The Strange Sweater Dress

Hello Readers. I said in the title that this sweater dress was strange, I wasn't kidding. It was a weird one. Read on, I will tell you all about it.

OK, y'all. What is this? I found this sweater dress at some clothes swap, I think. When I tried it on I could see why someone gave it away. It was super tight but also super low cut. I wore that pink shirt to keep myself covered in this photo. The dress came with all these "extra" white fabric pieces and ruffles. They took the time to add the white fabric at the chest, but it was still VERY low cut. The arm and hem ruffles were not working for me either. They felt like wings, very strange wings.

If I was 6" tall and 75 lbs, this dress might fit.

I knew I needed to fill in the deep V-neck with something. I had this pretty green blouse with a ripped sleeve. I really liked the lace front. I thought I could use that.

I removed all the white fabric with my seam ripper. Next I put the green blouse under the dress but the dress was still too tight. I don't like baggy clothes but this was going to be way too tight to wear in public. If this dress wasn't stretchy I couldn't have gotten into it.

I cut the dress down the middle to open it up. I wasn't sure what I was doing at this point. (I often do not know what I am doing, but let's focus on the sewing.)

That deep V opened up the dress really well, but then I didn't know what to do with the cut open lower half of the dress. I just cut it off. Now I had a super short shirt. It was bigger, but I don't show my mommy tummy, so a cropped top wasn't really what I wanted.

I had this wide knit waistband in my scrap pile and I thought it would cover the raw cut edge and make the shirt at least 3 inches longer. I added the waistband with my machine.

*Save your fabric scraps, they come in handy.

I ended up with a light sweater top that was perfect for something high-waisted.

Like this skirt that I already owned! It looked like a dress when I put them together. I love dresses so I was happy with this one.

 

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

*Year end update- This strange dress became a favorite top.

If Charlie Brown Wore a Dress

Hello Readers. When I saw this dress I thought it looked like Charlie Brown's shirt from the Peanuts comics. The colors are so great for fall. It was a soft knit, I could make anything with it. What could go wrong? 

(Spoiler Alert: A lot could go wrong.)

I started by cutting off most of the skirt. This was a little more chevron stripe than I wanted. I thought a light sweater would be better than a whole dress. I thought I could find something to do with the skirt piece later.

I thought I could fold the bottom under and it would look like a waistband. This was the beginning of a huge tangled mess of thread and lining. My machine went crazy and tried to eat the lining and sweater. I tried to un-do the mess and ripped the sweater. 

This is when I lost my temper. I was acting like this.

 

I decided to cut off the waistband and just remove the lining from the top too. I thought that would remove all the mess. But look at that neckline! And now I had a really short sweater.

Look at it! There was more hidden in there than I thought. There was a little bit of netting as a stabilizer around the neckline. It made sense because the knit was so soft but now I had made another made another mess!

I cut off the lower part of the skirt and decided to attach it to the top. I added some thin elastic so the waist was drawn in a little.That made it longer.

 I tried to match the color of the chevron stripe, the black stripe was not perfect but the elastic waist would hide that.

 The new elastic waist was easy and still looked good with all the chevron stripes.

I went over the neckline with my machine to hide all the netting and mess. I trimmed off the excess net material and it will all stay nice and neat.

I really liked the end result. The additional fabric below the elastic waist came out great.

I think Charlie Brown would approve.

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

*Year end update- I wear this sweater/shirt often. It still makes me think of Charlie Brown.

Going Gray On Purpose

 Hello Readers. The title of this post doesn't refer to gray hair. I didn't choose the gray hair, but I do have some. I try to hide it. My post today is about using gray fabric dye.

I had this old white shirt. It wasn't torn or stained but it was a little yellowed and a little blah. The white wasn't really a crisp white anymore. It was more of a dingy off-white. I wanted to cover that up somehow. What could I do to fix this shirt? Rit fabric dye was my first step.
(I was not paid to say that, they don't even know me.)

Here is the dye I had on-hand in my laundry room. It is "Graphite Gray" for synthetic fabrics. My shirt was cotton. Would this dye work on my cotton shirt? I was going to try it and find out. I thought that even if it only worked a little, it might still improve this shirt.

Here is the shirt. It took the dye really well. The dye really made the shirt look fresh and even left a little bit of a sheen on the fabric. It was a big improvement.

The color was better. I liked the gray but this shirt was big and baggy. I was sure I could do something better with the fit of this tunic style shirt.

I decided to make the shirt a little more narrow. I also wanted to save those scrap pieces to make a belt to tie at the waist.

I made this long tube by connecting all the pieces. I didn't like the way the connection points looked so I added a couple buttons to the belt hide the sloppy spots. 

    

I was happy with how the belt cinched in the waist. It looked more flattering.

This was a great shirt with leggings because it was long enough to cover the caboose. It is also great for some casual biking.

 

I had extra room in the washer when I dyed the shirt so I threw a pair of shorts in too. I had added some gray lace to the shorts but the color of the lace was much lighter than the color of the shorts.

Here are the shorts after the dye. The lace on the shorts is darker than the un-dyed lace on the roll but it is not quite as dark as the shorts.

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

*Year end update- I have this shirt in the front of my closet and the shorts are waiting for next summer.

Pretty, Pink, and Looking Pregnant

Hello Readers. Have you ever just fallen in love with a piece of clothing? Even if it was all wrong for you? You just did what you could to make it work. (It sounds like a bad relationship.) A little sewing can make a difficult shirt into something better. (I have no relationship advice. Sorry.)

This pink shirt was so pretty. Look at the embroidery and eyelet lace edges. And that coral color! I was in love. This shirt was too big and shapeless for me. I was looking a little pregnant in this picture. Don't get me wrong, pregnancy was/is great. But I am not currently pregnant.

    

This shirt said it was a medium but the fit was more like a large. It was just too full. That big ruffle was a problem. It was adding some unwanted bulk to my midsection. But I wasn't ready to end things with this shirt, I wanted to try and work it out. (Bad relationship again.)

I decided to take some fabric out of the back of the shirt. I couldn't just take the shirt in on the sides. It was shorter in the front and longer in the back. The side seams wouldn't match up. By making a new seam in the middle of the back of the shirt I could make it smaller without changing the general shape of the shirt.

I took less from the top of the shirt because it wasn't too big there. I thought it just needed to be smaller in the waist and ruffle.

The new seam in the back of the shirt didn't alter the look at all. I just have a slightly smaller shirt. It still has a nice loose fit, I just look less pregnant. That is what I wanted so I think I am finished here.

     

 We had a warm day and I wore this shirt out to get a hair cut, but I don't think I will wear it again until next summer. It's getting to be fall now, it is too cold to wear it.

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

*Year end update- I still loe the color of this shirt more than anything else about it.

Fall Colors; Green, Red and Orange

Hello Readers. It's fall already. I know that for sure because we got some cool weather and pumpkin spice flavored drinks are everywhere. I love how the trees explode with so many gorgeous colors. This shirt and sweater made me think of the orange and red of the trees.

This shirt and sweater came from my daughter. That means they were probably from the junior section. Everything in the junior section is made for people younger, thinner and taller than I am. The sweater was too long and the sleeves were ridiculously too long.

 The tank underneath was what I loved most, but it was cut very full around the body and stuck out in front. 

It's a good thing I like to try to alter anything and everything, so here we go.

Here is my method for shortening clothes when I want to keep the ribbed edge at the hem. I folded the sweater up on itself, with the right-sides touching. I stitched a new seam along the ribbed edge and then cut out the excess material. 

I used the same idea to shorten the sleeves. I folded the sleeve up on itself, again with the right-sides touching and stitched over the ribbed cuff. I cut off the excess material from the inside and I was done.

This sweater was a tight knit, it wouldn't fray and was easy to work with.

Here was the tank. It just needed a little of the fullness removed from the body. I didn't love the skinny little straps but the green sweater would hide those. I was just crazy about these colors!

Who designed this fabric? I love it!

I made this sweater into more of a bolero length and made the sleeves 3/4 length too.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- I still love this combo. It is just too cold to wear it right now.

Fall Colors; Easy Alterations

Hello Readers. Are you ready for Fall weather? I really like the changing colors of the leaves. Today's post is about embracing the colors of fall. It's also about finding clothes I liked and making them work for me. These are easy alterations for a sewing beginner to do.

This red and gold shirt was simple in style but the colors were warm and deep. It was perfect for this time of year. My mom handed-it-down to me. (Thanks Mom!) It was just a little big and the neck was a little revealing. It just needed a little help to fit me.

The shirt needed a simple size adjustment. I used the side seams as a guide to make new side seams. I made the new seams about an inch inside the old seams. It was an easy way to change the size of the shirt without changing the shape or style of the shirt. Keep your new seam along the old seam and it is hard to mess up.

These pants were a great golden color. They had lots of pockets that actually worked and that's unusual in woman's pants. I hate pockets that are not real pockets. I have stuff to carry.

These pants are also a little too big. And a little too long. I wanted to take the sides in but there is a big pocket on the side of one leg. I would need to move that pocket out of my way if I was going to take the pants in on the sides.
(I could take the pants in on the inside of the legs but that wouldn't make the hips and waist any smaller. That wouldn't work here.)

    

I used a seam ripper and took the pocket off the leg and then did my sewing. I took the sides in and made the legs a little shorter. There were zippers at the bottom of each leg. I just removed them with the extra fabric. I didn't need ankle zippers. Again, following the existing seams will keep your new seams on track.

Once the sides were finished I reattached the pocket over my new side seam. There old stitch marks were still visible and easy to use as a guide for getting the pocket back in the right place.

I liked the new outfit. It was perfect for early fall. Alterations don't need to be scary. Try it.

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

*Year end update- This wasn't the most exciting outfit but I wear it to work a lot.