1...2...3...Lace Refashion

Last weekend while driving around doing errands, I was intrigued by Goodwill's 50% off furniture sign and decided to stop. I didn't find any furniture but did score this amazing lace dress. I'm not sure if amazing is actually the best word to describe this dress but I knew it had some potential. At $5.99 I just couldn't pass it up, but I wanted to reuse as much as the dress as possible! I was able to get THREE new looks out of it and I must say I am pretty proud of this transformation!
Read below to see the steps I took to complete this refashion. 

I will reuse the zipper for the first skirt so first I unzipped it so it stays attached to the portion I am saving.
Cut off the top bodice and save for later. Cut off the bottom and save for later.

Serge the ends of top and bottom hem

Pen a finished edge and sew

Viola! Skirt one complete.

For the bottom of the original dress I wanted to reuse the scallop edge as the bottom of a new skirt. I also had the lime pencil skirt from a thrift store find and decided it would make a great base for the second skirt. 

Remove the lining of both skirts

The lime skirt had a slit in the back that I no longer needed so I stitched it up.

Cut off the top of the pencil skirt, remove the little zipper piece that was left and stitch up the zipper opening. 

Stuff the lime lining into the lace and pin in place. Cut off the top edge to make it straight and serge the ends.

Pin and sew top edge.

I wanted this to be an elastic waisted skirt so I pinned the elastic in place and started sewing, gently pulling the elastic tight while sewing. I ended up with 4 bands of elastic. 

Add a little ribbon waist tie and skirt two is complete :) This one is my favorite.

Now for reusing the bodice piece. That lace shawl had to go!

I actually used the back of the dress as the front of my bolero. I started by removing the zipper, lining and shawl. 

Then decided a contrasting collar would be a nice touch. Using some scrap yellow linen I had, I made the pieces for the collar. 

1. Pin and cut collar wings x2 and color back

2. Stitch inside out (leaving opening to turn)

3. Turn right side out

4. Sew the 3 pieces together

Pin color in place and stitch on

This dress was a great transformation into 3 new looks!

Refashion: All Buttoned Up

I thought it would be a fun challenge to do some garment refashioning. Turns out this refashion movement is a hit right now. After I purchased 3 bag fulls of clothes from a thrift shop, I searched around online for some inspiration and found a few blogs who feature refashions. I'm super excited about what I came up with and can't wait to transform my other pieces. 

I think I have my 4th of July outfit (just need some red accents)

Here's what I started with - a large polyester button up

I started by cutting off the sleeves

Then the collar

Using pens, I created a slight "A" line where I would stitch up the sides of the shirt

Sew and serge (or zig-zag stitch) the edges

Next I decided I something more interesting than a straight top - sweetheart is more my style <3

I used pens to create my sweetheart guide lines

Then trimmed off the excess fabric 

It was time to create my top seam and sew
I decided to do a double stitch detail for a little accent and to help the top seam lay flatter

Using excess fabric from the sleeves I cut out strap pieces (sorry no pic), stitched inside out, flipped right side out, ironed flat, then I pinned the straps in place and stitched them on

Voila!

Tee to Tank Refashion

While in Asheville for "Asheville Beer Week" my husband, Reed, and I met Erik Lars Myers, from Mystery Brewery. Reed likes to follow his blog, Top Fermented. He's recently started and opened his own brewery. He was a super nice guy, and it was great to talk with him about his life's passion - BEER. On our last night in town, we were able to sample his beer at a tasting. Very tasty stuff. Right when we were getting ready to leave he came over and handed us free (awesome) t-shirts from Mystery Brewing as a thank's for coming up all the way from Florida. I decided to do a little refashion and turn mine into a tank top. Check out the before and after! I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Here's how I did it. 

BEFORE - Front & scrap of black tshirt

BEFORE - Back 

Start by cutting off the sleeves

Determine the neck line you want and cut. I started by cutting the back scoop first. Then I flipped the shirt over and carefully cut the front making sure not to snip the back of the shirt. 

I wanted to add a little detail to the back. So I measured, marked and cut where I wanted the detail to go. Make sure to account for your seem allowance before you cut :) I drew a dotted line where I wanted my detail to go and then measured 1/2" and drew a solid line to cut on. 

Then using the scrap black fabric I had, I cut out 2 rectangles for my detail piece. I made them bigger than needed and trimmed after I they were sewed on. 

Trim detail piece.

I knew I would add a taper to the shirt so I went ahead and cut up each side seem of the shirt. Then I trimmed off 3" from the base so I could add a black band around the bottom.

Using the scrap tshirt I had, I cut out 2 rectangle pieces. Then pinned them on and stitched one to the front piece of the shirt and one to the back piece of the shirt.

After all the pieces have been assembled, pin shirt front and back with right sides together. Use the pins to create your taper side seems. I tried the shirt on to determine where the pins needed to go. 

I serged all the cut edges. If you don't have a serger, you can zig-zag stitch over the edges.

Lastly, I ironed, pinned then stitched the arm, neck, and bottom edges. If you have a rolled hem foot you can use that as well. 

Transformation complete! 

Here's my new refashioned tank, perfect for the Florida's hot summer weather.