Goodwill refashion

Instant Dress Refashion

August 31, 2013 By Mary Peterson 18 Comments

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Hi Everyone!

Meet my latest makeover. This one took me all of 20 seconds!!! I don’t know about you, but I absolutely despise self fabric tie backs. 🙁 I am not 8 years old anymore, they never look good from the back, and when you sit in a chair they make you feel like you have a tumor on your back! Manufacturers should save the fabric and labor costs and streamline their designs. Get rid of them! That is what I did. Snip, snip and this refashion was done. This dress was a Goodwill find @$7.99. It had a great print and appeared to be unused.

I paired it with this handmade beaded necklace made with an Australian opal. I don’t do much beading anymore, but little did I know when I made this one it would be perfect for this dress.

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What do you think everyone? Do you hate ties as much as I do? If so, unite and free yourself. Declare your independence from them! Just snip, snip, and you are ready to go!

‘Til next time

Love Ya,

Mary

Men’s Stripe Shirt Refashion

August 20, 2013 By Mary Peterson 32 Comments

Hi Everyone!

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I have been waiting on this refashion for a while, since June to be exact. The reason is that I keep changing the length and the hem. This one is a perfect example of the fact that things do not always work out right the first time. I could kick myself because I did not save the pictures of the changes (that will never happen again), but take it from me, this one has “Gone through the wringer.” Here is how it started:

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I am finally happy with it now. Here it is:

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Now I will tell you what happened in between. My first version was knee length. Call me lazy but I wanted to keep the original hem. I wore it to work and by the end of the day, it looked like I had slept in it. It needed to be shorter so the fabric did not bunch up in my lap every time I sat down.

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After that, I made it shorter with a shirt tail hem. I wore it again, but it was still a rumpled mess by the end of the day. There would be no avoiding some wrinkles. The fabric is such that it needs to be ironed and starched. I decided to make slits on the sides. This was just what it needed to let the garment move with me and keep it from wrinkling so much.

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Here is the tutorial for the end result:

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1) Cut the sleeves off and make changes to the side seams.

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This always seems to be the first step.

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2) Overlock and 1/4″ topstitch the new armhole.

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3) Cut out the ruffles with pre-made pattern. Overlock the edges.

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4) Turn under the edges of the ruffle and topstitch. Pin down the ruffles on the side of the top placket and topstitch down.

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5) I wanted to add a feature to the back so I made a line of stitching across the center and pulled to make even gathers on the center back.

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6) I removed the cuff from the sleeve and picked off the topstitching.

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7) Place the cuff over the center of the topstitch line and pin down.

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8) Topstitch around the cuff over the original topstitch lines.

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9) Add matching buttons (from the other cuff) on the opposite side.

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10) Create a shirt tail hem with side slits.

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Here are close-ups of the design features on the form.

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Whew! This one was a hard fought battle but I did it! I still need more practice with ruffles but not bad for my first time in years. What do you think??

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‘Til next time…

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Love y’all!

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Mary

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Summer Top Refashion

August 1, 2013 By Mary Peterson 14 Comments

Hi Everyone!

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How do you know what to do with a garment when you choose it? I get this question quite often. The answer is, I usually don’t know! When I go to the thrift store, I am just looking for something “Interesting.” Sometimes I am drawn to the fabric, shape, or have a vague feeling of what I can do with a garment. Once I get home, I put my treasures on and off the form, pin and play with them. If I am “not feeling it,” I will put the garment away until I get inspired. Then suddenly, I will see a picture or get a flash of an idea, and that is the garment I will pull out and start with. Even then, I often have to put it on the dress form, pin and play with it for days until I formulate a plan of attack in my head. I never cut into a garment until I have worked out the entire process in my head. As a result, I often have several projects going simultaneously as I work out how to refashion them.

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Here is the tutorial:

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1) I found this little beauty at Goodwill with the tags still on it. It was a size large and had absolutely no shape. The print was denim friendly (always a plus), and there were beautiful pintucks on the front bodice. Because it is summer the long elastic cuff sleeves had to go!

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2) In this picture I have picked off the sleeves at the armhole seams, taken in the side seams, and created two back darts for shape. Because of the print it is hard to see the changes in the photo.

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3) I wanted to add contrasting rib to the sleeves to bring out the chartruese color in the print. I used this old t-shirt from my stash (never throw your old ones away). When I cut off the hems at the stitching line, it created a perfectly-sized ribbing for the armholes.

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4a) Pin the binding in place and overlock sew in place. My overlock machine was the best investment I made in my sewing aside from my dress form. It transformed my finishing and made the sewing process much faster and cleaner.

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4b) Here is a look at the finished sleeves.

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5) The finished product!

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The finished product is totally me. I am a “border print junkie” and denim friendly prints are also a favorite. This one totally fits my personality. What kind of prints do you look for? What is your process for thrifting and refashioning? I would love to hear from you.