Green Leopard Spots

 Hello Readers. Today's post is about a dress that I did not refashion. I liked this dress just as it was but I usually can't wear dresses to work so  couldn't wear it very often. Let's find a way to wear it more easily and more often. 

 

Before and after. 

 

 

I just needed some casual pieces to wear the dress with to make it more casual. I had some black pants were part of a haul that was hanging on the fence next to my dentists office when I took my son in for a checkup. (Small town life!) 

 

They were new with tags from Banana Republic and they fit perfectly in the waist and hips but the length was crazy long, even with heels. (FYI- I am very short.) There were actually 2 pairs of these black pants on that fence so I got a double freebie. I shortened one pair and now I could do something else with the second pair of black pants. And here we are, so let's do it. 

I did some cutting and sewing. 

These pants were so nice. I never would have made shorts from them unless I had 2 pairs. Shorts for summer were something I knew I could really use. And now I had some really nice shorts.

 

 I decided to wear the dress open at the bottom over the shorts. I don't have to wear it as a dress, I can wear it anyway I want. There are so many possibilities.
 

 You can button the bottom button behind you to get this look. It can work on a long loose button-down shirts as well. So borrow your man's/dad's/neighbor's/friend's shirt and try it.

 I wore the belt that came with my dress but you can wear yours however you like.  I like this because it can still be a dress if I want.  When I wear it like this I don't have to worry so much about sitting like a lady because the shorts are there. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I wore these shorts all summer and the dress is still a favorite. I still like it as a jacket and a dress.

One Last Giraffe

 Hello Readers. I know this month has been a lot of animal prints and most of them were giraffes. But... I have one more giraffe to share. This long sleeve shirt was soft and stretchy but I just felt like it might be too much. Like too much giraffe print? Let's see how we can calm down a print that feel like too much. 

Before and after. 

This shirt was a little baggy and a little long on me and the skirt was a mid knee length, that wasn't great on me either.

I decided to size the shirt down a little. 

 

These cut edges just need to be put together again with a zigzag stitch or a serger. Use what ever you have.
 

The skirt got a little trim and a new hem for the lining and the skirt itself.

I loved how this outfit turned out. It was looking much better but...it was so hot when I wore it that I went back to the sewing room asap.

I decided the sleeves needed to be shorter and the length of the shirt could be shortened also. I wanted to use my serger and do a flatlock stitch. I am still learning how the serger can do different things. 

I stitched the right sides together and then ....

Here is a close up of my first flatlock stitch. This will be great for other knit clothes too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I love this shirt. It is soft and gets a lot of wear. I haven't worn the skirt as much. Maybe tan is not fun enough for me?

A Giraffe & Biker Shorts

Hello Readers. I have noticed that biker shorts are masking a come-back. I remember them from the 90's. It's like leggings for summer. Pajamas you can wear in public.  I didn't have any and I wasn't going to buy any but I wanted some. 

Before and after.

 

You can guess how happy I was when I found these shorts under this skirt from my stash. I had no idea this was a skort! I was thrilled, as you can see. 

I cut the skirt off the shorts of the skirt. I cut as close to the seam as I could without cutting the seam itself. 

Once the skirt was cut off I could work on the fit of the shorts. 

The waistband was a little loose so I took it in along the side seam. I only needed to take it in about an inch on each side. I made a new seam at an angle so it would blend into the existing seam. 

I wanted to change the button-up shirt into a light flowy layering piece. These biker shorts are going to be great but I might want to cover up my bum. A longer but light weight top layer will be perfect for that. 

I was comfy and cool and my bum was covered. Win, win, win!

This was perfect for running errands when I just wanted to stay home in my pajamas all day. My youngest took this picture for me, so photo credit to him. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- The shirt is still nice but the biker shorts got SO much wear. I need to focus on basics more I think.

Scarf & Tank

 Hello Readers. I hope you are enjoying the animal prints this month. I am liking them more than I thought I would. I liked this lightweight giraffe scarf but wanted to incorporate it into a piece of clothing.

  Before and after.

What could I do with this long narrow giraffe scarf? And a tight white tank top? And a frumpy white denim skirt? 

I cut the tank top open on the sides. I was going to use the scarf to make this tank bigger so I needed to open it up. 

I cut the scarf in half so I had 2 equal pieces to put into the sides of the tank. 

I pinned the whole shirt-scarf combo together and it looked like this. I used my sewing machine to stitch it all together. 

 

After sewing it all together it looked like this. It was unusual but I liked it a lot. It seemed very dramatic.

This white denim skirt was just too long and too boring. I cut the hem off the skirt. Then I started cutting fringe. I wasn't sure how long to make the fringe. I started with 1 1/2 inch cuts but that wasn't enough. I cut them longer after trying it on. 

I loved the fringe at about 3-4 inches long. The shorter skirt looked better and the fringe was so fun. I didn't cut them exactly I just started snipping away. I liked these 2 pieces together. But where are the long scarf bits on the side?

I thought it would be fun to tie them in the back. What do you think? Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- This shirt was fun but I didn't wear it as much as I thought I would. I am not sure why. It is put away for next summer.

Scarf to Wrap Skirt

 Hello Readers. I hope you are having a calm peaceful summer. If you have seen the news lately it seems like nowhere and nothing is calm or peaceful. If you are hurting or feeling overwhelmed, you are nor alone. I am not blind to what is happening and I hope for better days. Sewing helps me find some quiet peaceful time in my week. I think I keep sewing for my own good.

Before and after.

 

I made this infinity scarf a few years ago from some giraffe print cotton. It was a little bulky as a scarf but I didn't have much of the fabric and I couldn't think of anything else it could it be at the time. But now I have an idea.

I opened up the whole scarf and "removed the seams that held the scarf together.

I had a long narrow rectangle when I was done opening the seams. I wanted to turn this rectangle into a skirt. A wrap skirt to be precise. 

I made 2 large tucks in the back of the skirt to make the waist smaller. There is plenty to wrap in front of me for the wrap skirt.

Wrap skirts usually have a belt that ties around the waist or some kind of button closure at the waist. But I found a faster way to keep the wrap skirt closed. 

I found these buttons on Amazon. (NOT AN AD!) They can be used on jeans or whatever you want. They can go on the garment where ever you need them to go and they don't need any button hole. The pin goes through the fabric and the cover keeps the button attached. You can change the size of the waistband by moving the buttons. The buttons stayed on really well when I wore mine.

The skirt crossed over in the front like a wrap skirt should. I loved the print and the cotton fabric was very comfortable as a skirt.

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

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was so much better as a skirt, I am glad I made it a wrap skit so it won't ever get too tight.

Tight Tiger Transformation

 Hello Readers. I am really getting into animal prints this month. Today's post is about a dress. I think it is a tiger stripe print with some leopard spots mixed in? I am not sure but I did like the pattern and colors.

 

 Before and after.

This dress was a little too tight in the chest but the pattern was so wild, it is hard to tell. I didn't like the buckle right under my chest either. I needed to keep what I liked about this dress and fix what I didn't like.

I started by cutting off the part that didn't work for me. I cut the whole top section off. When the parts of a garment that I don't like are out of the way it is easier to see what I have left to work with.

I used my serger to sew the cut edge together and make a waistband. This dress was going to be a midi length skirt now.

I liked this new length skirt better. I could move the gathers and that big buckle down so the whole thing looked more like a belt. It was more comfortable with the buckle lower. (It wasn't poking me in the rib cage anymore.)

My new skirt was easy to wear and I liked it so much better. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I still like the colors of this skirt and I think I put it away for warmer weather. I think I should get it out and try to winterize it. I still like it so much.

The Easy Summer Robe

 Hello Readers. It is already June and it is time for a new theme. This months theme is animal prints. I always shy away from animal prints so this will push me into having more in my wardrobe. We are going to start with this loose sort of jacket in a giraffe print. 

Before and after. 

I think this light weight piece is meant to wear over leggings. It is from a certain company that is famous for leggings. (And scandals!) It is knit material with a lot of stretch. It also had 2 big pockets. I like pockets! I didn't really need a jacket but it looked a lot like a bathrobe to me. But it didn't have a belt to tie it closed. A robe needs to have a belt to tie around the waist right?

 

I went digging through the stash in my closet and looked for some kind of brownish trim I could use. 

 

Here it is. It is brown and flat. I am going to make it work. 

 

I made sure there was enough to tie around my waist and I was ready to go. I knew this trim would fray like crazy. I folded the end in twice and used a zigzag stitch to sew back and forth over the fold. I wanted to close the end and stop all fraying. I did this to both ends.

 

I wanted to attach the belt to the robe so I put it on my dress form. You could also just try it on if you do not have a dress form. I wanted to see how the belt fit around the waist and where I could stitch it to the sides of the robe because it didn't come with belt loops. I don't want to make belt loops and I have no extra giraffe fabric to make them with.

 

I used pins to hold the belt to the robe and made sure I could fold the front over itself to close the robe in the front. I adjusted the belt a bit. I used a few stitches to attach the belt to the sides of the robe. 

 

I attached the belt to the robe so it wouldn't fall off when it wasn't tied. It seemed easier to attach it rather than try top make belt loops.

You can see where I attached the trim to the sides of the pocket here. The ends of the trim are folded in and under twice to hide all the loose ends and it is all stitched down so it won't be able to fray.

I wanted trim on the pockets but I made sure the pockets are still functional.

 

 My robe was great for the morning when it was a bit cool in the house. I liked the trim with the robe. It was a lux touch on the simple robe. We all need a bit of luxury now and then. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I wear this almost every day. This was a great project for me.