Op Shop Refashion: Printing a Plain Shirt

I got this plain mint green shirt from the op shop a while ago. It was basically brand new, a really good find. Cotton, too, which is good when it's 38 degrees outside...

But as often happens when I visit my mum, we did some creative things. And when she was stenciling turtles I wanted to have one, so this shirt got a makeover.
Mum designed and cut this stencil out and he's pretty cute. Made using plastic sheets, like what you used to use in the old projectors.

This was a different piece of fabric that mum printed.

Stenciling is messy, but fun. We put some newspaper in the middle of my shirt so that it wouldn't bleed through to the front, as I was printing on the back. The turtle went on perfectly, and I dabbed some black on for his eyes.

Next: to fill the empty space in the middle. I decided on a shell

You can use a roller or a brush to stencil. We used a roller for the bigger turtle and then brushes to dab paint on for the shell. I was really happy with how it turned out.

 And isn't he a pretty turtle?

A very simple but effective way to upcycle a shirt.

Refashioned denim shorts to funky printed skirt

I got these pieces from a friend's stall at the Christmas Craft Fair, the fabulous Liz Martin.  Not the use it was intended for (napkins), but as soon as I saw them I wanted them on a skirt! I often look at people's craft and want to wear it rather than use it for what it was intended.

 There are two different designs but they match very nicely.

 I had half a pair of denim shorts leftover from another project that were the inspiration for this skirt.

 So I chopped that extra bit of leg off so that it was less uneven.

 And was even left with a pocket on the back!

I used pinking shears on the edges because they were going to be too hard to overlock to seal the edges. Given that I'll be sewing over the edges, they should be ok.

 I started randomly pinning the napkins on. They're a good length, about at the knee.

 Some gaps emerging, but that can be dealt with.

Another test will be how see-through they are... but they passed! 

I needed something to patch the gaps so  I went into my stash. This is what I came out with.

I like how they look together.

Once I had the concept and general design finalised, I un-pinned it all so that I could overlock the edges of the material sections.

After that it was a matter of pinning it all in place again. I did it in a way that I could do long, overlapping seams, rather than lots of small seams. By pinning it all straight up it made sure that I covered all of the gaps. I noted that some of the napkins overlapped: it is was significant then I would have trimmed them so that I could save the scraps for something else It wasn't too bad in the end, so I left it.

The big piece of the echidna fabric was perfect for layering, because it was an offcut with damaged print.

 Accidentally sewed some of the pocket down, so I had to unpick that part and hand sew it instead.

 Finished skirt on.

 It was a little bit loose (the pants were several years old) so I took it in a little.

  Very happy with this project!

Op Shop Refashion: Girl's Watermelon dress to car seat organiser

My niece picked this dress out at the op shop because watermelon is one of her favourite foods. So I decided to make something for her with it.

We travelled in the car a lot when I was younger, and my mother made these clever fabric organisers that hung on the back of the car seats in front of us. They had lots of pockets of difference sizes that we could fill with our snacks, pencils, gameboys, etc. I decided that this would be perfect for my niece.
It was simple to fold the top over to create the "hood" that would go over the headrest of the seat.

A bit of a gap though.

I had to extend the top, because there wasn't enough fabric to fold around the top of the car seat. Bring in the leftovers from her Superman pants refashion.

I collected some bits and pieces that would be good pockets on the base. And some goodies to put into the pockets, too, of course!

Perfect pocket for a water bottle on the bottom right.

All done and ready to be wrapped up!

Op Shop Refashion - Pants for my little niece

My friend and I regularly take her daughter, who is 3, op-shopping with us. She enjoys rummaging through the clothes, books and things as much as we do. Recently when we went she pulled these pants off the rack:

She likes her super heroes! It's nice flannelette material too, good for cooler weather.

The problem was that they were a size 8: length-wise they were taller than her!

Her mother suggested that if she asked her aunty very nicely, I might fix them for her. And so she did 😊 It's far easier to take things in than it is to make them bigger, so I knew that it was achievable.

There was a second pair that she picked out and asked to be fixed too. I think we may have started a new game with her!

Very soft, comfortable fabric.

Also waaaaaaay too big!

Luckily I had found a cute skirt for her in the op shop as well, so I had something to base the size off. 

I figured that with the elastic waistband and ties, the existing waistband would be the right size; it also appeared to be okay when I laid the skirt against it. She is growing so fast!
The tricky part would be the crotch of the pants. Obviously I would need to take it up, otherwise it would hang so low that she wouldn't be able to move.

 Using the skirt as a guide, I pinned it to where I thought it should be. I'll sew the new seam, then cut it down and overlock the edges to seal.

I looked up what the length of pants should be for a 3 year old and was surprised that it was 40cm. But when I thought about it and how tall she was getting, I realised that it must be correct.

So I measured the pants up and made cuts.

After that was done it was a matter of hemming the bottom of the legs and they were ready to go. 

With the Superman pants as a guide it was easy to fix the loveheart pants to match.

Shorts, Dyed Pillowcase and Shirt refashion to Skirt

I am once again in the familiar position of having too many clothes. Part of it is that I wear work clothes five days a week, of course, and I generally wear comfortable clothes when I get home, I have nice going out clothes, leaving the two day weekend for all of the other clothes. Not enough time to wear them! First world problems, I know. Luckily I enjoy refashioning things.
Recently Mum made a maxi skirt out of two pairs of jeans that really inspired me, so I wanted to remake some things in my wardrobe. Drastically.
Two pairs of my jeans shorts while they started out fashionably worn on the front are now becoming frayed beyond repair. I don't need three pairs. They're also quite stained because I have a tendency to wipe the mud from my arrows off on them at archery....

I also had a few shirts too many, that I just wasn't wearing. T-shirt material would be too stretchy to pair with the jeans, but some of the other shirts would be ok.
I like the lace in this top. But I like wearing it as a top.

This cotton shirt from my dad was a much better candidate! Nice, heavy cotton that will go well with the jeans.

I'm thinking about these pillow cases as well. Thinking that they would look great dyed blue and included in this skirt! They're cotton, perfect candidates for dyeing.

I was thinking that this would be a long, patched shirt using the top of one of the pairs of shorts as the zip and waistband. I could keep the pockets then, too. There's a box full of scraps to cover whatever needs to be covered. I'd love to use the top of the second pair of shirts for the pockets as well. You can never have too many pockets.

Onto the dyeing! My dye kit for cotton is very simple: Rit and salt, to set it. I do it in the washing machine.

Import to pre-wet the fabric, otherwise your result can turn out patchy. I threw some other shirts in with the pillowcases.

The results are also better if you pre-mix the dye.

Then you throw the dye and salt into the machine with the wet fabric, on a hot cycle for about an hour.

The hardest part? Not dyeing myself!

I was very happy with the colour result of the pillowcases. And I had wondered if the yellow thread of the flowers was cotton or not: as it was cotton, it was dyed as well and came out green. Still happy.

I sewed the pillowcase closed rather than pick it all apart, which made the fabric thicker and more stable to work with.

Onto the pants that were the basis of the skirt. A quick cut to open them out.

I cut all of these seams out so that I didn't have to sew through them because they were too thick.

They don't look very impressive on the mannikin, but that is certainly going to change.

Hmm, this worn patch needs to be covered up.

A seam in the back to straighten the curve that had previously been in place.

One of the pillowcases patched the gap in the back and I loved how it looked a bit mermaid-tail-like.

I wanted to cover up these stylish rips as well, because they were gradually expanding.

I'm not that into flashing my thighs...

Add a sleeve from my dad's shirt. Then subtract one of the pillowcases because it just wasn't working. There was too much of the dyed blue. That's ok, it can become something else!

I took part of the legs from the second pair of shorts and was happy to find this darker fabric under the pocket when I unpicked it. That pocket will go on somewhere as well!

I'm sure that I can find a use for this for another refashion.

After the base was ready it was a matter of adding different pieces until I was happy. I remembered that I had dyed these squares previously and couldn't wait to add them.

An early, pinned version.

The ruffle on the backside had to be moved...

But it gradually took shape, and as I was happy with things I sewed them down so that I could keep layering over them. I don't want too many layers, because when it's washed the thick sections won't dry out. Too many layers are also harder to sew through.

Add some kimono obi from when I lived in Japan.

And get into some hand stitching on these bits of dyed fabric. This was initially because something with the weave was jamming my sewing machine, but now I love how it looks and want to do more. 

These were part of a donation of sewing things from a family friend.

On they go! 

Final skirt and I'm very happy. I may continue to add to it, as I often do, but that's part of the fun.

Happy refashions!