I snatched up these striped pajama pants at a bag sale yesterday...they set me back a whole $.27. That's a rounded number as the actual price breakdown carried the digit out several more places, but for our purposes, they were just over a quarter. Now, the problem with these is that they are size XS (which I am not) and absolutely wouldn't work as they were. But there's a pretty simple solution...and this process works with many kinds of pants! (Jeans, slacks...even sweatpants)
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Love me some stripes!!! |
I'm going to make a skirt, so I started by cutting out the inseam (you may want to unpick the seams rather than cut them out if you're worried about having enough fabric to reach around, but I had plenty and am lazy). I then put on my would-be skirt and pinned the front and back where new seams would be sewn.
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It's hard to pin on your backside!!! I need a dress form, asap! |
Next, I ran the front and back through my machine, trimmed off the excess fabric and overlocked the raw edges. Now, this fabric is a polyblend and the new skirt was a really weird length on me (ankle-length is not my thang!) so I gave it a chop...or three ;). I kept trying it on and not being satisfied, but I finally figured it out.
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Hmm, maybe this length, no shorter...ok, a bit shorter! |
Final step was to overlock the raw bottom edge and hem it up! Oh, and press the hem and new seams (makes a major difference, folks). And I've got myself a hi-low stripy skirt :).
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No, I did NOT clean up my sewing space, but it IS on my list...that counts, right? |
I like how this came out and the high-waist makes it much more flattering on me, imo. One little quarter, and about half an hour is all it took.
Long post...cause here comes another one! Well, I had cut off so many scraps from my skirt that I had to do something with at least part of them right away. I've had this floral maxi dress for a while now and haven't been wearing it because it is too clingy on my waist and the thin fabric is a bit unforgiving. So I'd brought it out thinking I'd make it into a maxi skirt but had no wide elastic for a waist band. In comes a scrap of striped stretch fabric...
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Stripes, meet Floral ;) |
I took the widest section of the bottom of the skirt, folded it over, cutting straight across the top and along one end to create a yoga-style waistband. I sewed up the side (having measured the width I wanted) and set this aside.
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Cut, cut, and sew! |
Next, I folded over the top of my dress where I'd already marked it to be cut, and made the chop.
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1...now 2! |
Then, I put my waistband wrong side on the outside (right side) of my newly cut waistline and using an overlock stitch, sewed the two together stretching the striped fabric as I went. It was cut smaller than the floral so that it'd create a snug (but not too tight) waistband.
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Finally getting the hang of these overlocking stitches on my sewing machine! |
Folded over, here is how my stripes-meets-floral maxi skirt looks. Oh, and I even have the cropped top of my dress to play with for later ;).
This was incredibly easy...but that's kinda what I needed in the effort to get my sewing mojo back. And hopefully I have! Here's the final before & after shots:
So, what do you think? I'd love to know what you would have made with each of these pieces! Sometimes I go with the most obvious choice, out of habit I'm sure, but maybe getting a different perspective could help me broaden my vision for refashion possibilities! Thanks for your patience as I enjoy the beautiful weather with my family...but I've missed sewing and posting and hearing from you all! Happy Refashioning :)
Peace,
Andrea
Great skirts! I love the floral and stripe combination.
ReplyDeleteYour space is much tidier than mine! But I know where everything is, so it's okay.
Aww, thanks Bobby! Yeah, the maxi is my favorite too ;) I wish my space was EVEN tidier as it exists in our living room...some days are better than others!
DeleteI love your writing style and the way you share your thoughts during the process. Great refashions.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dee, I appreciate that!
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