summer sewing project :: up-cycled

oh dear. it has been a long time since I have visited this little space. sometimes I get consumed by a sewing project and need a little space from the blog but that, sadly, isn’t the case this time.  it’s just the regular spring craziness around here.  in the last six weeks everyone in the house, except me, has celebrated a birthday…throw in mother’s day; a sprained ankle; and a stomach flu and you have full-scale chaos.  there is something to be said for just getting it all out of the way, however.  I’m more than ready to come back into the fold! bring it!

with that said, I’ve got some ‘new’ clothes.  they are actually my cheaters for the summer sewing project.  I found these pieces in a lovely consignment store and each one was fantastic but needed a little adjusting.  so, I figured it counted as ‘made by me’ with just a twist of cheating.

  

both of these dresses and the striped tunic below needed shorter straps and the black dress needed the sides taken in as well.    I was a bit intimidated by messing with the knit fabric on the black dress but I’m amazed by how well a simple stretch needle works! I also had to serger the sides to keep it together.  shortening the straps is so easy especially when it’s straightforward to pick apart the seams.

I must have an unusually short distance across the top of my shoulders because I always want to shorten straps.  perhaps, it’s an issue related to my, ahem, chest.

[this picture makes the bodice look really tight, which it doesn’t feel like it is when I’m wearing it.  hmm. mental note to check on that.]

these two skirts are probably my favorites. the mustard one was a tunic that just looked sloppy on me no matter how I tried to dress it up.  so, I cut off the bodice (which hit at an empire waist).  then I sewed some elastic around the waist.  so easy! it had a tie that I kept just for the look, it serves no real purpose.

the grey skirt is probably the one I’ve worn the most and it was, by far, the easiest to make. in fact, I just cut it. no sewing involved at all.  it was what I call a ‘twofer’ but I have no idea if that is actually what they are called.  when the top half of a dress is one color and style and the bottom half is different so it kind of looks like a shirt and skirt but it’s a dress? yeah, a twofer. all I did was cut off the top part and it already has a piece of knit jersey to create a waistband.  um, that’s it.  I was done!

I’m feeling like a real-life molly ringwald.

well, after all of this I’m feeling nearly done with my summer clothes sewing.  I want to try one dress and a pair of capri-length pants just because I’ve never made either one and want to give it a try. but, my enthusiasm for sewing clothes is waning and I’m eager to sew some things for the home with the lovely wool I got from grandma.  we will see which way the wind blows.