Sweater transformation: big ruching

I have to admit, I love ruching (a French term that means gathering, ruffling or pleating in a zig zag fashion, instead of straight-stitch gathering).

I found this white long-sleeved sweater on Old Navy's clearance rack for $2.50...

The sleeves were too long and I wanted to make it much more feminine...

So after cutting off the sweater sleeves, finishing them off with a zig-zag stitch, cutting up a TJ Maxx clearance cream-opaque polyester robe, and adding ruching embellishments to the white sweater, I created this:

I like how it turned out. It feels very feminine.

It made a cute outfit for church Sunday.

Linked to:

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Music that's sew-inspirational

I love Anthropologie. Love it. I could spend hours browsing through their stores, soaking up ideas and creativity.

If they sold their inspiration in a bottle I'd buy it.

But since they don't, I figured out a way to bring a little of the Anthropologie creativity home with me.

Playing Anthropologie music while I sew.

I searched for "Anthropologie music" online, and found this list of songs:

• Moi, Mon Ame et Ma Conscience by Paris Combo
• I'm On a Roll by Over the Rhine
• Ragged Wood by Fleet Foxes
• French Navy by Camera Obscura
• Medicine Man by Zero 7
• Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? by She & Him
• Nuit et Jour (Night & Day) by Cynthia M.
• Kantoi by Zee Avi
• Pencil Full of Lead by Paolo Nutini
• Les Omnibus by Brigitte Bardot
• Green Jay by Christina Courtin
• Race You by Elizabeth & The Catapult
• Going Up the Country by Kitty Daisy & Lewis
• Baby Love by Annie Philippe

So after logging on to Youtube and making a playlist of all the videos, I turned off the computer screen, and turned up the speakers.

Ahhh, it made me feel like I was walking through the store.

Now that's my kind of inspiration and a little music to sew by.

Refashion: Add sleeves to a tank + 2 t-shirts into 1

Here are a couple more of my summer sewing projects:

Adding sleeves to a tank top 
I purchased two identical tank tops from Old Navy's clearance rack. I cut one of them up and embellished the other.

It started like this:

and ended up like this:

Okay, here's the condensed version of what I did.

I cut up a bunch of strips (about 2" each), folded them in half long-wise and used a technique called ruching for the ruffled look.

You use a straight stitch in a zig zag pattern and gather, instead of just stitching straight lines for regular ruffles. I used a couple different techniques for these ruched strips, making two a little fuller and the other two a little less full.

I also added sleeves to the tank top. I'm sorry I don't have step-by-steps for that. I'm certain I did it in the strangest way possible, but in the end it worked.

What I learned about adding sleeves to a tank top is that you need to cut the material so the grain is long so it doesn't stretch. I ended up cutting about 4 pieces of material and sewing them together to fit in the arm hole. Like I said, totally random technique - not worthy of a tutorial!

I also lowered the belt line so it didn't interfere with the ruching.

I still have to wear a tank top under it because the neckline falls too low for my comfort, but all in all I think it turned out nicely.

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Next up?

From 2 old shirts to 1 new shirt

Okay, these two shirts aren't actually "old" because they'd never been worn. But I decided that if we'd had something for two years that still had the tags on them, chances were high we were never going to wear them! (no offence Cougars!)

This was another random t-shirt transformation that I made up as I went. 

But in a nutshell, here's what I did:

First, I cut the original t-shirts into pieces (separating front, back, and sleeves).

Next, I used the two t-shirt "backs" to create a new front and back, with an altered neckline.

Then I sewed the original sleeves back in, gathering the top of the shoulder seams for a little feminine touch.

My newly assembled dark blue t-shirt was complete (sorry, no picture) but it needed something.

For the embellishments, I cut up this Old Navy clearance striped cream and blue jersey shirt.

I cut up strips (each about 1/2-1" wide) with different patterns, and ruffled them.

I also used a skinny strip of cream to make the neckline and small bow.

And, I couldn't resist putting a striped, ruffled base on the shirt.

And this is what I ended up with:

Oh, and I added a cream button to the neckline

The possibilities are endless when it comes to refashioning t-shirts, and since jersey is so easy to work with (no hemming), I'm sure I'll come up with many more! xo

Refashion: Pants to skirt

As I was going through my closet, I ran across a pair of stretchy pants that were given to me as a gift a while back. They've always been too big so they had a permanent place on the back shelf.

A refashion opportunity?

Of course. I don't pass such opportunities by.

So here you have it - this is how it began (the black ones)...

And this is how it ended...

(sorry it's hard to see due to the "blackness" of the black. If that's even a real sentence.)

In a nutshell, I cut up through the inner-seams of the legs and trimmed each seam for a "skirt-fit" when sewed back together.

I had to try on the skirt and tweak the back seam a few times so it wouldn't bubble when I put it on, but I finally got a clean line.

For the bottom ruffle, I cut up a clearance rack black t-shirt and ruffled it. Those clearance t-shirts always come in handy!

And my "new" skirt matches perfectly with my black ruffled shirt. Bonus!

Refashion: Men's shirt to skirt

Once again I was inspired by other people. I was browsing Made by Lex and ran across her men's shirt refashion and knew I had to try it myself!

This looks like an ordinary clearance rack men's button up shirt, right? Not when I got through with it.

From this:

To this breezy summer delight:

I made it with a t-shirt waist band I'd seen other people try and it worked great. I also cut a strip for a ruffle, folded it in half and sewed it on. It has been so fun to wear this summer.

I even surprised my friends and family with my men's shirt transformation. Now every time I wear any new skirt my little nephews ask me whether it first had been a men's shirt! haha! I guess you never know with me.

Refashion: Dress to skirt

I bought two dresses on the Old Navy clearance rack (of course) with the intention of turning them into skirts.

Project Dress-to-Skirt #1:

From this rather drab bathrobe looking dress:

To this cheery ruffled skirt - perfect for wearing to church on the 4th of July...which I did.

From this lime colored tank-dress with a pre-ruffled edge...

To this cute lime-o-licious flower-embellished skirt. Even cute enough to wear out the next evening...which I did.

I used close to 98% of the original. After cutting it up, I used the ruffled straps for the flowers and had just a couple small scraps to spare. By the way, the waist band is elastic.

It was fun for summer and will be fun again when spring arrives!