Using Vintage Quilts

 Hello Readers. I wanted to do 2 things. I wanted to make something to cushion and cover this gold chair. It isn't very comfortable and needed something to make it nicer to sit on. I also wanted to find a way to use these 2 pillow covers. They are very old. (They were made by my great-grandmother and my great-great-grandmother.) So, I made a simple chair cover.

Before and after.

This chair came from my mother-in-law when she was cleaning out and downsizing her house. It is nice and small and fits in tight spaces easily but it is hard and uncomfortable. It needs something to soften it.

I had a mixed collection of cushions and stuffing. The blue padding is actually cotton shipping material from Thrive Market deliveries. (Not an ad, they just have a lot of foods for people with food allergies/sensitivities. I love them.) I always save the 100% cotton padding for projects like this.

The cushioning is not always blue but it is always squishy and worth saving. I put several layers together at the back of the chair and a little under that boring seat cushion.

I pinned the 2 pillow shams together to see where I would need to sew them together. I want the cover to fit snug enough to hold onto all the stuffing but loose enough to fit on gently. I wanted to be gentle with the fabric. I wanted to use it but not damage it. I do not like putting things away and never using them. Why keep things if we are never going to use them? But I DO NOT want to rip my great-great-grandmother's quilt. I remember seeing it at my grandmother's house. I was not allowed to touch it, but I really wanted to.

I didn't want to hide those yellow borders, they are so pretty. I wanted them to stand out. I sewed the 2 pillow shams together with the wrong sides in so that the right sides would be on the outside. That way I could see the look I was going to get.

I stitched the sides together and it made the cover fit well over the stuffing. I used the longest stitch I could so I can take this apart pretty easily if I ever need to. These are only one layer so this was an easy project.

I use this chair in my sewing room. so it is not getting any rough wear and tear from my family. It is gently used and very loved. 

 

These pillow shams also had matching quilts. I hung the a quilt above the bed behind the headboard. It is visible so I can enjoy it. It is shady in this room so the quilts are protected from the sun and rough handling. 

 

I used the largest stitch my machine could do and I sewed the quilts together. I hung the 2 quilts over a wooden rod. The weight is evenly distributed along the 2 quilts. I am not a vintage textile expert but I think they are safe up there. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- I think these 2 are still great and they look just like they did because I love them and haven't changed them at all.

A Tea Shirt

 Hello Readers. I love to sew and refashion but you don't always have to sew to refashion your clothes. No-sew refashions can be a lot of fun and easy to do. Let me show you a couple recent refashions like this.

Before and after.

I am still in my happy yellow phase this month and this shirt was a fabulous find for me. I am a tea drinker and I love a good pun. This shirt had everything I could want in a tea/T shirt. It was a little boxy so I decided to do some quick work on it.

I usually find the round high neck on t-shirts to be uncomfortable. I like to cut the neckband off. The knit fabric will not fray so you can cut the neckline however you like most, round or V shape. Removing the neckband opens up the neckline, elongates the neck which is more flattering on me. It also feels more comfortable to me when I am wearing it. 

My next step was to cut off the end of the sleeves. I cut mine at an angle so I would get a little cap sleeve look.

I pulled on the cut edge so that the fabric would roll up in a curl. I like this look and I thought it would look cute on the short sleeves. I wanted them to be as loose and fluttery as possible.

I cut off the bottom of the shirt. I also pulled and stretched the cut edge to make it roll. Then I cut a slit in the center of the shirt. I liked the curled up edge. 

I tied the 2 corners into a knot in the front. The knot looks cute and it pulls the sides of the shirt in and gives shirt more shape. With no sewing! It's so fast and easy.

*** PART 2 ***

These black jeans fit perfectly and were very comfortable. But they were too long. I am really short so that was not surprising. I wanted to make them shorter. I could have just cut the jeans straight around each leg but I wanted to do something different.

I cut the jeans shorter and made it fun too.

I washed and dried the jeans and I got some great fraying. I cut off the really long strings so they wouldn't tickle my feet. (No tickling allowed ever! I hate it.) You can cut off as much of the jeans as you want. Have fun with it. 

The shirt was easy to wear and felt light and open. I tucked it in for this picture. The jeans were now the right length and I liked how the back of the leg is longer than the front. I really liked the fit of these jeans. They are Gloria Vanderbilt from Kohl's. They make my mom gut seem to disappear. (Not an ad. I just like them.)

I like the knot detail on the front out as well. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- I love this and will forever. A "tea" shirt! Come on now, that's funny.

Yellow Sweater

 Hello Readers. I am back again with a sweater that just does not fit anymore. What is the deal? Is it Covid snacking? Is it turning 50? Is it my love of chips? Something is making me bigger and I can tell when I get dressed. Some of my clothes are too tight. But I like some of them a lot and I want to save them. Like this sweater. The bright color... the fun stripes... I loved it!

Before and after.

This sweater was too tight. You can see that. I was going to give it away but...

 

It sounds a little crazy but I am a hardcore Crocs fan. I am almost obsessed. When I was yunger I worked in an office and wore high heels everyday. Now, I have old tired feet and when I wear Crocs my feet do not hurt at all. (This is not an ad. They do not know me. I just love them.) I found these fun yellow Corcs on clearance and bought them right away. When I wear them at work, my feet are happy. Do you see how the yellow color matches the sweater? I needed to save the sweater because I probably wouldn't be able to find anything else this shade of yellow ever.

 

I decided to enlarge this sweater. It is much faster to make the sweater larger than it is to make myself smaller.

Now that the sweater is open I can put some kind of fabric in the sides.

I searched around in my sewing stuff and decided to use this wide sheer ribbon. It would be almost clear and would not distract from the yellow stripes. I didn't have anything else that seemed to match. This is an unique color.

 

I used my serger to connect the ribbon and the side seams.

 

 You can see the side seams here.

 

I also used my serger to finish the the ribbon along the hemline and wrist cuffs.

I thought the fit was much better now that the sweater was a little bigger. This is an easy project that takes only a little while. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was a great summer sweater and I wore it to work a lot. It was light and fit so much better after adding the ribbon.

Dress to 2 Piece

 Hello Readers. How is August treating you? It is so hot and so humid right now. Wearing dresses is much more comfortable than wearing shorts and pants to me. I wanted to update this floral dress a little and make it a 2 piece outfit.

Before and after.

This dress was pretty. It was cotton and the flowers were perfect for summer. The length was not right on me at all. I was too short for this dress. It was too long on me. It needed some adjustments. 

I cut the dress into 2 pieces. I cut under the waist seam and left a little bit of fabric so I can turn it under and stitch it down.

 

 I used my serger around the cut edge at the bottom of my new shirt (Gray thread.) and then turned it inside so I could stitch it in place.

 

  I stitched it down with a straight stitch. You can see it along the bottom edge of my new top.

I had a plan for the waistband. Here is a quick overview of what I was going to do.

The next step was to make the waistband look nice and neatly finished. 

To get a smooth waistband I pulled the elastic very gently and made it smooth while I was sewing. When I let it go it will gather back together on its own. This keeps it stretchy enough to pull on and off.

My 2 piece dress was finished. I liked how it turned out. I used the bottom of the dress for this skirt and it made a nice A-line shape.

The elastic waistband looks nicely gathered and it was easy to make. 

It was great for a little dinner out. Happy Anniversary to us. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was so much more flattering a s a 2 piece outfit. It will be back in summer for sure.

Happy Warm Sunshine Dress

 Hello Readers. I can't believe it is August already but here we are in the heat of late summer. August makes me think of sunshine and warm happy days. That is my theme this month, Happy Warm Sunshine! I found this plain white linen dress at a swap and knew it was a perfect blank canvas for a refashion.

Before and after.

Linen is so light and breathable in the heat of summer. I knew this dress would be comfortable. It's perfect for August. This dress fit pretty well. linen doesn't stretch so it couldn't be too fitted. Some cons for this dress were that I thought it was a little long on me and I thought the white was a little boring. I can fix both of those things, let's go.

I cooked up some yellow dye on my stove. (Rit dye to be precise. This is not an ad. They do not know me. I wish they did though, I love them.) I did not want to dye the whole dress. I wanted to dip and hang the dress so it had variation in the color. I did not dye the shoulders at all. I put the dress on a hanger and hung the hanger on my microwave. 

I waited about 10 minutes and moved the dress up. Then I waited 10 minutes and moved the dress up again. 

I have a cabinet above the microwave and I used that to hang the dress at the end of this dye process. You can see the dress has some uneven shades of yellow. That's OK. I like it. If you want very even color form the dye you need to stir the dye and the garment continuously. When I was done I rinsed the dress well and gave it a quick wash and dry.

I shortened the dress by cutting 6 inches off. I measured it to make sure it was even.

This is a quick over view of the hem and the cotton lining underneath the dress. 

This dress was much better a bit shorter, it just needed a sunny day to go out.

    I tried to match my son, go to church and take a picture. All in one morning. It was a lot but I managed to do it all. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year End Note From Chickie- This dress still makes me so happy! The color is just fun.

Collage Top Pattern Review

 Hello Readers. I recently tried out the new Collage Gather Top pattern from Matchy Matchy Sew Club. I really liked it so let me tell you all about it.

 I made 3 of them. Yes, I really liked it.

When I saw the new Collage Gather Top pattern online I decided to get it. I am really glad I did because it turned out so cute and it's such a great scrap buster too. 

 

I printed the pattern out on my printer, cut it out and put it together. This I was the hardest part for me, but it is nice because I didn't have to go to the store. I could print and cut this out at 11pm.
 

I used fabric samples from my mother-in-law, a stained dress, a "grandma" shirt, my husband's old shirt, tight linen pants, and scraps from a navy blue t-shirt. And maybe one or two other fabrics that I can't remember. It's great to use up pieces that are too small to make a whole garment.
 

This pattern has separate pieces for the center front, center back and multiple shoulder and side pieces. The multiple separate pieces allow you to use lots of different fabrics and mix them up. We all have small pieces that we want to use. I know I have tons of different small pieces in my stash. 

 

The shirt can have long sleeves or very short sleeves that are part of the shoulder pieces. Since it is summer and the world is on fire I decided to make short sleeves.

There are also lower pieces. They make a sort of peplum on the sides. They can also use up even more coordinating pieces from your fabric stash.

I liked this top so much that I made 3 of them. I couldn't stop. I had fun putting different fabrics together.

 

I think this one is my favorite. It has rayon center panels and lace sides, the drape was really pretty.
 

 The heavier weight fabrics would be great for cooler weather too. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

*Year End Note From Chickie- This was such a great pattern. The different pieces made it fun to combine fabrics. The heavier linen I chose was too heavy for a shirt, I recommend lighter weight fabrics for this one.