The Itchy Sweater Purse

Hello Readers. Do you have a wool sweater that you never wear. I had this pretty, gray, floral sweater. It was really warm but I hated to wear it because it was so itchy and scratchy around my neck. Life is too short to be uncomfortable and I always found something else to wear on cold days. So what should I do with the sweater?

It fit well and it was in great condition. It was 100% wool, that was why it was so warm. If you check the care directions it will say not to machine wash and dry it. That will cause wool to shrink quite a bit. (Sometimes people do this by accident, or so I hear.)

I washed the sweater in hot water and dried it on high in my dryer.

As you can see it shrank a lot. Not only is it smaller, but it is thicker now too. The material tightens up and creates something really easy to create and play with. The wool is strong and tough. It needs no lining and it won't fray at all when cut. I have seen bags that were crocheted with wool yarn and then shrunk. That works too, if you can crochet. 

I started by cutting off the arms and neck band. This sweater is open in the front, I will have to connect the front and close it.

I turned the sweater inside out and stitched the two front pieces together. I also closed the bottom of the sweater. It looks like a little shopping tote bag. I cut the shoulders of the sweater more to  begin make two narrow straps. I also cut some extra pieces. I need to make longer straps so I can carry this purse over my shoulder and I am going to add a pocket to the front. I like a place to put my phone and a pocket will cover that big seam in the front of my new purse.

I hope these pictures help you see how I put it together. The pocket doesn't hide the entire front seam but it covers most of it. I added the button that was at the neck of the sweater. I used the seam from one arm as a closure around the button. It was thick like a piece of soft cord after washing and shrinking. The back of the bag was plain gray. 

I used one long narrow piece of sweater material to make a long shoulder strap. I connected the two little shoulder pieces from the shoulder area to the long narrow extension piece. One strap might need some reinforcement so I added some black ribbon to the underside of the strap. the wool material is really strong but over time it will stretch and it might get longer than I want.

The shoulder strap looks twisted but it lays flat and snug over my shoulder.

This is a picture of my mom at Home Depot. I tried to get her to take my picture but she couldn't use my phone very well. She kept taking video. I have a 10 minute of video of me telling my mom to take a picture, "Just touch the little camera icon Mom. Just touch it. The little circle with a camera in it." Oh, well.

I made this blue bag 4-5 years ago and it is still in good shape. It was a ladies sweater and it had a zipper down the front. I used a long piece tied in a bow to cover the top of the zipper where I cut the neck of the sweater. These bags have the most comfortable shoulder straps and they don't seem to slide off my shoulder. 

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

Black and White and Fruit All Over

Hello Readers. How are you today? I had a couple of shirts that I thought went well together, but didn't fit. I liked the black and white color scheme. I also wanted to fix these because I never seem to have any clean long sleeve tops. I have a toddler now, so I am usually behind on laundry. That may be part of the problem. Anyway....on to the sewing. 

I began with the T-shirt. It was too big and the neck gaped open when I leaned over. I mentioned the toddler already, I am always leaning over and picking stuff up off the floor. A lot of times I am picking the toddler up off the floor. I need a shirt that can handle my lifestyle.

 I started by turning the shirt inside out and folding it down the middle of the back. I used my machine to stitch a new seam and then cut off the excess to remove 2-3 inches of material. This caused the neck line to be pulled back enough that I wouldn't flash anyone when I wore this.

Then I narrowed the sides by about 2 inches. I tried it on and then took another 2 inches from the sides. The arms didn't need to have as much removed from them as the body did. I like to try things on in the middle to see how my refashion is going. It usually works better for me to check my work as I go along.

You can see the change in the fit of the shirt here. It is still comfortable but it's not so baggy. The new close fit let's me layer on top of it easily.

Here is the second piece of the of the project. This striped cardigan was big in a way I liked but, the arms were so big I couldn't get the sleeves to stay pushed up. They were too long so I couldn't just leave them the way they were. And this cardigan was a great partner for the T-shirt, it needed to be fixed. 

I stitched a new seam on each arm, using the existing seam as a guide. I removed about 2 inches of fabric from the wrist and less from the upper arm area. It is a knit so there was no fraying to worry about. 

The sleeves can stay pushed up now, so I can wear this cardigan and have full use of my hands too. I liked the loose fit through the body so, I left it alone. 

The third piece of this project was a scrap that I found when I cleaned up my sewing area. I refashioned this fruit covered dress in the Fall. I cut the bottom 12 inches off and left the cut off piece in the scrap pile. I immediately forgot about it, but found it again when I did a recent clean up. My daughter said it would make a great scarf. Hmmm,,,,,OK!

This material looks like multi-colored dots from a distance but up close,,, IT'S FRUIT BABY!

I removed the buttons and connected the fabric so it made a big circle. I also stitched the raw edge under. It had a great drape to it and it was perfect for a scarf. This took all of 3 minutes. I can't believe I forgot about it for so long. I should clean more often. (But I don't want to!)

All three of these ideas were very simple, and they just happened to all go together. 

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

Jimmy's Irish Cloak Coat

Hello Readers. How are you? I am freezing. I am in the middle of a cold snap that my area of the world doesn't usually get. So, we freak out, bundle up, and generally whine until it warms up again. That will happen in a few days. In the meantime, this is a good time to make a warm winter jacket. 

I found this pristine red wool cloak at a clothes swap in the Fall. It was made in the Republic of Ireland by Jimmy Hourihan of Dublin. I don't know the company or Jimmy personally, but he makes a beautiful cloak. I am Irish, so I figured it was fate. This refashion was destiny. It is made of new wool, lambs wool and cashmere.  I decided to look up the different types of wool and learned more than I can share here. Basically, this fabric is top quality and very soft. This was a great find.

Here is the simple problem with this cloak, it's just too big and there is too much fabric for me to wear. I am lost in here.  I couldn't carry a purse or more importantly, care for my little guy. He is an active toddler, I need to be able to use my arms to catch him when he runs away into traffic.

As beautiful as this cloak is, it just doesn't suit me.

If I were taller, it would look stylish and chic. On me this cloak makes me look like a hobbit or an elf taking a ring to Mordor. My kids liked this look and wanted me to keep it, I didn't.

But it is so pretty, that red fabric was so gorgeous, and look at this built in scarf. Someone decided to give this gem away so it's mine now. Let's get to work.

I love red, this is going to be great!

I used a coat that fit well as a guide.

I used chalk to mark the fabric for cutting. The arms and body need to be full and loose to fit over layers of winter clothing and I hate tight jackets. I marked the fabric and made it larger than the coat. 

 The front is a little too open to keep me warm. I was worried about that.

There is only one button closure at the neck. I moved it over about an inch. That pulled the two sides towards the center and the fabric over lapped. I thought that would help, but it needed to stay closed around my body and I wanted more shape through the jacket. It needed a belt.

I started making a belt to tie the waist closed. I used some of the fabric I had cut away earlier. I thought it would be easy. 

The belt turned out too thick and the whole coat looked like a bathrobe. Ugh! I used a thinner belt and pinned it on to see how it looked. The thinner belt was much better and I decided to shorten the jacket to hip length because I thought that would look less like a robe and it would be easier to throw on with jeans. I gave it a quick hem around the bottom.

I left the built in scarf untouched. It is the nicest, warmest scarf I have ever had. The arm length worked out perfect all by itself, I told you it was refashion destiny. Thanks Jimmy Hourihan!

This jacket is really light weight but is nice and warm. I am in love. The design and shape was very basic, that lets the color and fabric to be the star of the show.

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

The Big Sweater

Hello Readers. It is cold and that means it's time for sweaters. I love sweaters, they don't wrinkle, they keep you warm, and they hide all the holiday weight gain. Someone passed this great black and gray sweater on to me and I loved it because it looked brand new. It was a little big though.

OK, maybe it was more than a little big. It almost seemed like a maternity sweater, but it didn't say anything on the tag. Whatever it was, it needed a new fit. And that neckline seems a little blah. Hmmm........

I decided to use the collar from this shirt. I used the lace along the bottom in a different refashion recently. I thought the lacey collar would look nice on this sweater. And there is plenty of collar to fit around the neck of the sweater.

I cut the collar off the shirt. I kept the seam on the collar and used it to attach the collar to the sweater. I just stitched through it and the sweater together. I just followed along the binding of the neck hole of the sweater. Very easy. I connected the two front ends of the collar and then I just cut off the excess. The collar is a nylon type material, it won't fray and it will wash well.

The collar is on and I used a zigzag stitch to take the sweater down in size. It seemed like it would fray easily so the zigzag stitch will hold the new raw edges together. I made it more of a straight fit rather than the A-line shape it had before. I didn't want it tight, just smaller in the tummy area.

It is big enough to layer over a shirt for extra warmth because it's COLD out there. (Gotta have the layers.)

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

The Photo Clock

Hello Readers. My project today is for the house and it is all thanks to a nice lady named Donna. (Thanks Donna!) She was getting rid of this clock and gave it to me. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it at first, but then I had an idea. 

This clock is pretty neutral in color. It will be a good base for my idea. I started by opening the clock up. It had small screws on the back. The front was basically a round frame and a piece of glass. I put them aside and focused on the clock itself.

The second part of this project involved the pictures. I found a dozen pictures that I liked and cut circles around the faces. I used this circle cutter but you could easily use a small glass, trace the circle, and cut it out with scissors.

This step is easy. I used tape to attach the little picture circles where the numbers would appear on the clock. It will hold well in the frame and I can remove and replace a picture later if I want. After I stuck all the pictures on the clock I put the front frame back on the clock.

Here is my finished photo clock. It is nice to see all the little pictures.

Thanks for reading, I wish you a happy, healthy 2017.

*** BONUS TRACK ***

I got a new clothes rack in time for the new year. The old one collapsed one day and seemed like a lost cause. The new one is stronger and not held together by duct tape. I straightened up and have hopes of keeping my sewing area nice and neat.