Once Upon This March, or Former St Paddy's Day Plans

A poor quality pic of shirts I wanted to use

Believe it or not, I actually had plans to have a Sew Weekly and Refashion Co-Op post way back around St. Paddy's day. I had intended on taking two big t-shirts from Buddy's work party on last year's St. Paddy's day and whip them up into some sophisticated dress that I could wear to this year's party. But it was a significant fail. The "draping" I did on my person made it look like the dress may just work out beautifully, but instead, as I tried to interpret it into a useable outfit, things just got ugly.

So I scratched it. For now. I have to undo some elastic I put in there, and I anticipate a significant increase in cutting as well. Still not sure I've reached a point where I can reliably refashion without a pattern. At least not for dressy parties.

But I did a much simpler refashion that same day, and the clothing item was also green and grey.

You know how Mena has her "Mena test" for clothes, when she determines whether she actually needs to put a zipper in?  I think I have a "Seeks test" for refashions: If a top can fit over my hips and stay put, it is fair game for a skirt. In fact, it is almost automatically going to be made into a skirt.  See the first example here or here.

I picked up this Old Navy shirt at a Goodwill by my parents months ago. Loving the stripes, but not wanting to just wear it the same as usual way, I tucked it away in my far too big stack for refashions and stewed on it. But the refashion itself is quite simple: Cut off sleeves, Sew a skirt-appropriate silhouette, Wear.

It's super comfortable, and makes me excited to wear it too. As a shirt, it felt standard; as a skirt, it feels playful and a little less conventional.

What is nice about this particular shirt's neckline, is that it has a slight dip in the front. Which makes room for my 16-week, soon to be more glamourous (read: bigger) pregnant belly. :) The waistband doesn't pinch or squeeze, and sits right below the usual offended area for such things. I am unsure if the constant use I expect to give this skirt will wear out the "waistband", but I will definitely be testing it out. If it becomes unusable, I have some nice stretchy green knit fabric that would do quite well as a new waistband.

Though I couldn't think of a better lead-in to my happy news than this, (though Kat did a spectacular reveal!), I am very happy to announce a veer in sewing plans this summer. My vintage patterns for wiggle skirts and dresses will have to be put on hold for a little bit, as my body is doing all kinds of crazy things. :) As my plans solidify, I will happily share them with you!

Happy Sewing!

Last Gift Update: Sleevies with Zippies

 

As promised, here's my final installment on the sewn clothing for holiday gifts. I have one more project I'll post later, but that isn't due until mid February, so we have time.

I had bought these leggings ages ago, but they didn't fit well because they're made for long-thin-legged women/girls and I'm more short-legged. But I didn't want to have them go to waste, since I was fond of the zippers at the bottom.

I ended up taking the legs and making them into sleeves for a shrug. I used ribbons as facing, but should have sewed them down, as they keep turning out. I also used ribbon for the ties. The shrug was also too short, especially for the intended receiver, who actually has a bust compared to me, Mademoiselle SBA.

So, I took this tank top and used it for the lower portion, and to add a little bit of an accent for the expansion up at the top center back. 

The end result worked out pretty well, though I apologize for the poor pictures of the finished piece. I had not gotten the chance to take pics until I was far away from my decent camera and decent lighting. You'll have to bear with the iPhone pics at night indoors. And I'll love you for that.

You can see how the ribbon facing just wants to pop out.

 I thought it worked quite well for my cousin's steampunk costume, too, though it should be noted that the grommets are part of her vest, not the wrap.

A little off center with the seam; didn't realize how hard turns are on a serger.

Steampunk Bustle... for a French Maid?

Went to a dance this weekend, that had a steampunk costume theme.

Made this skirt for my costume, based on the tutorial here.

The fun part is that I made it out of a bed sheet and some curtains, and got to use the corner of the fitted sheet for the bustle portion. I was pretty chuffed about that. 

I also was pretty happy with the zipper job I did. The waist didn't get over my hips too well, so I had to cut into the skirt without accounting for the seam allowance needs. So I finished the edges with bias tape and then added the zipper. The fact that my seams are actually at the edge consistently is more impressive than you may think for me.

 The waistband is another matter. I didn't realize just how frustrating it must have been to make those big complicated skirts... the layers made it almost impossible to pass the waistband through the sewing machine! I think it was five gathered layers at the same time. Yikes! (So, you can just ignore that wonky seam on the waist in the pic.)

All in all, it was a fun experiment, though I have to admit I felt more like a fancy French maid than very steampunk. I was even asked at the party if I were a steampunk French maid, so I guess I wasn't the only one. I did manage to win some costume recognition with my lovely companions, so I couldn't have done all that bad.

Christmas Recap: Clothing Projects

I know, I know. It's the new year and I should stop talking about Christmas. But I'm not done yet!

I have a few more clothing gifts (and food gifts) that I can catch you up on later, but I thought I'd give you a review of some of the clothing I made for other folks for Christmas. This is my first time actively coming up with refashions too, so you may have seen some of these lovelies over at ReFashion Co-op. I am pretty proud of how the skirts turned out, though the capes are just further proof that I should not be trusted to self-draft. ;)

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Lace Frankenstein Skirt

Posted at ReFashion Co-op here.

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Self-Drafted (read: hastily and poorly constructed) Dress-up Capes. 

Fortunately, for dress up, bling has more weight than exact hemming or seam construction.

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Felt Appliqued Hammer Tee

For my darlin' little cousin, who has a love of hammers. I may still write on the back, "I hava hamma for dat." Also, I have newfound respect for those who can sew around small applique details.

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And my favorite: 

Sweater Skirt and Matching Legwarmers.

Deets at Refashion Co-Op here.

Like I said earlier, there is at least one more clothing project I need to tweak before I can post it. Sometimes I forget that my family may wear very similar sizes as I do, but that they are constructed differently. So some fitting adjustments to do and then I'll share the last one!