The Purple Sweater

Hello Readers. How are you today? It is chilly enough to get into wearing sweaters again where I am. 

I had this purple/blue/indigo sweater that my mom passed down to me. (Thanks Mom!) It was nice but a little plain. I decided to jazz it up a little.

I also had this little top I found at a thrift store. The color caught my eye and I was sure I could use it to jazz up this sweater. They matched really well and it would be an easy pairing. It was too small for me but it would be great to use for decoration.

I cut two tall, narrow triangles out on the front of the floral top. I also made a cut in the side of the sweater right along the seam. And like magic, I used my machine to sew the floral pieces into the sweater. I kept the hem from the floral top and pinned it to the hem of the sweater. That made it a quick project. After stitching the floral pieces in on each side, I was done.

I did a zig-zag stitch on the raw edges inside the sweater to keep it from fraying. If I had a serger it would be even better.

The new additions made the sweater more interesting and didn't take very long to finish. Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.

The Black Belted Shirt

Hello Readers. I hope you are well and happy wherever you are. I have a quick and easy no-sew project to show you today. My hubby was going to get rid of this shirt so I decided to see what I could do with it. I love working with knit shirts like this. The edges do not fray and it is fun to play with the material.

This is a men's size medium-large cotton golf shirt. It was super soft and I knew I needed to give it new life. I started cutting. I removed the collar and placket with the buttons. I removed the sleeve cuffs and the bottom edge too. I cut the hem off with a small curve on the sides just for fun. I saved that hem for later.

You can see this shirt has a logo right on the front. (If there was no logo, I would have stopped cutting here.) I cut this V-neck shape to show you what I wanted to do with this shirt. I had to get a little creative to work around that logo. 

I cut a larger neck hole to remove the logo. I cut off as little of the shirt as I could but it got pretty low cut. I could wear a shirt under it, or....

I could turn the shirt around. The low cut back made the shirt more interesting and fun. The shirt made a great tunic shape. I took the edging from the bottom of the shirt and used it as a belt. I made it one long piece about an inch wide. I trimmed off the excess so it was nice and even. A real belt would work too.

***BONUS TRACK ***

Why is that purse in there? Well, it was a hand-me-down that I liked a lot. It originally had 3 rows of ruffle trim on the front. The ruffles added a lot of bulk to the bag and made it seem larger than it really was.

I decided the outer ruffle had to go. I grabbed a pair of scissors and cut it off. I got as close to the bag without cutting the bag itself. The ruffles had a raw edge already so I knew I could cut it without any problems.

Here is the seam that held the ruffle onto the bag. It will be hidden under the ruffle above it.

It was a small change but it made the bag look a bit smaller without changing the style or overall design. I don't feel overwhelmed by the ruffles.

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

Fall Colors

Hello Readers. I am trying to focus on the colors of Fall in my sewing adventures lately. I seemed to have collected quite a few items the fit that category. Like these two fabulous finds for example. 

This corduroy skirt is perfect for Fall, but the fit isn't so perfect. I also thought I would make it more of an A-line shape. (Like the skirts I saw at Target but didn't want to spend money on.)

I loved the color of this blouse and the stitching details on the shoulders and down the front. It is a bit too big, so I am going to fix that too.

Here is a picture of actual sewing! 

I changed the shape of the skirt and shortened it a little. I wanted a skirt with an A-line shape and I just narrowed the sides at the waist and kept the width as it was towards the bottom. I hemmed the bottom after cutting off about an inch.

I started working on the blouse. I took it in a little and tried it on. I stitched the two sides together at the neckline and tried it on. The body fit well but...

 The long sleeves were stiff and uncomfortable. This shirt isn't very soft and it doesn't have any drape. I wouldn't wear it very often if it wasn't more comfortable.I got back to work and cut the sleeves off. If they aren't going to be comfortable they have to go.

In the end I had this outfit. It was perfect for a nice Fall day.

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

The Floral Skirt That Took All Summer

Hello Readers. This project was a joint effort. My daughter found this dress at a thrift store last spring and really liked the floral print. There was a lot of that pink floral print. This dress was straight from the 80's. 

Look at this dress. It had so much going on. BIG shoulder pads, a dramatic dropped waist, and a pleated skirt. I didn't see the appeal of this dress but my daughter really liked the floral design.

And look at the built in scarf!

Her idea was to remove the top of the dress and just keep the pleated skirt. It was a great idea. She started to add an elastic waist. She got busy with work and school and never finished it. It sat all summer. I found it when I cleaned up the sewing area and I decided to finish it for her. 

This is the finished skirt. It came out really cute. The elastic is covered with some lace to make it look nicer.

She used the same elastic I used in this skirt. To be honest, it is really ugly elastic. If you can't see the elastic, you would never know how unattractive it is.

 

 I wanted to make it a little prettier. I decided to try to cover the elastic using this cotton lace. I bought it from Amazon.com for a great price but I had to buy 15 yards. I had plenty to use for both these skirts.

I stretched the elastic waistband of the skirt and attached the lace using my sewing machine. It made the lace a bit gathered so it can stretch when it's pulled on and off. It looks so much cuter than the white elastic.

The floral skirt is really light and thin but it will be ready for next spring and summer.

*** BONUS TRACK ***

This little project my daughter made for someone. They brought her an apron that their grandmother used and wore. She wanted to save it and make it a pillow. She attached fabric to the back and stuffed it. The tie around the waist is tied in the back. It was a nice way to preserve a family memento. 

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

Making A Cardigan Sweater

Hello Readers. I liked the colors of this shirt and sweater together but the sweater covered all the pretty flowers on the shirt. 

I decided to make this sweater into a cardigan. I cut straight up the middle. I used the weave of the sweater as a guide for my cutting. The edges were a little rough and I was afraid they would fray.

I decided to used ribbon to finish the raw edges. I used my sewing machine to attach it to the front of the raw edge and then turned it under and stitched it down again. It covered the fraying edge nicely.

I like this sweater as an open cardigan but look at the wonky new seams I made. The ribbon was too heavy and it doesn't lay nicely at all. This is looking pretty bad. It's time for Plan B.

**PLAN B**

I cut off those new seams. It looks off-center, but trust me it is even. I used the weave of the sweater as a guide for my cutting again.

I decided to simply fold the edge under. I was going to do something I hate to do, sew by hand with  a needle and thread. I try to avoid hand sewing but it only took about 5 minutes to do both sides. I don't know why I hate hand sewing but I really do.

I was finally ready to wear this combo out in public. The open sweater is more comfortable ans less restrictive than a pullover style sweater. After this picture I headed to class.

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

The Hot Fall Weather Dress

Hello Readers. How are you enjoying cool Fall weather? We had a few days of cool weather and then it was straight back to hot summer days. So what do you wear when it's late October but still 85 degrees? A dress of course. A light weight dress with some fall colors would be perfect.

I decided to make this skirt into a dress. It has a pretty pattern and the fabric is nice and soft. I took a picture and went inside to get to work.

This skirt is a little big and slightly stretched out but that's OK. It will work really well for this project. It has a wide waistband that is made of a knit material like a T-shirt. That will be easy to work with.

I made two small cuts in the waistband. I made the cuts just above the seam that attached the knit waistband to the skirt. The knit material won't fray so, I made the cuts and it was ready to go.

Here is a close up of the cuts and you can see the waistband seam is still intact. The two simple cuts made the armholes for my dress.

All this dress needed was a belt. It was great for a very hot Fall day. You can see the cuts became round armholes when I put it on. The waistband is now the shoulder straps and neckline of the dress.

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

The Jail Stripes Shirt

Hello Readers. I was given this cool shirt from my cool sister-in-law. (Thanks J.) I really liked it but it needed some help with the fit. I had my teen son take the before picture and he said something about me making a prison break. (Thanks son.) That comment inspired the dye job you see in the picture below.

The shirt is long and the sleeves are REALLY long on me. I found these skinny jeans on clearance for $3. Seriously $3! My daughter got a pair too. The jeans were too long so I had to work on them too. I liked how they looked with the shirt so I put them together in this post.

I wanted a blue-green color so I used a bottle of each when I dyed the shirt. I used really hot water and both bottles of dye. 

 

It made a very strong dye bath and I stirred the shirt in the dye for 10 minutes. After the dye bath, I washed the shirt twice to remove the excess dye.

I made the shirt short sleeves and I used some elastic to make a waistband. I just folded the shirt in and stitched all the way around to make a casing for the elastic. I used narrow elastic and it made a soft comfortable waist.

I quickly cut the legs off and rolled the ends up. I wanted little cuffs on the jeans. I put a few stitches in the cuffs to keep them in place.

I was ready to go out to dinner with some friends and my husband.

We went for Mexican food, took selfies, and ate a lot of tortilla chips and...

Look at this yummy creation. Mmmm!

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