Too-Large Dress Refashion: Success!

(This isn't a tutorial, just a quick show-and-tell on my refashion)

A coworker kindly donated a dress to me. It was the perfect challenge for my refashion project being that it was a few sizes too large and would require a completely new neckline, redoing the entire zipper, and hiding tear and wear. Necklines are my enemy, but I conquered it with conviction and won. The zipper and other issues ain't got nuthing on me!

Man, my photos are terrible.

Here's the before photo. I have yet to conquer selfies.



I chopped off the neck and a few inches from the shoulders, then created a new neckline. Side view.



From scrap fabric, I cut facing and attach interface. TUTORIAL on facing :)





Attach.



Redo zipper, shorten hem and what what! Done!

DIY split-back bow shirt (tutorial)

A few weeks ago, I was perusing Joann when I saw a chiffon fabric with bird patterns I knew my sister would love. Unfortunately, it was $14/yard. That was ridiculous. I know Joann always mark up their prices so I waited for a sale. I got 1.3 yards for my sister and attempted to make her a split-back shirt with a bow in the back.









This shirt is incredibly simple.

First, cut one front and one back piece in the shape of a loose tank top. Cut an A shape in the middle of the back piece.



Take the top inner corners and overlap them slightly like pictured. This will allow you to sew them together and let you have a base for attaching the bow later.



Hem the bottom, arms and neckline. Sew the two pieces together at the shoulders and sides.



For the bow, I cut TWO rectangular pieces. Because chiffon is too flimsy and will not stand on its own, I ironed on interfacing to make it stiffer. Follow the directions on your interfacing package for this step as there are different types of interfacing. Mine is fusible interfacing, which means I had to iron it on. Make sure you attach the interfacing on the WRONG side of the fabric. Do this to both pieces.



Now lay the two pieces with the WRONG sides (with interfacing attached) facing each other. Fold the sides inward and sew the two pieces together. There are many ways to do this, so do it the way you prefer. You basically just want a "closed" pillow case.



Take a small piece of scrap fabric and wrap it around the bow at the middle. Make sure it's long enough to have a small piece sticking out so you can attach it to the shirt.



Sew it to the shirt with a simple straight stitch.



Done!

And wear it.

DIY triangle shirt

One of my babies passed away a week ago. Since then, I've thrown myself into sewing as a distraction. Sometimes not having anyone to talk to or hug gets pretty lonely. Sewing helps keep me busy. Here's a triangle shirt I made for my sister. I saw her pin it on Pinterest and thought it wasn't too hard to make.

She's so purdyyy.



Here's what I did. It's not a thorough walk through, but I wanted to show how I figured this shirt out. I didn't use a tutorial so all my projects are mostly just me figuring these out.

I used a jersey knit for the inside and a chiffon for the flowy triangle.

For the inside:
Cut a tank top that fits you. I used half a yard because my sister is petite. It fits close to her body. I think making it looser would look cuter so use more fabric if you're not cheap like me. I used a tank top that fits her and used it to cut a new one. Hem and sew everything together EXCEPT for the neckline.



For the outside:
Get a piece of rectangular fabric and fold in half. Make sure that it's 2x longer than your desired length. For example, if you need the shirt to be 30 inches long (from shoulders to triangle tip at bottom), double that and get 60 inches.



Mark the middle of the fabric at the bottom (from the left side to the right side). That's where the tip of the bottom of the shirt will be. Draw a triangle from the top left corner to the bottom tip to the right top corner, as shown in the drawing. Lay the tank top under the triangle where you want. I placed it slightly to the right because I wanted an asymmetrical shirt. Cut a neckline into the triangle exactly like your tank top.



Combine:
Sew the triangle and tank top together at the neckline. Remember to hem the triangle fabric as well.

DIY Long Sheer Maxi Skirt (Tutorial)

A few years ago, I asked my father, a former photographer, why he never taught me photography. He answered, "you're smart enough to figure it out yourself." He's right. I've always been good with figuring things out. My brain works nonstop—hence, the permanent stressed expression on my face and the furrowed brow that's turned into wrinkles. But that's a story for another day.

While I was in training at work, I saw a girl wearing a long and sheer yellow maxi skirt. She looked so fabulous gliding through the building. I had to have that skirt. I thought of it. I dreamt of it. I must make it. So I did.


*photo courtesy of my amazingly talented friend.

Chiffon fabric $3.33
Jersey knit fabric for lining $2
2" elastic $2
Stares from men and jealous glares from women ... priceless

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1. Take your fabric and fold in half.
The width will vary depending on your size, but the minimum should be your hip circumference x 1.5. For example, my hips measure 34" around, so 34 x 1.5 = 51". I recommend making it bigger so you can walk comfortably.



2. Cut your skirt like the image shown below.
Make sure the top and bottom are slightly curved. If not, your sides will appear to be longer than the front and back when you put the skirt on. You should have two pieces.



3. Cut your lining fabric in the same way, but shorter.
The length of this depends on you. I made it reach my knee for modesty's sake because I didn't want to get in trouble for dressing "inappropriately" at work.



4. Hem/serge the top and hem the bottom of the 4 pieces. Sew the two sides together.
I hem everything since I don't have a serger. Knit doesn't fray easily, but chiffon is notorious for falling apart.




5. Place the lining inside.
I sew the lining and the chiffon fabric together at the top because it made it easier to gather later.



6. Cut your elastic to your waist size, then gather your skirt to the elastic.
Do not make it larger than your waist. It should sit perfectly without discomfort around your waist. Make sure when you gather your fabric that you stretch the elastic to the size of your skirt and then sew. Here's a video tutorial on how to do it.



7. Wear it!

DIY tulle skirt (tutorial)

My sister inspired me to start sewing so I purchased a sewing machine a week ago. Since then, I've been jumping head first into sewing projects. Nevermind learning to sew straight, I'm starting with dresses.

After two dresses, one successful and one failure, I dived straight into sewing a tulle skirt. I found lots of directions on Pinterest and had a rough time deciphering them. In the end, I just winged it like I did with my other sewing projects.

Here's the skirt. My sister made that blouse—it's purdy. Please excuse my bad photos—it's hard doing selfies.







I forgot to put in that you need to cut another layer of lining, same measurements as the tulle, but a few inches shorter and sew it under all the tulle layers.

Triangle Shirt Tutorial

I was standing in line for the cutting table and saw this fabric behind the table. I wanted it. I didn't care how much it would cost. I didn't care what it'd feel like. I didn't care, I wanted it. So I bought it. Love at first sight. It turned out that the fabric is a loose linen...kinda like a potato sack. Just kidding, not really, but it's not satin.

Now what can I make with it? I've always wanted to do some sort of flowy top like this scarf top with kimono sleeve. However, I had an idea that I wanted to do it with a rectangular shape. Drawing inspirations from the scarf top, I created the triangle shirt!

I measured from my clavicle (that's the collar bone) down to where I wanted the shirt to end which was 26 inches. That became the height of my isosceles triangle. Incidentally, this made the base of the triangle as long as my arm span which worked out like a miracle! I added one more inch making it a total of 27 inches to give room for hemming and finishing.
Because I'm not a true a seamstress and I'm very lazy, I didn't take the time to iron the fabric. However, this fabric is very forgiving so I got away with it.

Shit I had to deal with. He was not pooping, by the way.

The next three cuts involved:

- The neck hole (just a slit) about 11 inches wide.
- I measured the widest part of my body which came out to be my butt, divided it in half and made it the width of the body of the shirt.
- The distance from the top of my shoulder to about 3" below my armpit determined the size of the arm openings.

Originally, I was just going to cut one cut from bottom of the arm opening straight down but that gave me too much sleeves that they didn't drape neatly. So I decided to cut out a triangle between the body part and the sleeve part. This was mostly guess work of how much I wanted to take off.

After that, it was just stitching body and arms closed and hemming all edges.

Finished!

Yes, you can see Gizmo in the reflection.

I love that I can turn the shirt and wear it "backward" for a different print placement. I tried wearing it with a belt and it look that great on me. However, I think if I were to make it again, I wouldn't try making it with a waist instead of straight down.

Thank you Priyanka for the photos of me.