great, but it was totally see through in the back. This caused me some problems. There was no way to wear any kind of a bra with it. (I'm 46. I've had 3 kids. I don't go bra-less. You know what I'm saying here?) The straps would show through and ruin the look of the pretty lace. It needed a shirt under it but it was already a little too tight. There was no room for a second shirt under it. There was barely room for me in there.

     

I had this light weight vest in my sewing pile. It was a little worn out. It wasn't fit for everyday wear anymore but some of it could be used as a lining under the lacy tank. It already had the right shape in the back. It would be easy to stitch it into the back of the lace shirt to fill in behind the lace. I just need to get that metal buckle out of there.

     

The tiny stripes were a nice contrast with the floral pattern in the lacy shirt. And the additional fabric covers all the open lace in the back of the shirt perfectly.

The shirt was still a little too tight. I cut it open on the sides and put in a little strip of the striped fabric on each side. That little bit of fabric on the sides made the shirt fit so much better.

    

I liked how the shirt fit and it was just loose enough, but not too big. This is a great shirt for eating donuts and drinking coffee.

It's a great shirt for going outside with the kids on a hot day.

 

It's also a great shirt to go see a movie. (I saw Ant-Man and I liked it a lot.)

  

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

*Year end update- This is one of my all time favorites.

T-shirt Mania 5; The Accidental Pajamas

Hello Readers. I started out trying to make summer clothes. When I was done I realized I had actually made what looked like pajamas. I actually needed some pajamas so it was a happy accident. (I think most of my life has been a series of happy accidents, but that is a story for another time.)

If you have read this blog before you might recognize this shirt. It was a freebie from the rec center. I wanted to use it for parts. This is the last free t-shirt in my refashion pile. I used them all!

I was going to combine the white t-shirt with this blue tank top. I wanted a tank top with more coverage than this racer-back shirt had. That open key hole is just going to get me sunburned for sure. I used the plain white back of the white t-shirt and made a new back for this blue shirt.

   

I cut off all this blue trim and used it to finish the edges of my new shirt so it would look nicer and more polished. I was still thinking that this was going to be worn out in public during normal daytime activities and I wanted it to look good .

Things didn't work out as I had planned, but keep reading to see the shorts.

   

***   PART 2 -  SHORTS   ***

I also had this seersucker shirt from my mom. (Thanks Mom!) It was so thick I didn't think I would wear it in the heat of summer. It felt almost like a light jacket. I really loved the material though.  Could I make a pair of shorts from this shirt? I could try!

  I cut the arms off the shirt and opened the shoulders to make the shirt lay flat. I folded it in half and saw it wasn't big enough for the pattern. I cut open the arms, and attached 2 little squares of that fabric. You can see it on the left side of the picture below.

It was just enough fabric to fit this pattern. Just. Barely. Enough. I cut out my pieces and started sewing. I rarely use a pattern to make clothes. I'm not sure why. But making shorts from scratch was fun too.

I didn't know they would look like pajamas until I tried them on and looked in the mirror. This definitely looks like pajamas to me. (My little guy decided to roll around on the floor in his pajamas for this picture.) Some days are meant for pajamas and relaxing right? Now I am ready.

Thanks for reading this post, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- These were perfect summer jammies. I will wear them again next summer too.

T-shirt Mania 1; Using a Freebie

 Hello Readers. A long while back I grabbed some free T-shirts that were being given away at my local rec center.  They were not super cute, so I have been using them in other projects. This is one of those projects. And it's the first in a series of summer t-shirt refashions.

The sign said "Free Shirts" so, I helped myself to several. I still have some left. You are going to see a few more of these in the future.

 Here is the original shirt. I am not a member of this dance group but I can always use a white shirt. I am going to cut the front of this shirt off completely to get rid of the writing.

Here is the cute shirt. The embroidery on the front is very pretty and I like the cording around the neck but these racer back style tops don't work for me. I think I need to invest in the kind of bra that has this kind of back or has convertible straps. Until I do that, I can wear this new shirt I am making.

 

  

I put both the shirts on my dress form. I needed to see how much of the blue shirt it would take to cover the whole logo on the front. I plan to use the front of this blue shirt and insert it into the white shirt. The back will be the white shirt so I will have more coverage.

This shirt had a small logo on the sleeve too. I used a little extra piece of the blue shirt to make a pocket and attach it to the sleeve to cover the writing up.

  

Here is my new shirt. I kept the cording at the neck. It was pretty and unique. The shirt is nice and loose but not overly baggy.Great for the hot days of summer.

  

Thanks for reading this post, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- I liked this shirt but my washer destroyed it. We got a new washer asap!

In The Pink

Hello Readers. I managed to collect a lot of pink clothing that needed to be refashioned. I always seem to end up with a lot of one color at one time. I don't know how I did it, but here's the first pink outfit.

It all began with these pink jeans. I really love this blush pink color. The fit was not great on these jeans but that's fine, I can fix that. I also the pretty ombre pink shirt in the picture above. I loved the colors but it is very sheer. It drives me crazy when clothes need other clothes because they are COMPLETELY SEE-THRU! Anyway....I also had this darker pink t-shirt that was loose and baggy. It was a great color but it didn't fit under the sheer top like this. 

I started work on the jeans first. I wanted skinny jeans with some distressing in the legs. I thought they would be cute and casual for summer. And the distressing would make the jeans more comfortable in the summer heat too. Those rips and holes are like air-conditioning right? I used various kitchen items and some scissors to tear and scratch holes in my pink jeans.

I also noticed that the back pockets were very low set. Half of the pockets were on my upper thighs, that's how low the pockets were. I didn't take a picture of my backside in the jeans.(It's not that kind of blog.) I unpicked the pockets, placed them higher, and stitched over the old stitch marks. I couldn't really get them any higher than this unless I attached them to the yolk at the top of the jeans. The pocket below on the left is in it's original place. The pocket below on the right has been moved up. The old stitch marks will fade away in the wash.

I made the legs more narrow and shorter, and washed them so the distressing would fray and they would be ready to wear.

I got to work on the t-shirt. I wanted to make a tank top shirt with a high neckline. Why the high neck? I am tired of everything being so low cut that it's like a cleavage show. I wanted a fitted cami to wear under the sheer top but every cami I find is way too low cut. It feels like half my chest is coming out the top. Why even wear the cami if it isn't going to cover anything? (Is it just me?)

I cut the sleeves off the t-shirt and kept the neck band in place. I wanted it to be fitted under that sheer top, so I made the shirt more narrow and stitched new side seams too.

I stitched the cut edges of the new arm holes under and I was done.

I was happy with the new look. I liked the fitted shirt under the loose sheer top. And the pink jeans are a new favorite for sure!

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

*Year end update- I love these pink jeans SO much. I wear them in the winter because I love the color. The shirts ended up in my daughters closet. I don't mind sharing.

The Black Tank Re-sized

Hello and happy Friday to you! Today's project is a black tank that I loved but didn't fit very well. As I write this all I can think about is that my arm looks weird and flappy like a chicken wing. This is not a good look and I wish it wasn't there. Six months of bed rest does bad things to your muscle tone. But lifting and holding a cute baby is a great arm workout, so I have it covered.

It is actually the top of a very full dress that looked like a tent on me. I liked the material and wanted to save it.

It was perfect in the shoulders and bust but the fullness at the bottom made me look like I was still pregnant. Looking pregnant when you aren't pregnant is no fun.

The pattern was subtle but great for covering baby drool and spit up. These are important factors in my wardrobe right now.

I started by turning it inside out and sewing straight down from the empire waist seam. I didn't want it tight around the middle, just more fitted.

I cut the extra fabric away when I was done sewing. Sorry no sewing machine pictures, but you get the idea. The seams will not fray because that's how t-shirts are. They are easy and fun to work with.

Here it is finished. You can see it is straight and not smaller through the body.

Here I am wearing it to go pick up some wholesale groceries. Not exciting unless you want five dozen Chobani yogurts. Do me a favor? Ignore the flappy arm. And as always, thanks for reading