Going to Work in the Heat

Hello Readers. Thanks for coming to the blog and reading this post. There is a lot going on in our world. I will be the first to admit that sewing isn't nearly as important as the massive racial and social justice movement going on right now. I think it's natural if you are more focused on that right now.

I still have to go to work...

It is getting really hot...

 I refashioned these to wear today...

So I figured I would post this blog entry.

This seemed like such a great summer shirt. It had a built in bra and it was super soft. The problem was that the key-hole in the bust was really too much. It was like a cleavage coin slot. The armholes were also a little too low on the sides. There was a little too much side boob showing.

I used my sewing machine and closed the key-hole. Now more cleavage show.

I also took the armholes in a little. It was enough to keep everything tucked in where it was supposed to be.

I shortened the pants quite a bit. I wanted some cropped wide legged pants. I made some last summer that were great for hot days. I really liked them but I can't fit into them right now. (Thanks Corona!) A new pair is just what I need.

(I was sewing and my youngest was playing Legos next to me. I made the yellow house.)

This pants turned out great for casual office wear. And tank tops are always useful alone or under something else.

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

Stripes & Elephants

Hello Readers. Sometimes clothing need a little tweak to make it more wearable. Small sewing projects can make a big difference. This striped shirt was great and it fit well. The V-neck was a little too deep for me to wear. It was also a little to cropped and low to wear to work. I decided to use this little elephant cami to fill in where the striped shirt was lacking. I love elephants and the spaghetti straps on the elephant shirt were to narrow for me to wear by itself. (My bra straps are at least 10x as big!)

These black pants were a hand-me-down from my daughter. I found 5 dollars in the pocket! If she reads this I will give her the $5 back. These pants were too big for me before the stay-at-home-and-snack-all-day order. Now they fit great! Thanks Corona!

I sewed the 2 shirts together on my new/old sewing machine. It is finally running like it should.

This shirt (And the pants!) were perfect for work. Very casual business-casual.

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

A Bridesmaid Dress

Hello Readers. I hope you are well during this Corona/Covid-19 virus quarantine/stay-cation/ isolation. Whatever you want to call it, it is disruptive and annoying and causing trouble for all of us. Some people are sick, some are working to exhaustion, and some are out of work and scared... it goes on and on.

Today's post is about a bridesmaid dress. I started this dress before the stay-at-home order came out. This dress was for a wedding that was scheduled during the shut-down. I didn't want to post about it until I knew what was going to happen with the wedding. Don't worry, They got married. It was not the wedding they originally planned. Only immediate family was there. Friends were out in the parking lot ready to cheer and wave (from a distance) at the happy couple when they left the church.

This dress needed to be a bit shorter so this bridesmaid could walk down the isle safely. It was also very low cut in the front. Too low cut. But this clever bridesmaid had an idea. A great idea to fix this dress.

The only fabric I had to work with was this long narrow strip of fabric from the bottom of the dress.This is what I cut off the bottom of the dress when I hemmed it and made it shorter. What could I do with this narrow strip of fabric?

The bridesmaid suggested layering pieces of fabric at an angle and filling in that low cut bodice. I was impressed with her idea.Very impressed.

I connected some pieces and inserted them into the dress. It was easy in theory but the slippery fabric was a challenge to work with.The picture below is of the inside of the dress while I was working on it.

Here is a look at the added fabric from the outside. It made the dress more modest and comfortable for the bridesmaid. Using the fabric from the skirt made it a perfect match.

I don't have a picture of the bridesmaid because the wedding had to be so much smaller. She didn't get to wear this dress at all. But when she wants to wear it.... she is ready.
Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Dressing Up!

Hello Readers. I have been staying home and wearing pajamas for a while now. I wanted to get dressed, just to see if it was still possible. I made a dressy date night outfit. Am I going out on a date any time soon? Probably not. It is always good to be prepared though.

I have had this plum colored silk shirt on my refashion rack for a while. I like silk (Doesn't everyone?) I wasn't sure I liked the length though. Why was it so long?
 And the brocade pants? They just needed to be shorter. 

I cut the long part of the shirt off in the back. It was easy because the front and back were already split. I turned the cut edge under and stitched it down.

I didn't change the front of the shirt. I wanted to use the long pieces to tie the shirt in the front. It seemed like a more fun style. It is a lot shorter but no tummy shows. (My tummy is my business.)

What did I do with the piece I cut off the back of the shirt? It was a long narrow rectangle. I hemmed the edge and used it as a small scarf. I tied it onto an elastic hair band.  

It easily made a fancy little ponytail.(It was very hard to get a close picture of my own head.)

These black brocade pants just felt special and I needed some pants. 

I had to hem the pant legs to a shorter length but that was it. 

I liked my new dressed-up outfit. Maybe I will wear it to watch a movie at home?

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

The Velco Wrap Skirt

Hello Readers. How are you doing lately? Things are not really back to normal are they? I have worn a lot of leggings and t-shirts in the last 2 months of quarantine. Let's get dressed today. I made this wrap skirt quite a while ago but never posted about it. 

 My mother-in-law has given me a lot of fabric over the years. She worked in a fabric store for about 20 years. The store she worked in sold fabric for home decor. It is sometimes difficult to make clothing from the heavy weight of interior fabrics but I can try! I had a small piece of burgundy brocade sitting in the closet.

 This fabric is in my 5 year olds closet. Thank goodness he doesn't need to hang any clothes. 

It was a scrap piece and it was a long skinny rectangle. I had so idea what I could do with it until I noticed it was long enough to wrap around my hips with some overlap. I could make a wrap skirt! 

I had no pattern so I just held it up to my body and started pinning. I knew I needed to make the waist smaller so I make 3 large tucks. I made 1 in the center back and 1 on each side at the waist.

 The high-tech red lines are to show where the tucks are.

I also made 2 small tucks in the front. I was just experimenting and trying to get this skirt to fit. I made tucks where I thought they would look and work best.

I needed to find a way to make the skirt stay on my body. I didn't know how to make button holes at the time so I decided to use Velcro. It works so well, I never changed it to anything else.

 I turned the top and bottom edges under and made the smallest waistband and hem that I could. I didn't have a lot of extra fabric to play with. The golden-yellow selvage edge is what you see on the front of the skirt. I liked the yellow and the used it as the front of my wrap skirt. This fabric is heavy but it was a great weight for this skirt. It doesn't blow around and the brocade is soft like chenille.

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

Thanks Adidas!

Hello Readers. How are things with you? Are you working from home or part of the slow opening? I am back at work and hoping for the best. I am still sewing because I go crazy if I don't sew. Today I made a very simple, sporty dress.

What am I looking at? No idea.

I loved the bright blue of this Adidas shirt. It was that soft, moisture wicking fabric that is great in summer heat. It didn't look that great on me like this. I thought about making a shirt of some sort but then I saw the length and decided to make a casual, sporty dress.

Adidas says, "climalite  keeps you dry". That sounds good to me!

I took the shirt in a lot in the sleeves and the chest but left the bottom full and loose.

It was quick sewing. The shirt is stretchy so I used a zigzag stitch for the new side seams.

I kept the sleeves as long as possible because I am pale as a ghost and burn easily. Sometimes it is nice to have sleeves to cover my arms from the sun. I could try to tan but then I will be red as a beet. There will never be a tan. It's just not going to happen. The choices are pale or burnt. That's it. So, this dress will be useful.

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

Lace Adjustment

Hello Readers. How are you doing? I hope you are well. (Like I really hope you are really well.) I am back at work on a limited schedule. Other than that, there really isn't much going on.

I really liked this black shirt. It fit through the body well. That lace panel in the back wasn't right on me. It hung too low in the front, back and sides. I decided it needed to be smaller. I wanted have more coverage in the back. Could I sew straight across the back and remove some of the lace?

 I tried to do just that. I sewed a new seam across the back, along the bottom of the lace panel. I removed some of the extra lace. I thought that if the lace panel was smaller it would make the armholes and the V-neck less low cut.

 The smaller lace panel in the back looked much better. The whole shirt fit better.

 I tapered the legs of these striped seer sucker pants just a little. Say that 3x fast!

I liked this new outfit. It was a little more flattering with the small changes I made.

 

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

Corona Casual

Hello Readers. How are you? Thanks to the Corona/Covid virus I feel like I really need to ask people how they are now. And your family? They are all well? Life in my house is pretty low key right now. That means lots of lounge wear and basically pajamas. That is what I made for this post, casual and lounge wear.

 2 refashions for the price of 1!

 I found this great cotton skirt at a clothes swap long before we all stopped going out. It is a fake wrap skirt and it is clearly too long. And the sweater I have had for ages. It is also too long. It doesn't fit around my hips well and I don't like that. But it is cashmere, and I love cashmere!

The skirt was an easy fix. I made it much shorter. BOOM! I'm done.

 I gave my new skirt a new hem and I actually used the iron. I mean, why not? I have all the time in the world now.

What about the bottom of that skirt? I had a plan for that too. I used a well-loved pattern that my dog rolled on and tried to make a bed out of. It's OK, it still works.

I cut the pieces out and sewed them together. 

 The sweater was and easy fix too. I moved the waistband up about 3 inches so the sweater was shorter. It didn't fit around my hips well so I thought making it shorter would make that fit problem go away!

It all worked out well. My shorts have an elastic waistband so I am comfortable. I can sleep in them. I can walk the dog in them. I can go in the yard with my son in them. The sweater is dressy enough for a Zoom call. It fits so much better now. I didn't change anything but the length.

 Morning tea is a must for me!

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

And stay well!