Valentine Elbow Patches

 Hello Readers. I wanted to jazz up this striped sweater and Valentine's Day is the perfect time. Bright pink elbow patches sounded like an easy and fun project to me.

 Heart shaped elbow patches.

 

I have had this cotton sweater for quite a while and I love the cheerful colors. Any sweater would work for this idea. Just grab one from your closet. The pink stripes on the sweater gave me an idea. 

I had some pink some scrap fabric. This pink T-shirt sleeve would work well to decorate my striped sweater. 

I cut out heart shapes from fusible interfacing and ironed it onto the pink fabric. The pink fabric is very soft and the edges would curl under making it difficult to work with. The interfacing makes the pink fabric a little thicker and stiffer. I am going to sew these hearts on my sweater and this will make it easier to do that. You might not need to use interfacing if you make hearts out of thicker fabric. If you use interfacing, follow the directions on the package.

 

I cut out my hearts and made sure they were the same size. I wanted them to be identical. I was ready to start hand sewing them onto the elbows of my sweater. 

 

 

Hand sewing is not my favorite thing to do but it's not hard and you have a lot of control when you sew by hand. I wanted a decorative stitch made of embroidery floss but you could just sew them on with tiny stitches and regular thread. Do what ever works for you. 

My sweater was ready to go shopping for Valentines. It is almost February 14th. Go get a card and a box of chocolates for your special someone or even yourself ASAP!

I liked how the blanket stitch looked. It had a hand-made, home-spun look. But remember you can use any kind of stitching you like. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

*Year End Note From Chickie- These heart shaped elbow patches are a little cutsie but I love them very much. This gets a lot of wear.

Red Sweater

 Hello Readers. It is February. I wanted to pick a theme for each month this year and this month is going to be red and pink. I got inspired by Valentine's Day. I pulled everything from my stash that was red or pink. This red cashmere sweater had gotten a little tight (Thanks Corona snacks!) and I wanted a looser fit. 

 

 Before and after

This dress was something I bought a few years ago because I loved the fabric so much. I never liked wearing it but I couldn't get rid of it. It was too pretty. The tight mock turtleneck did not feel good. The turtleneck made it seem like it should be for cooler weather. But that did not work either because it was also a very thin and clingy dress.

 

I decided to cut it up and use it to make the red sweater fit better. I cut the hem off and put it aside. The hemline had a curve to it. That means it won't sew into my sweater perfectly straight. I can use it on curved areas. You will see more about this later. Let's keep going.

I cut long strips of fabric from the dress. I cut them vertically from the dress so they would be straight.

I cut the sides of the sweater open from the wrist to the waistband.

I used the straight pieces to fill in the side seams. This will add some extra space that I really need. And it adds a lot of interest to the sweater.

 

 Here is a look inside and the new seams where I sewed in the floral fabric. I used a serger but you could also use a regular machine and use a zigzag stitch. Iron the seams if needed.

 

I used a folded over piece of fabric to make wrist cuffs. I wanted to use as much of the floral fabric as possible and cuffs will let me push up the sleeves if I want to.

I used the hem fabric to make the curve around the neck. I just wanted it to peek out.

I liked how the blue floral fabric added some color and fun to the sweater. The extra room is just what I needed to make this sweater more comfortable.

 

I was done with my sweater and I got to use that pretty floral fabric. It was not easy to show the parts of the sweater that I wanted to show. So, here is a weird and unprofessionally posed photo. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was a favorite right away because I love red, I love cashmere, and I love that floral fabric. Still wearing this and loving it.

Add Lace

Hello Readers. We have come to the end of January and I hope you were able to stay warm and cozy all month. This sweatshirt was warm and cozy but it was also plain and could use some fun and excitement. 

 

Before and after.

This sweatshirt is about as exciting as plain oatmeal. There just isn't anything fun about it.
 

When I saw this brown sweater I did not like it that much. It was not a pretty color and it looks like used coffee grounds. There was another problem. The placement of the lace made the whole shirt see-thru in places I would not want to be seen. I don't know who decided the shear lace should be on the chest of a woman's shirt but it just didn't work for me.

It had one thing I did like and that was the off-white lace. I could take all the pretty lace trim from this brown shirt and use it on my sweatshirt. I could use the pretty lace and also make sure my new shirt would cover what I thought it should cover. I only used the cotton lace. I left the cheap brow polyester lace behind with the used coffee grounds.

 

I also had some lace in my stash I could use.

 

 

I cut the neckband off and I used a small zigzag stitch and attached the lace around the neck. 

 

I used the lace as a collar. I also cut the wrist cuffs off the sweatshirt and added the lace to the ends of the sleeves.

I also added the narrow lace around the back of the neck. I had just enough.

 

 I was feeling monochromatic so I grabbed these super long tan pants. 

 

They came from the fence next to my dentist's office. They said "FREE", so I took them home. (This is a small town.)

They just needed to be shortened and hemmed. They were just my size but way too long

 

I did some cutting and some hemming. 

I was having a really VERY BIG hair day but the clothes came together really well. I liked the lace on the sweatshirt. It added interest and texture. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- I still really love the lace added to this sweatshirt. Somehow it seems dressy but it's still just a cozy sweatshirt

Sweatshirt to Dress

 Hello Readers. I hope your January is cozy and warm. My theme this month was "Stay Cozy". This sweatshirt was cozy and soft and it made me look really pregnant. I knew I could do something with it that would not look so maternity.

 

Before and after.

 

 

This sweatshirt was super cute. Was it maternity? It sure fit like that. I am 49 years old y'all. I am not having a baby at this point. I would probably die if I tried it. I had a baby at 42. It was very difficult. Let's try for a different look.

 

 

I had a plan to make this sweatshirt into a mini dress. I was going to use this off-white shirt to help me.

 

 I cut the floral shirt because I just needed a few inches from the body of the shirt.

 

 

I cut the dress in half and wanted to put a piece of the floral shirt in the middle of the dress. The top of the dress would remain the same. 

 

There was going to be a band of floral fabric in the middle of the dress. The sweatshirt top and the floral shirt were almost the same exact size so they were easy to put together. I used my serger but a zigzag stitch would work too. I wanted to re-attach the skirt to the bottom of the floral fabric piece. This would make the dress longer and the floral fabric would add some interest. Almost like a belt.

 

 

The skirt was bigger than the floral piece. I needed to arrange the skirt so it was evenly distributed around the floral band of fabric. I used pins to hold it. I decided to fold the extra fabric down to make pleats. 

 

I folded the pleat down and pinned it where my thumb is pointing. It was easy to sew over the folded pleat when I attached the skirt to the rest of the dress.

I added an off-white shirt under my new dress for warmth and to cover my stomach a little more. The sheer floral fabric was such a cute addition to the plain sweatshirt. I love it. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- Love this dress. It's perfect over leggings and very cozy.

Mother Son Flannel

 It's been a rough week or so at my house. My youngest was sick. And then the older son got it. It's actually the perfect time for these cozy flannel clothes. 

 

Before and after.

 

We all need cozy clothes to wear at home while we eat chicken noodle soup, right?

 

These were men's flannel pajama pants so I had plenty of fabric to make some shorts for myself. I could have made pants but I wanted to make something else as well.

I used a pair of sweat pants to make my son a pair of plaid pajama pants.

 

I cut out 2 legs and put them together. 

I added some stretchy ribbing as a waistband. 

 

I told my son we had to take a picture of these pants. I offered candy as a bribe. Without any direction, he struck a casual yet professional pose.
 

I removed the Italia logo from the sweatshirt to see what I had left to work with. . 

Then I decided to cut the sweatshirt up the front so it would be open like a jacket. I replaced the logo with left over plaid fabric.

I had a matching casual pajama set that was perfect for being lazy and staying home with my son.He is sick but the fever is gone and he is back to playing with Legos all day. I hope y'all are well. Get plenty of fluids and rest. And go make something fun for yourself, if you are up to it. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- These matching jammies were fun and the open sweatshirt was actually nice to wear. It was better for taking on and off if I got too warm.