Refashioning

I've been trying to be better lately about not buying clothing that I won't or don't wear.  I love clothes and I'm often swayed by a good deal.  So, in an effort to be more economical, I went through my closet and tried to come up with ways to refashion things I have.  

I have a wonderful and expensive down coat that I bought years ago when I worked at an outdoor clothing store.  It's really great quality, but there are things about it I no longer love.  

 I found some cheap faux fur and decided to add some fur trim to the hood.  I also wanted to get rid of the snaps that I never use and don't really like.

 I cute a strip 4 inches wide, pinned it to the right side of the hood an sewed it in place with the ends folded up.

I folded the trim to the right side and topstitched.  It looks much better in real life that this picture shows, and now I love my coat again.

 This sweater refashion was really easy and I really love my "new" sweater.  The neck on the original was just too big and the fit overall was reminiscent of maternity clothing aka not very flattering.  All I did for this one was to move some hidden snaps from the turtle-neck to the neck center, fold the turtle-neck down and move the buttons to the other side of the newly created collar. I sewed up the sides a bit to make it a little more fitted.  So much more wearable.

Race Tee Refashion

Yesterday I ran a road race.  I don't run a lot of races, but enough to end up with a drawer full of cotton race tees that I almost never wear.  They are usually too big and boxy for my taste.  As we're driving back from the race my husband says "I bet you could fix up your shirt".  Huh, why didn't I ever think of that before?

I'll apologize in advance, these photos were an afterthought, so they're not my best.

So I sat down and experimented.  First, I deconstructed my shirt. 

 Then I used a pattern I traced from a favorite tee I have, and re-cut the shirt.

 I reassembled the shirt with a new trim around the neck and sleeves.  Now I have a tee I'll actually wear! I did the yellow one first and had some technical difficulties.  I had to redo the neck a few times and ended up cutting into the printed part.

I also learned you should not iron over the print.  It will melt and stick to your iron and make a big mess.

 

I dug out one of my older race shirts and this time, took my time, rather than racing through it, so to speak.  Much better the second time.

 Often times my sewing, like my running is less than perfect.  But, I find if I take my time and try not focus so much on the finish line, I end up with a result I'm happy with.

Here's to being less than perfect, but perfectly happy nonetheless. 

Girls PJ Shorts Refashion

Despite not sleeping well last night (after a fun night out with the girls!), I had a burst of energy after lunch and decided to go through the kids fall clothes from last year and get rid of whatever won't fit this year. My almost 4 year old daughter is SUPER picky and will only wear stretch pants so we ended up with a bunch of cute ones from last year that still fit in the waist, but are now too short. So, instead of sending them off to goodwill, I decided to make them into some cute PJ shorts and add some applique to her camis. This is very easy and a fun way to get some new PJs out of clothes you already have.

Here's what I started with: 3 pairs of pants (only got 2 in the picture).


I cut off the legs at about 1/2" longer than I wanted the shorts to be.



Folded the edge over about 1/2" and ironed.

Then sewed a simple zig-zag stitch along the bottom edge. I like to use my walking foot and stretch the fabric a little bit as I sew. That way the stitching has a little bit of stretch and won't break.


Here's how the right side looks.

The best part is that you've got all the fabric you cut off from the bottom of the pants leftover to do some fun applique. I grabbed the PJ Ts and camis out of my daughter's drawer and added some coordinating decorations.

The easiest way to do the applique is to use wonder under. I didn't have any on hand, so I just fused some lightweight interfacing to my fabric piece, cut out the shape, and sewed it on using a straight stitch. The interfacing keeps the fabric from stretching while you sew.

This birdie applique is definitely my favorite.

Finished shorts.

Finished PJ set.

There it is! This was super quick and very satisfying, and once again, not on my sewing list! Oh well.....

Leave me a comment if you make a pair, I'd love to see what others come up with.