Last Sunday I hosted another Craft Day. Lots of my crafty friends came over to sew, crochet, spin, knit, papercraft, chat and eat cake.
I stuck to my determination to get some of the refashioning done I lined up at the beginning of the year, plus a few new pieces I’d added to the list. In fact, I started the day before, on this:
This red shirt is a refashion of a man’s shirt from a few years back. I’d worn it, but I found it a bit masculine and uniformish. The solution, I hoped, was a more feminine sleeve. So I cut off the cuff and made it snugger:
Then shortened the sleeve and gathered the fabric when attaching the smaller cuff:
A bit girlier? Yes. Girly enough? We’ll see. I like to add some embroidery, too.
Then there was this top I found at an op shop for a few dollars. It just needed taking in under the arms and at the darts:
On Crafty Day my first refashion was this dress:
Which was too small, so I turned it into a skirt, doing the hand sewing that night while watching tv:
The next refash was this jacket:
Putting it on the dress form, I pinched in a big long dart from within the pocket on the front, over the shoulder, down the back to the hem, then sewed it with the ‘wrong’ sides together. I also took it in at the sides and arms, right sides together this time.
It’s still a bulky jacket, but more fitted and less boxy than before.
My confidence was high, so I tackled a refashion I’ve lost courage with several times before – this dress:
I measured a point just above the hips and got cutting. But by then my crafty friends were heading home, so I didn’t get any sewing done. I finished it off over the next few days, doing a little bit of pinning and a little bit of sewing each time until I had this top:
And a skirt, which can be worn with the waistband scrunched up:
Folded over:
Or wide and flat:
But these weren’t the only refashions crossed off the list. I also had planned two men’s shirt conversions, but Paul has lost enough weight on the Fast Diet that he fits into them again.
Do you follow the Refasionista blog? http://refashionista.net/
She would be very interested in your work.
Yes, I do! And New Dress A Day.