The Dress From Long Ago

Hello Readers. Some times clothes sit and wait quite a while to get refashioned at my house. This bright cotton turquoise dress has been waiting a long time. I found it at a clothes swap and no one else wanted it.

 Today's post is like a flash from the past. I have had this dress for over 2 years. I used some of it in 2017 to add some length to this shirt. I took the lowest tier from the skirt and added it to the hem. 

Now back to 2019, I had a shorter dress that still didn't fit but I loved that gauzy wrinkled cotton.

I decided to make a top with a nice peplum ruffle at the bottom. I cut off the bottom tier of the skirt and all the polyester lining that went with it to connect the tiers.

I took the sides in a little so it would fit better.

Here is a side view. I made sure the armholes were not too big.

There were 2 places at the neckline that were gathered together. I used them and made them a little bigger so the neckline would be pulled in and up a little more.

 I decided to make some cropped pants from my daughters hand-me-downs. Again. I am a little obsessed. I had to cut off almost a foot of fabric. Again. I gave them a quick hem and they were ready to wear. Honestly, I don't love them, I think they make me look even shorter. They are great in the oppressive heat of late summer, so I know I will wear them.

I liked the shirt even better than I thought I would. It's a new favorite.

           *Photo edited to make me look taller.                                             

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

 ***Year End update-This is still a great top. I only wore it in the summer. The gauzy fabric seemed like a summer weiht to me. It is waiting in the closet for net summer.

The Pro Bowl Shirt

Hello Readers. I think it is fun to play around with clothes and try to make something new. It can be an experiment. What can I make? How can I change things up?

I put this shirt and skirt together because the colors seemed the same. The Pro-Bowl shirt was my son's but he outgrew it. It was big and masculine. The skirt was from a clothes swap. The skirt was almost on the ground! The shirt was big and masculine. It wasn't a nice looking outfit. Free clothes are great but it's not great when they fit like this.

 

I started by cutting off the sleeves and collar off. I was seeing a tank top shape so I went with that. Check out the cool football and floral fabric.

I cut more of the front away to remove the big logo. I tried to keep each side even. I had now cut of so much of the front it was not going to cover me enough. I had a plan for that.

 I turned it around and use the back off the shirt as the front. I re-tied and adjusted the straps so the V-neck wasn't too low.

The shirt was big enough to criss-cross the back. The 2 sides cross over each other so my back is fully covered.

Work on the skirt came next. It was a fake wrap skirt. There was a fully closed skirt under that flap in the front. I cut the skirt off at my knee length and hemmed it all the way around. I made the "wrap" part a little shorter so it would be more visible. I really liked the stripes and the soft knit material.

I tucked the top in and I was done!

I went downtown and made my husband take my picture in front of these cool angel wings.

And in front of this cool mosaic mural one block over. He got artsy with it.

I gave him a lot of advice even though he is a photographer and his pictures always look so much better than mine. He was a great sport about it though.

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

***Year End update-  I really liked the 2 patterns together. It was really comfortable and fun for a date outfit.

A Curtain Refresher

Hello Readers. Today's post is not about clothes. It's about curtains. I decided to dress my curtains up with some trim that I was given.

Before                             After

My sweet mother-in-law cleaned out her sewing room and passed along some great stuff. My house has a lot of blue and white so that is what I gathered together. I found enough pom-pom trim to dress up all of my curtains downstairs.

I added the blue pom-poms because they were so fun. And because there was enough of it to do the whole job. The blue really adds a pop of color to the valances. The curtain on the left is finished. The curtain on the right is waiting for trim.

I added the blue and yellow fringe trim to the fabric blinds on the windows. These are heavy enough to block the hot summer sun from coming in and making my house too warm. The fringe adds a fun touch.

This is my dining room. These valances were straight along the bottom edge. I wanted them to match the other valances. My house is really open and you can see every room at once. I like the curtains to match each other room. Different colors and fabrics can look like a crazy mess when the rooms all join each other.

(There are toys and kid stuff everywhere so it's still a crazy mess. The curtains won't change that, but the the windows will look nice and neat. Notice that none of these pictures show  any of the floor, that's where the kid mess is.)

I used a curved valance as a guide and cut the straight curtains to match.

I added the blue pom-pom trim and hung them back up.

This is the front room, now every room is matching a little better.

Thanks for reading along, next time we will be back to the clothing.

***Year End update-  I'm not sure if this is a true refashion. I still like the blue toile curtains. I am glad I added the trim. I am still very happy my mother-in-law gave me all the trim.

The Lobster Skirt

Hello Readers. Did you read that title and wonder what in the world is a lobster skirt? I don't know how someone came up with the idea of putting little lobsters all over a skirt, but somebody did it. I am really glad because it is just silly enough to make me want to wear it.

 I wasn't kidding. These are pretty detailed lobsters. There is no mistaking them. From a distance you might think polka-dots. But no! When you get up close there are lobsters everywhere. There are claws, tails, legs, antennae... these are full complete lobsters.

And check this out. It wasn't just a skirt. It was a skort! That's right. It was a skirt with shorts underneath. I don't like skorts very much because they seem so bulky. It's like wearing double the clothes. I cut the shorts out where they were attached inside.

I decided to make the skort the same shape as this denim skirt I already had. The length was the same. It just needed to be taken in at the waist a little. The size at the hem was just right.

Here is my new lobster skirt. I don't like to eat lobster that much but I liked this skirt a lot.

I needed a top to go with it. This white tunic has been waiting all summer for me to get to it. You can see why I don't like tunics. They are so long on me. The designers ask, "How tall are grown women? They must be over 5 feet tall, right? And they have normal length arms, right?" (Not always designers. Not always. Some off us are out here making it through life on less.)

*It doesn't look like it but I was wearing shorts in this photo. 

 I decided to shorten the tunic and the sleeves. The fit through the body was great, it was just too long everywhere.

 I thought the navy blue trim would look nice with the navy blue of the skirt. The white was a calm and peaceful balance to the crazy lobsters. But who wants to be calm and peaceful? Not me.

When I wore this skirt a second time, I wore red to highlight my little lobster friends. I wore it to work but I don't think anyone noticed the lobsters. They made me happy though and I liked these two patterns together.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something this fun for yourself!

***Year End update-  This is definitely a favorite. I love the lobsters. And I love red, so the top is a winner too.

Just a skirt

Hello Readers. My daughter gave me this dress because it was too small for her. I thought it would fit me because I am smaller and shorter than her but it was so tight I thought I might get hurt. It was squeezing my arms and it was tight across the back and chest. I thought I might burst through the seams any second. It was awful.

The dress itself was nice and I do love blue. I didn't think the fabric was soft enough to try and expand the top in any way. It was a little scratchy and even if I made it larger, I still wouldn't like to wear it that much. What could I do to make myself like this dress?

I decided to just cut off the part that really bothered me. The tight itchy top was the problem. I felt better already! Now it was just a skirt. I just needed to stitch down the waistband. There was a problem....my sewing machine was in the shop for repairs.

I got out a needle and some matching blue thread and got to work. I folded the cut edge in and stitched it to the seam at the waist. It was easy as pie.

(My sewing machine is back home now. I missed it.)

I left enough fabric to make a nice waistband. And I got a surprise. Because the top was removed the skirt was able to sit at my natural waist. It was actually a little bigger in the waist now. I was going to take the waistband in a little but...

Remember that dear daughter that gave me this dress in the beginning? I told her that the waist seemed more roomy now that the top had been taken away. It would probably fit her better and she could have it back if she wanted it. So..... it is in her closet now. I don't mind giving it back though. Do any of you let your kids borrow your clothes? Or take them for keeps? Is it just me?

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

***Year End update-This was a really perfect skirt that I never wore again. I am not sure why.....

To Maxi or Not

Hello Readers. My daughter gave me this maxi-dress. She is a lot taller than I am. It fit her perfectly but it was way too long on me. I really liked the fit through the body, what did I want to do with it? I an usually very decisive, but not today.

It was a great dress. It was a tank top bodice with a super long skirt attached. That super long skirt was a little over whelming. It had to be shorter, that much I was sure of.

   

At first I thought I would just shorten it and make it a maxi-dress for me. A petite maxi-dress. It wasn't bad like this I just wasn't sure if I really wanted a maxi-dress. It can be difficult to deal with such a long skirt at times.

I thought maybe a midi length would be better. This length would still be conservative but easier to walk in than a maxi-dress. (I can be very clumsy. This length was safer.)

So, I kept going. Would I like it just above the knee? Yes, I really would. It seemed great for summer and the crazy heatwave we have had lately. I stopped cutting the dress for a little while and thought about what clothes I really needed. I love dresses but...

I could really use a tank top to survive the hot summer we are having. Sometimes shorts and a shirt are just easier to throw on when you have to wrestle children and animals all day. (One 4 year old boy and one dog.) And it seemed to fit well as a shirt. The skirt was not puffy and I didn't feel like I looked pregnant. Empire waists usually make me look 4 months along with twins. A shirt it was!

 

As I experimented and tried each different length I got to try them on and be really sure of what I was going to get and if I really liked it. I liked them all but it seemed like a cute top would be the best use for me. Do you agree with my decision? Let me know in the comments.

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

***Year End update-  This was a great dress and a great tank. I liked it in summer and under a cardigan in early fall when it turns hot in the afternoon.