Tailoring a Sweater

 

 Hello Readers. I hope you are doing well today. My daughter has been cleaning out her closet and passing things on to me. One of those things was this sweater.

 Maybe it's just me but this sweater seems a little off balance. Why is the front so much bigger and longer than the back?

The back of the sweater was a good length and the sleeves fit well. The front panels were made to be loose and drape down in the front so I know they are supposed to be longer. It just didn't suit me. It is so thick that is is bulky. A little too bulky to drape well.

I decided to make this sweater a little more streamlined and tailored. I know what you are thinking, "How can a sweater be altered?". I just cut and sewed the sweater like it was any other fabric.

I just used a zigzag stitch on this sweater and it worked great. It controlled the fraying very well.

The sweater was so much simpler now. I really liked it. What about that shirt I am wearing with it?

My daughter gave me this shirt when she gave me the sweater. I am shorter than her and the V-neck was too low on me. The whole shirt was very long. I looked at it and realized the back was a plain round neck. Could I wear it backwards and solve this problem easily with no sewing? Yes, I could! It was still too long. It was so long that I couldn't tuck it in,

 I shortened the shirt and used the extra fabric to make a couple face masks. You can't have too many face masks right.

 I liked the final result. The shirt was so much better when it was backwards and shorter.

 I liked tucking the shirt in. Sometimes simpler is better. This combo, including the mask, was perfect for work.

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-I wore this a few times but got tired of cold shoulder top under this sweater. The sweater isn't a favorite but it's OK.

 

 

The Velvet Vest & A Treasure Chest

Hello Readers. Did you like the rhyming title to this blog post? I have to admit I am goofy enough to like that it rhymed. Well, ages ago, I found this purple top at a swap and took it just because I liked the velvet. I thought I could make something from the fabric because it was so pretty. The sparkly jewels in the buttons caught my eye too. They seemed a little over the top. This whole top made me think of Dynasty. Do y'all remember Dynasty? Alexis and Krystle were always fighting in super posh outfits. 

 In spite of my fond memories of 80's trash TV, I wanted to tone down the formal look of this top. Could I simplify it? I could try. And I had a plan for those buttons too.

This top had a zipper in the back so I would be able to use that to get the top on and off. I could do anything I wanted to the front because I would use the back to actually pull it over my head.

I started by cutting away at the puffy sleeves and the wrap piece around the shoulders. When I removed the buttons in the front I realized it was turning into a vest. It took some time but I turned all those edges in and sewed them into the vest so it did not look as ragged as it does in this picture.

The "vest" had an off-the-shoulder shape at the neckline so I had to close the front to keep it on. I did not have any purple buttons and no other colors seemed to work. I tried white, black, brown, gray, clear... Nothing seemed quite right. I settled for these purple flowers.

The front can be sewn closed because of that back zipper. I attached the purple flowers and closed the front of the vest all at the same time.

I really like that this is still a dressy top but it doesn't feel as melodramatic as it did before. Less drama sounds really good right now, doesn't it?

Now what about those jewel covered buttons? Well, I decided to use them as decoration for child's treasure chest.

I painted the wooden chest black and used a hot glue gun to attach the jewels to the top. It goes with a lesson in my VIPKid classes. (I teach English as a second language classes online.) In the lesson the child "earns" gold coins by answering questions. I thought this would be a good visual aid. 

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

***Chickie's Year End Review-I never got dressed up enough to wear this velvet top again but I used that treasure chest a lot until the online company I was working with shut down.

Making More of My Bathrobe

 Hello Readers. I hope you are safe and well. It is cold and I want to spend some time hibernating at home. (Anyone else want to hide from the world?) I loved my blue fuzzy robe but it was not very long. My legs need some insulation too. I also lost the belt somewhere along the way and couldn't tie it closed. I had a pair of fuzzy pajama pants but they were a little short, my ankles were cold.

Actual morning photos.

 I thought they could work together to keep me warmer and cozier.

I started by cutting the hem off the robe. This was going to be my new belt. It is a great width and it is already put together for me. 

My next step was cutting the pants apart. I wanted to use one leg to lengthen the robe.  I cut the 2 large rectangular pieces on the left. I want them to add length to the robe. The other leg was going to be used for pockets. Why doesn't this robe have pockets? Everything should have pockets! I cut out the 2 square pockets on the right. 

I used a zigzag stitch for most of this sewing. The fleece was easy to work with. I hemmed the robe all the way around.

 Remember the belt I cut out? I threaded that through the waist band of the robe. 

 That was all I needed to do. Below is a fake morning picture. I am not a morning person, as you can see in the first picture.

I liked the new length a lot. It makes more sense for a heavy winter robe to be longer. The pockets are also handy too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Chickie's Year End Review- I wear this bathrobe everyday in the colder months. Literally. Everyday.

Comfort Clothes

 Hello Readers. How are you? Are you a little panicked at the thought of the United States in a complete melt-down? Yes, me too. I have been eating comfort food and wearing comfort clothes. And avoiding too much news so I don't go crazy. My post today is about comfort clothes. Flannel is soft, fuzzy, comfortable and comforting. I hope so anyway. 

This refashion started months ago when I saw these 2 shirts at the store. I liked the plaid and solid combination. Did I buy one? No. You know by now that I am cheap as heck and I didn't buy anything. But I thought about how I could make something like this for myself. 

I had a gray and white flannel that was handed down to me from a friend (Thanks Miriam!) and a gray and white hoodie that has been around for ages. Guess what? They are getting married!

 I started by cutting the flannel shirt open in the front and removing the button placket. 

I used my dress form to arrange and pin the flannel and the hoodie together.

I used my sewing machine to connect the hoodie zipper and hood to the flannel shirt. I only connected the zipper and the hood. The rest of the hoodie was cut away.

I love that it has a zipper. It is so easy to layer and remove if I get hot. 

I can also show a little of the Baby Yoda shirt my mom gave me for Christmas! (Thanks Mom!)

I can still tuck the shirt in as well. What more could I want? (Maybe social and political stability? That is for another blog post I think.)

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. Or go eat some comfort food. Whatever helps you get through these times. I went for chips and brownies. 

Peace.

***Chickie's Year End Review- I loved this plaid shirt. I accidentally bleached it with a load of towels and it got ruined.

The $1 Outfit

 Hello Readers. I love bright colors but I always fall back into the habit of wearing black. Black is easy to wear, it can be dressed up or down, and my dog's hair doesn't show on it. I think that is a huge plus.

Let's start by talking about the sweater. This was my husbands sweater. It is from a job he had about 5 years ago. He got laid off and didn't have any emotional attachment to this sweater or company. I liked the style and color. The size and the logo were not working for me so that is what I wanted to change.

The first thing I did was change the size. I am smaller than my husband so this sweater needed to be smaller too.  

I wanted to cover the logo. I was afraid if I tried to unpick the stitches I would ruin the sweater. I had this big flower I could use. But where did this flower come from? That's a good question.

This flower came attached to a Tieks shoe box. My daughter bought a pair of shoes a while ago and this flower was around the box like a bow on a gift box. (This is the kind of thing that I keep and figure out how to use later.) The flower had an elastic band attached to it. I cut the elastic off the flower. Snip, snip.

I used a large safety pin to wear this flower like a broach. It covered the logo perfectly and I was able to take it off and wash the sweater.

These pants were about $1 at a bag sale. (Do your thrift stores have bag sales? It is usually whatever fits in a bag for a set price.) These pants were almost working but the waist was the worst. That's OK, I can fix that.

When I alter pants and jeans I usually make new side seams to change the size of the pants. The only difficulty with this method if the metal rivets. In this picture you can see where I marked the rivet so I could sew around it. If you sew over the rivet you will break your needle and possibly damage the shaft of the sewing machine. (I have done both of those things.)

I did not need to drastically change the size I just needed to alter the fit. 

 

 

These black patterned jeans just needed a little tweak to make them fit well at the waist. I hate when the waistband gapes open so fixing these made me feel better. I also tapered the calves to make these into skinny jeans.

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

***Chickie's Year End Review- I liked these pants but outgrew them with all my Covid snacking. I still wear the sweater a lot.

Dressember Dresses; The New Year's One

 2020 is ending and I don't think anyone is sorry to see it go. This is the last dress for Dressember 2020. (IT's also the first of 2021!) Being a part of this fundraising effort every year is inspiring and it makes me hope for a better world in 2021. You can go to Dressember.org and see what they are trying to accomplish. Human trafficking is a growing issue and ignoring it makes it grow even more.  

My last dress of the month is a skirt. I know that is cheating a little to make a 2 piece outfit. 2020 has been hard on my thrifting game so please have patience with me. 

My daughter gave me this sparkly top. I thought it would be great for New Year's Eve. I thought Covid would be gone and we could go do something fun to celebrate the new year. (I was wrong.)

 

This top just needed a little change at the armholes. It was a little bit loose and I wanted the shape to be a little more defined. This was a simple change, no big deal. 

 

Let's move on the the star of the show. The sweater. My husband got a hole in this sweater and was going to get rid of it. I loved the sage color and the weight of the material. I decided to make a skirt for myself out of it.

 

 

I tried to measure the size skirt I would need and held the sweater up to myself. Then I just started cutting and made a simple pencil skirt. I was counting on the stretch of the sweater to act as a waistband. The hem of the sweater is the waist of my skirt.

 

I thought this outfit would be cozy and that I could dress it up a little. 

 

Y'all know that I didn't need to because I am home doing nothing dressy. No make-up or heels would be needed for this night. 

 

This was our big celebration. We also played games and watched "Jumanji".

 

I hope your night was safe and I wish you a 2021 full of blessings and renewed hope. 

See you next year.

***Chickie's Year End Review- I liked the color of this sweater so much but this was not my favorite refashion of 2021.