Furniture Refashion: Covering the arms of a chair

They don't make things like they used to. This chair isn't that old, but the fake leather is already peeling off...

What to do? Why, fix it with fabric of course!
Take a couple of lengths of leftover fabric:

Overlock the edges of the fabric inside-out. to create sleeves.

Trim them down because they're too big...

Find out that they're too loose because you didn't taper them at the end.

Install some elastic to pull the ends in.

Try one on for size.

Final product! Snazzy and comfy. I could even cover the whole chair... hmm. We shall see!

Refashion: fixing the rip in my black top

This top is a nice, cool cotton that I wear to work. 

Unfortunately due to the mesh fabric it tended to catch on things... like doorjambs. So one day it ripped up one side!
I trimmed the edge of the rip and cut a slice the same size on the opposite side of the top, to make it even. Then I cut two triangles of leftover fabric to use to patch the holes, and overlocked them.

Then it was very easy to sew them in place.

External view.

Mismatching bottom, which I don't mind at all.

All fixed :)

Online Dress Refashion

One of the most frustrating things about online shopping is the sizing. You order a 16, it's more like a 12. You order a large, it's more like a small! Generally, things seem to be smaller than they should be. It's why I order 2 sizes bigger!

My work colleague ordered these two dresses and, surprise surprise, they were too small when they arrived. Not too drastic, though, that they couldn't be re-fashioned. The right one in particular is gorgeous fabric that shouldn't go to waste!

#1 The Pink and blue dress was too tight so I needed to insert panels on the side seams to make it wider. Thankfully the zip was in the back: this would have been tricky to pick out and re-sew and I would have likely damaged the delicate fabric.
It took a while to find fabric to match, until I had a different project out and inspiration struck me. It's a match!

I cut both sides open carefully. It has lining inside and rather than having to add an insert panel into the lining as well, I just overlocked the dress and lining together on both sides of the cut that I made.
Another option would have been removing the lining altogether but that would have made the dress see-through.


I prepared strips of the fabric to be inserted, having cut them long enough (or so I thought...). There is also a wide hem band on the bottom of the dress that I wanted to line the stitching up with.

I overlocked the two insert pieces and pinned them into place in the dress. But they were too short! I couldn't believe it... there was a gap of about 7cm at the bottom...

I sewed the strips in anyway and got a bit creative on the bottom, adding a t-piece of the fabric to secure the strip and to cover up the gap that I had left. It did have the effect of making the bottom stronger, which isn't a bad thing.

The owner of the dress is happy with the result, so that's what counts!

#2 - Green Dress
This dress is a couple of things: too tight and too short. We talked about what I might do to it and decided that the green would be too hard to match. What I would do instead is add black: insert panels on both sides, and add a length to the bottom. This would match nicely!

I cut both sides open:

As above, I overlocked the dress and lining together on both sides of the cut that I made.

I prepared strips of black fabric to be inserted, having cut them long and wide enough that I would have seam allowance. I cut them longer this time, too, after the first dress!
I made a hem at the top of the strip, rather than trying to neaten it up once the side seams were sewn. This became the new under arm section.

I decided that it would be neater to put the bottom extension on and then add the side panels. It looks a bit messy on the inside, but it worked on the outside.

I sewed both side panels in and hemmed the bottom of the black.
The finished dress. Inside:

Outside:

Happy customer!

This refashioned skirt is not feeling blue!

Some of my refashions are a bit out there. I have a bad habit (or good habit, depending on how you look at it) of adding things to most of my clothes.

I do it to my skirts and shorts quite often. A lot of the time I just add things for fun! 

This skirt used to be a dress that I loved wearing, but the top part frayed around the shoulders. 

So I cut it off and made it into a skirt, and used random patches to cover some faded bits. The waist band is just a simple sleeve with thin elastic in it. It sits around my hips.

This patch was a cross stitch that a friend gave me to do. The blue fabric with the red ties behind it was from a sailor outfit!

This was a lino print from another friend. It was originally on a pillow case, but when that got holes in it I salvaged the print.

 A couple of pieces from my scraps collection added more colour.

This fancy patch was from an art quilt that my mum made, and then dismantled some time later. Bits of it have appeared on bags and table runners as well!

The bats were another favourite skirt that had faded badly after years of wear. It has since been made into bunting flags as well, so it's nice to see its use continue.

So instead of being thrown out, this skirt has had another three years of wear. Not bad, hey?

Easy Alterations

How often do you find something to buy, or order something online, and it isn't quite right?

Or you wear and wash a dress three times and the hem falls down?
A friend says it's definitely three times: that's the magic number that denotes the falling of a hem.

I don't buy garments anymore that require anything other than minor alterations like the ones below. You don't want to spend $100 on a dress only to spend another $100 (including materials and hours of your time) making it wearable. 

If I buy clothes online, I will buy a size larger because it is always easier to take something in than it is to try to add to it and make it bigger. I'm also a size bigger on the bottom than the top, so no dress will fit me perfectly.

I also live in a hot climate, promoting me to buy natural fabrics like cotton and silk to wear rather than polyester. You can cook eggs on the roads here when it's hot, what do you think that does to the plastic you're wearing? Avoiding adding layers to clothes is a must.

My most common alterations are:

• taking pants up
• hemming dresses
• sewing buttons back on
• putting darts in the tops of dresses
• shortening straps on dresses
• closing openings on blouses to make them more modest
• adding lace to the bottom of a dress to make it longer

This is my messy (aka creative chaos-stricken) work space at home. 

I am set up so that my machine and overlocker are always out, as well as the dressmakers manikin. The ironing board is hiding in the corner (though I hate ironing, I will do it for quilting but not clothes!) and there are projects everywhere.

But having everything set up means that I can do quick alterations as needed. Particularly helpful if something breaks half an hour before you want to walk out the door!