Thrift store skirt converted to an assymmetric top

I found this amazing pleated skirt for $2 at at thrift store, I loved the fabric-yellow and black plaid.  It is so fun, but as a skirt it was too big and it was frumpy.

I have been watching Mad Men a lot recently and want a cape or an A-line jacket, I know this isn't either, but those silhouettes inspire me, so this is a change from my more usual fitted silhouettes.

How did I change it from a skirt to a top?

I unpicked the waistband and the lining, as this was a lot smaller than the skirt (as it was not pleated). Luckily the hole was big enough where the waist band had been, that it fit well under my arm and over my shoulder. I then rehemmed where the waistband had been and took a dart from the shoulder so it would curve better over the shoulder. I rehemmed the waistband so I could make it in to a strap. I pinned a giant sleeve out of the giant top and sewed some seams in there as it is so billious and I wanted to be able to wear a belt with it. It took about an hour-if that. Then it was all done :)

 What I am wearing

My new thrift store skirt to assymetric top

My purple merino top from Shanton

Black gloves from the $1-$8 mart

Belt off another dress I bought

Black skirt from Glassons

Red boots from Number One Shoe Warehouse

Have you made any recent thrift store alterations?

Have a happy week, from Kiwibubbles :)

From pattern follower to designer!!!

I have not updated my blog much as I have been working on a new project... my designs are going to be in a fashion show!!!

The competition is on in 2 weeks and I am driving out of town to go and see it (it is a 7 hour drive to Gore). I am super excited, models are going to be wearing my stuff on a catwalk in a real life fashion show!!! I feel like i'm in my very own project runway.



made from 3 different colours of stretch drill



I had to design my own outfits and make them, as you know, for me, that's tricky as i haven't done much designing, usually I use patterns. However I did make a wearable dress in my purple one shouldered ruffle dress I designed from scratch, so I chose to give it a go. I used my mannequin and made the same block for all my dresses and then drew a pattern off this altering it for each dress. I can't show you all of the ones I entered in the show til after the show is finished-I made seven all up, but only entered 5. I entered three dresses as a mini collection, and two dresses wre entered in the streetwear category. I made them all using a 2 directional stretch drill-this elminated the need for zips and darts-haha, that's my kind of design!

These are the least favourite of the seven I made-hence they didn't go in the competition.



made from red stretch drill, the stripey stuff is fleece! and a yellow button on the shoulder



Last of the four t-shirt dresses

This is the last finished dress in this Vogue 8679 series!! The others are UFO's now-unfinished sewing objects :)

I made this dress in an afternoon before wearing it out to dinner with the girls. This fabric is a one way stretch cotton, it does not have too much give in it. It is not really an appropriate fabric for this pattern-it really needs a fabric that stretches in two directions for trying it on. However I really was too lazy to put in a zip, so I just cut it a half inch wider than the side seam allowances. This will make it two inches bigger overall around the body, and that was ok with me, as I would wear it with a belt to cinch the waist.

The pattern is black and white, but has a strong vertical element in the pattern, which I liked as it's slimming.

Anne is modelling it with

Black cardigan from The Warehouse
Black belt that came with a dress I bought
Hat from Ballantyne's

I have never had a hat like this before, I have never really been sure what was flattering for my face before, but I love this one. I liked it so much I have made my own version since.

Red tshirt dress

Now we are up to dress number three from Vogue 8679.

I made this one from a stretch drill I bought from Spotlight at the New Year Sale for a dollar a metre. I bought ten or so metres of it. It is a heavy fabric-so again, not too clingy, but not too stiff that I need a zip to get it on. Perfect!!!

I have actually been living in these dresses, they are really comfortable and I love how quick they are to make. They look neat with tights and boots. Sometimes I wear a long sleeve top beneath them too.

Stripey dress from tshirt dress pattern

As I said previously, I made four of these dresses from vogue 8679.

This time I used a super stretchy thick fabric that is heavy enough to retain its shape well. I loved the pretty colours and thought a vertical stripe would be slimming. The fabric is a synethetic with lots of spandex or something. I do not have clothes made from this fabric so I'm not sure what it's called or really what it gets used for.

One thing I loved about this dress...I didn't have to hem the edges apart from the neck as the edges roll over. It is handy too as i can let it roll more to make the dress shorter or pull it down and have it longer.

One thing I didn't like... cutting the fabric. It rolled when I was cutting it and I had to weigh it down, I used pretty coin sized glass beads that you put in vases to weigh it down. It was tricky to pin too as it just kept rolling back on itself.

Anne is wearing it with...

Aqua cardigan from Glassons
Yellow belt from an opshop (it cost me fifty cents!! )
Yellow and white scarf from The Warehouse
Aqua fake suede boots from The number one shoe warehouse

Next up..red tshirt dress :)

Tshirt dress I went a little crazy on

I found a pattern for a dress I loved.

It was perfect for me, it only takes 2-3 hours to make and there are no darts or zips, etc, how easy!!!

Welcome to vogue 8679. I obviously made the dress view, I have not made the other pieces in the pattern. I bought the pattern on sale for four dollars from fabric vision.

I loved it so much I made...4!!!! and I have another couple in the works too.

First dress: made with a two way stretch synthetic. Not too stretchy though, so it still smoothes over the bumps rather than clinging to them :)

My model Anne is wearing it for me as she is looking skinnier than me at the moment ; she has not been hibernating and eating bread and chocolate for winter unlike me :)

Anne is wearing it with my black merino cardigan from the warehouse.
Fake suede boots from the number one shoe warehouse
Flower brooch from Equip.
I wear tights with it too because it's winter and cold!(by my standards anyway)

This dress turned out really well. Yay for streatch stitch on my sewing machine. The only problem I encountered was I had overlocked all the edges and when I turned over the hem, it caught through to the right side of the fabric. I just trimmed these bits and am ignoring them.

buttercup dress

As promised, I made another dress using Burda 8072. I have actually been doing a lot of sewing recently, just not much posting.

I changed things up a bit this time. I put a ruffle on the hem, this took me hours to do and I got really annoyed. But I like the result. In the image of Burda 8072, one of the dresses has a ruffle on it, but the pattern doesn't include one. I asked
the most skilled sewer I know on the easiest way to make a ruffle,and it turned out great. If you want to see her work, it's at http://jwo-sews.blogspot.com

Instead of using the facings, I decided to line it instead. The images I took of this didn't show up well, so I didn't include them. But I found a bright yellow shiny fabric to line it with, and it turned out well. In the future I will probably use a thin cotton fabric for lining as slidy stuff is really tricky to sew darts in, etc, as it moves around heaps and I found it frustrating.

I love how the difference in a fabric can make the same pattern look so different. This feels different to my 'dino dress'.

I will wear it with my fake pearls most likely.