Tablecloth to Awkward 2 Piece Set

 Hello Readers. I thought this tablecloth would make a cute top and matching shorts. I was partially correct but problems developed as I got into it. Let me show you what I mean. 

Before and after. 

 

I used this shirt to cut out my top. I wanted a loose fit and this top was a great pattern. 

 

I used this sleeve as a pattern to cut out my sleeves. 

 

I had all my shirt pieces ready to put together. Everything was going well. 

 

I added bias tape to the cut edges of the shirt. 

 

I prepared to cut out my shorts. I didn't see my mistake yet. 

 

My pieces cut out fine. I still did not see that I was going to have a problem. 

 

I sewed the shorts together and added a waistband. 

 

 

And here it is. The flower placement is really... unfortunate. I could wear the shorts with a floral crotch center or a floral butt crack. Either way, this was not great.

 

I wore them to a watch party at my daughter's house and either way the shorts do not look great. The shirt is fine but the shorts were not a winner in my book. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

Warning- Watch you flower placement. 

Tablecloth to Robe

 Hello Readers. I wanted to make a light-weight robe. I didn't think that it would be that difficult but it was a hot mess and I still don't know exactly how I feel about it. 

Before and after.  

I actually had 2 of these tablecloths. I thought one was plenty big enough to make a simple lightweight robe. Keep reading to see how much this went off the rails. 

 

I used a robe that I made with the Bog Coat Pattern. It turned out like a dream. I love this gold robe but it is too heavy for summer where I live. 

 

I cut out my rob and I can see now that the front panels were not wide enough. They needed to over lap more to be a robe that closes over itself. 

 

I added this red ribbon to the edges of the front and used it as a belt. I liked how it looked but when I tried it on it did not overlap enough in front. 

 

I took the red ribbon off and added a panel along the front and around the neck. This added about 5 inches on each side and it overlapped and closed much better. 

 

I liked the red belt but I discovered when I tried it on again that it was really short. Like REALLY short. I was out of fabric. 

 

I added some napkins. Yes, cotton napkins. I cut them in half and folded them into pleats along the bottom of the robe. I was literally running out of fabric, options, hope and sanity. 

 

(Morning hair.) 

Here is my robe. It has been so frustrating and I am not sure how I feel about this robe. But thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dress to Apron to Over-Skirt

 Hello Readers. I have been having loads of fun refashioning this blue dress. I made an apron, a pair of shorts and today I made a fun skirt. 

Before and after. 

I liked the blue apron I made but honestly, I have a blue apron already and I treasure it because a friends mom (<3 Betty Lou) made it for me. So, I decided to keep remaking this dress into something else. 

 

I used my seam ripper to remove the top of my dress. I had to un-do all the stitches across the front of the waistband. 

 

I ended up with an open skirt with the tie around the waist already in place. I sewed that waistband closed where I had opened it. 

 

I wanted to wear the skirt over the shorts I posted about last time.

 

I cut the skirt shorter so that it was just a bit longer than the shorts. And I tied it in front.
 

That means I had to cut and iron and ...

 

Sew a new hem all over again. That's OK. 

 

 I really liked how this skirt turned out. I can wear it over the shorts or just wear the shorts alone. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dress to Apron to Shorts.

 Hello Readers. I found this dress at a thrift shop and made an apron, but I didn't stop there. I kept sewing.

Before and after. 

 

This dress was really long on me originally. So I shortened it. 

 

When I shortened it, I cut off a lot of fabric. 

 

I cut off over a foot of fabric and I found the biggest hem allowance I have ever seen in my life. There was about 5-6 more inches more fabric in the hem that I could use. I was thrilled. 

 

I decided to cut out a pair of shorts from the extra fabric. There was plenty of fabric for a pair of high waisted shorts. I have used this pattern before, it is starting to fall apart but I love it so much. It is from a sewing book called, "One Piece Wearables". 

 

There was even enough fabric to make pockets. I went off on my own with this, I had no pattern but who doesn't want pockets?

 

I folded the edges in, and ironed the edges to keep them nice and neat. The pockets are the size that I could make with my extra fabric. They couldn't be bigger because the fabric was limited.

I sewed the top edge of the pocket down to make a nice edge. 

I pinned the pockets on each side of the shorts. I wanted to sew the pockets on before I sewed the shorts together. It is much easier this way. 

The shorts pieces can lay flat while I sew each of the pockets in place. When The pockets were done, I sewed the center seams together to connect the shorts pieces. 

 

I had some blue elastic to I used that to make the waistband. 

 

I attached the elastic around the top of the shorts.

 

Then I turned the elastic under and stitched it down with my sewing machine. 

 

These were very easy shorts but I love how they came out. They were a great use of all that extra fabric. Thanks for reading along, believe it or not, I am still not done with this dress. Check back tomorrow to see what else I did with this dress. Now go make something fun for yourself. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dress to Apron

 Hello Readers. I am usually very decisive but this blue dress had me changing my mind again and again. Let me show and tell you all about it. 

Before and after. 

I found this dress at a thrift store and could tell it was hand-made. (If I see a hand-made dress at a thrift store,  I almost always buy them because I know how much work went into making a dress yourself.) I also really liked the bright blue color.

 When I tried it on later I had a small problem. It was too small around. I could not tie the back tight enough to close it. It was also way too long. That's OK, I can work with that. 

 

I opened up the seam that went down the middle of the back of the skirt. It was a straight line and opening it made more room for me. 

 

The seam was easy to open with my seam ripper. 

 

I also cut off about 20 inches of fabric from the bottom. It was so long, it really needed a big cut in length. (Spoiler- This was going to pay off later in a big way.) 

 

I gave the dress a new hem with my sewing machine. 

 

This dress became a shorter, better fitting apron. 
 

I really liked it. It was cute and useful, but I wasn't really done. Come back tomorrow ans see what I did with the extra fabric. Now go make something fun for yourself.