DIY Studded Bag

So here's my 'before' bag:

It's just a $25 bag from Trade Secret. Liked the colour. Kind of liked the little bit of stud work on the end, but I wanted more. So I added my own! Here's the 'after':

These studs were easy to add. They are the 'prong' type studs. On the back they have 4 prongs. You poke the prongs into the fabric and bend the prongs over. It's easy enough to do with just your fingers. (Although my fingers were a little sore the next morning after all of these!) And if your careful enough, you can bend the prongs in without catching the lining, so it looks like it was made like this! (The studs were under $10 I think, for a box of 100 - from ebay.)

Refashion: Remodelling a shirt

 

This shirt is going to be part of my demonstration at the Viva-La-Gong Festival this coming weekend (Saturday 12th November). As you can see you get the before and the after all in one!

What I did:
Darts in the front and the back, as well as taking in the side seam to shape the shirt a little better. The shoulder was still a little big so I also added two little pleats to take care of that. The sleeve was the trickiest. I did want a puff sleeve. I unpicked the sleeve and traced the shape of the sleeve pattern. I also unpicked the cuff from the sleeve. Then I used a 'slash and splay' technique to create the puff sleeve pattern: I spaced 5 vertical lines evenly spaced across the sleeve pattern (not under the armpit though), cut along these lines, spaced the pattern pieces about 1" apart, redraw the sleeve pattern. I then used the sleeve to cut out the new sleeve pattern (I did need the join two pieces to make a piece of fabric that was wide enough). I then re-attached the cuff (with a gap to make sure it goes over my arm/elbow). The collar was also modified: unpick the back of the collar, turn inside out as much as possible, re-stitch collar to the size you want, trim excess, turn right side out, topstitch opening shut.

Do I like it?:
Apart from the obvious fact that only half the shirt is done, it does seem to fit really well and I can't wait to do the other half!

Refashion: Jacket to Vest

So here starts my "Wardrobe Refashion Month"!

What I had & what I wanted:
I had this jacket sitting in my wardrobe for a couple of years. But never wore it because it was just a bit too tight across the back. I would get it out, try it on again, and put it back in the wardrobe. For a while I have wanted a vest that was a bit military, or a bit worn, but not 'pretty' for the in-between months.

How I did it:
First to come of was the sleeves. I just unpicked them. Next came the collar. Then work out where you want the new neckline to be (somewhere between two buttons, and make sure you miss the button hole on the other side). There is a facing on the front of the jacket up the the shoulder (this one is not lined). So un-pick enough button holes, buttons, and top stitching so that you can turn the facing to the outside. Stitch the new neck line, trim the facing, and turn the facing back to the inside. Fold as much as practical around the neck (around 1/2" if you can) and top stitch the new neck line and back of neck. Again turn as much as practical around the sleeve and top stictch along the edge. To get a nicer finish around the arms, trim the folded seam where needed, and do another row of topstitching. This will not look like a proper made garment, as there should be a facing around the arms too, but we are making do here, and shortcuts are the name of the game! If you really wanted to you could trace the outline of the arms holes and make a facing from a contrasting fabric.

Do I like it? Would I change anything?
I really do like this, and wouldn't change anything. I did this about a week ago, and I've already worn it twice!

Reconstruction How To for Girls

The dress on the left was found at Mission Australia, new from Alley for $2, size XS. The one on the right was a random shirt that was way to big for me (size 16). Lilly likes twirly skirts and shirred dresses - I figued these could be put to good use!
First up, the dress to tutu skirt - easiest reconstruction ever!:

 

Basically the top was cut off, turned over, and elastic added. For a bit of girlyness I threaded some pink ribbon though the eyelet around the top, and added a few on the skirt too. Apparantly a good skirt for spinning jumping.

Secondly, the shirt top to dress - a few more steps involved, but still pretty easy:

The sleeves were cut off. There was elastic over the shoulder of the sleeve - I unpicked this and added it across the top row of elastic shirring on the front and back, as this seemed to be getting a little loose. I did some basic measurements on Lilly for her chest took the side seams in to brinkg it snug around her chest. A few more basic measurements to get a shape for under her arm. I used a strip of fabric (cut on the bias) from the sleeve and used this to bind the new edge under the arms (hidden on the inside). There was also a strip of shirring on the original sleeve - I took this off to created the shoulder straps. To be honest, this seems to be a bigger hit than the tutu skirt. I think this is going to be great for summer!

Wearable Art - Viva La Gong 2010

I recently participated in a wearable art exhibition. This was my first time I've tried this, and was quite happy with my entry:

The theme of the show was "Stories of Ocean and Earth". I hope you can see where I was coming from with my entry. My first step was the felting of the rocks (left). I felted about 25 in all, and used nearly all of them. Each one is different. They are all hollow, and I used about 6 different templates for the felting.

I really liked how the rocks turned out. In fact I am thinking of using these rocks on a canvas, or just lying around on a shelf! I might even try and make some huge ones, and stuff with a cushion insert.

Free Swim Bag Tutorial - recycled jeans

Have an old pair of jeans you want to recycle? Maybe a belt too? Got a young kid that swims? This is the perfect sewing project for you! All the outside pockets are useable, including the fly!

I have a pdf of the tutorial, please download it through mediafire (I'm new at this file hosting thing, so if there are any problems, please let me know!).

Something new - bibs for bubs

I was cleaning out some of my wardrobe the other day and came across a pair of jeans with holes in the bum. So I thought I would give them a new life and make something new for my market stall (if I ever get around to working out which one to go to!).

I really liked the finished product, but I'm not a big fan of hammering in snaps. So after some internet surfing I found a bargain snap machine and spent some more money! I can't wait to get it and try it out on some more bibs, hats, and other new projects I have in mind.

New pants for Seth & Lilly

Why make one pair of pants when you can make two! I picked up a brown corduroy quilt cover at a thrift store the other day for much cheaper than you can buy corduroy. But I knew Lilly would never like to wear plain brown pants... what to do? Pink Birds ... girly enough for Lilly, and not too pink for mum ... win-win! And yes she does love them! Seth got a plane ... but I think I made them a bit big for him. Both have a cargo style patch pocket on the side of the right leg for special treasures you find.

Garment reconstruction class

I've been thinking a bit lately about teaching some easy sewing skills. I thought I would start with creating kids clothes from other garments and 'thrifted' items. So on the weekend I held my first/trial class for a friend and her 2 sisters. It was a fabulous day, made even more special as the sisters hadn't had a day together, without kids, for a good 4 years or so!

Here are the gorgeous sisters sewing madly:

Crazy me, I forgot to get some photos of the before and after what the girls made! But Anita & her boy Oliver came past the other day, and he was wearing his new favourite outfit:

Oliver's very sexy long shorts were a short sleeved button up shirt in a past life. His wonderful shirt was the bottom section of a favourite kaftan that had been cut off a while ago. I love how this shirt fits & have fallen in love with the pattern - it was drawn from an Enid Gilchrist pattern. A few little tweaks and it will be perfect!

The girls gave me some great tips for my classes. The best thing is that they were so excited by the whole process of re-construction (I heard one sister went home at the end of the day via an op-shop...then visited another the next day!). Looks like we may even be doing a whole weekend some time soon!

button up shirt to dress reconstruction

The starting shirt was a girls size 8 long sleeve shirt - apart from a few marks on the sleeves, in good condition. I used the full width of the shirt to make this girls dress/top. Having the shoulder ties it should last a few seasons. A short dress about a size 2, or a tunic top size 3, maybe even up to a size 4! (The only restricting thing is the chest size.) The button up back makes dressing easy. I added the simple applique to make it something unique!

I am hopefully going to be teaching some reconstruction classes next year at the community college - I think I am going to use this style in my classes a lot!

Dress from a pillow case

From the Salvos I found the following fabrics: an off white pillow case with gold flowers, and a length of fabric (blue with black & white print).

Together with a basic A-line dress pattern I use for Lilly I created this:

Yes they are action shots, as we had to do a lot of spinning with our new dress! It's a very hot day here, so the dress is a hit. I like using reclamed fabrics (such as good quality linen) - it has been washed so many times in the past that it is so soft, and it has done all it's shrinking, and I do love the prints.

The body is cut straight, so to give shaping there are gathers at the base of the ties over the shoulders. The ties also give more growing time in the dress. And to give some more balance I added the ruffle on the bottom (apparently Lilly really likes this bit!). There is also a little button at the back. Would anyone like a tutorial on how to create this pattern?

Neck Tie Skirt - trial #1 - modified

After making the black denim & red necktie skirt, I modified my first green necktie skirt. I unpicked them all, took out the stiffening, pressend them flat, and re-sewed the skirt - using only 3 ties this time instead of the original 5. The "tie panel" sits & flows much better now. I also used a different snap fastener which turned out much better. I wore this one to work today - you have to trial these things you know! And with my new brown boots I bought from a sale table ($40 down from $260!) I thought I looked pretty good!

Black Denim & Red Necktie Reconstructed Skirt

This has been underconstruction Tuesday - the skirt and some of the ties were found during thrifty shopping on Tuesday (along with my lovely yellow shoes!). So here is a photo of the 'before':

I didn't like the buttons, but used the off'centre split for my necktie insert. This time I unpicked all the ties, removed the tie shaping/stiffener piece, and pressed the remaining fabric flat. This gave a much softer, flowing fabric. So I didn't end up using all the ties in the above photo - I only needed 3. Here's the after photos:

The waist is adjustable again - this time I use a snap tape. The skirt I started off with was a 10 with a waist measurement of 33" (84cm). It is now adjustable between 31" & 34" (79cm and 86cm). I wish I knew someone who was a size 10 so I could see what it looks like on!

Neck Tie Skirt - trial #1

I love old ties, and have been wondering how to use them for something wonderful...I think I found one of those wonderful thing! I've seen skirts made only from neckties, but I thought they were a bit 'too much' for me. So here is my version:

(I also love green...can you tell?)

There are just 5 ties used for the insert panel. I had some very dark charcoal fabric that had a bit of a stretch (both ways) for the main part of the skirt. The waist band was a bit fo the charcoal, and the end that was cut off from one of the longer ties. The waist has a 'fold' in it with different snap positions - this makes it somewhat adjustable - the idea being that the ties 'flash' from under the fold as you walk.

Here's what it looks like when it is closed; 'flashing'; and open:

I think this may have just moved straight into my 'inner circle' of clothes!

Mens Corduroy Shirt into Girls Dress

This dress started it's life as a men's corduroy, long sleeve shirt. For this dress I used the sleeves to create the body of the dress and the collar stand for the shoulder straps. The sleeves had some adjustement with buttons for the wrist size. This is still used for the dress - but now for altering the chest size (so it can be worn for more than 1 season).

For a bit of 'prettiness' I added a lovely doily to the front. I am hoping to hold a class in the near future with the theme of garment reconstruction for kids - this will definately be one of the examples.

T-Shirt to Pants - Reconstruction Tutorial

I have been cleaning out my shed/studio for a while, sorting out my stash and all my other hobbies, trying to fit everything into the one space... my husband thinks he got the raw end of the deal... anyway, more about that later.

I came across a t-shirt I couldn't bear to throw out, but know I will never wear again. But I have a 2 year old, and I thought she could do with a new pair of light weight pants.

So today I tried my first t-shirt reconstruction. I took photos as I went to - hoping it would all work out wonderful, and I must say I was quite pleased with the results! Here are the before and after shots:

Here is the basics on how to do it (this took me about 40mins - which included some playdough time):

1) Choose your shirt, and your pattern. Lay out your shirt nice and flat, and position your pattern on the shirt. The shirt I used was one of those shirts that never lay flat with the side seams, or the seams twist around the shirt if you hang it from the shoulders or arm pits (you'll see more on this later).

2) Pin & cut out your pattern. (I use a rotary cutter, as I find this a bit quicker.) The pattern I am using is just one piece. There are no side seams on these pants which makes them quick and easy to make, and makes them a wide leg.

3) Put the 'right' sides together. An easy way to do this is slide the top piece to the side. The slide the bottom one onto the top one - don't flip either of them as you do this. (Or, if you thought about it before you started just turn your t-shirt inside out before you start and skip this step!)

4) Sew to centre front (F) and centre back (B) seams. For those not used to sewing pants these marked on the photo below:

5) Now you need to sew the inside leg seam. Open out the pants so far, aligning the bottom of the centre front & centre back seams. Sorry I didn't take a photo of this. Sew from the bottom on one leg, over the crotch (lay the two centre seams opposite directions), and down the other leg. If you open up the pants and have a look at the crotch point it should look like the above photo (I have overlocked/serged & done a straight stitch on the seams, but just overlocking/serging or even a zigzag would be fine). See the extra seam in white in the top right 'square' - this was actually the original side seam from the shirt that had twisted around the back.

6) Overlock/serge around the top to neaten it up. Then turn over a casing to suit your elastic (and your original pattern!). I turned over about 1", and use 20mm (3/4") elastic. Sew this but remember to keep a little open to thread your elastic! (I leave my gap near the centre back seam.) Use a safety pin to thread the elastic, sew the elastic together (make sure you don't twist it!), and then close the gap.

Ta Da!! If you want you can also sew a hem, but I was after a 'raw' finish.

My little one didn't want to try them on today...maybe tomorrow.