Computer Trouble

I have cool things to post!! My computer is down, and while I can post from my iPhone it won't let me attach pictures. So I will do some catching up once the computer is back up.

I've been on a papercrafting kick, I have a stack of old greeting cards and I've been turning them in to really cool gift tags. Also I opened an Etsy store list some of my various crafty projects. I keep finding nice clothes I would love to remake but they are not my size, so I figure I may do one now and then for fun and sell it if possible. You never know!

New posts soon, hope you are keeping warm out there :)

Pink and Sparkly

I have an approach when looking through racks of clothes at thrift stores.  Rather than look at whole garments I tend to run my hand along the rack feeling texture while I look at color and pattern.  This sweater jumped out at me right away.  Yes it is a size (or two) too big, and it has that horrible mock turtle neck, BUT the good thing is the wonderful soft texture, the lovely pink color and bonus SPARKLES.  They are kind of like sprinkles on a cupcake eh?

Off with your tag!

So first things first - off with the collar and tag. Check out how cute this tag is by the way, "Wear it with a smile."  I plan to, thanks!









Next I prepped to turn this in to a V neck. (1) I marked the middle of the neck, and how deep I wanted the V to go.   

One

(2) Next I sewed two parallel lines of stitches and cut between them.

Two

(3) Now I could turn the whole raw edge under and pin the cut edges back to create a new neckline.  A nice line of stitches and it was set.

Three

The only think left to do was take this baby in a bit.  I sewed a new seam about two inches in on either side, and cut of the excess.  This brought the sweater down to more my size.  Nice when something is actually too big, kinda makes you feel good about yourself!

The finished product!  I feel so feminine in this sweater, it is lovely.

Check out the sparkly bosom!

I did a little searching online and found this gorgeous Stella McCartney tunic with a similar vibe.  Dare I compare?  Well mine may not be high fashion, but at $3 I'm pretty happy with it.

Made from scratch

A bit of a different post today, because I have been in a crochet mood lately. When the weather is cold I love having yarn around me. I decided I needed a new scarf, and just in time as the temps have dropped in to the frigid range here! I found an adorable pattern for a scarf with cupcakes on it. This is perfect for me as I do some baking on the side for a little extra income and cupcakes are my specialty. It took me about three evenings to complete the scarf, and my sister surprised me with a hat to match. Yes craftiness runs in my family. I have gotten so many compliments on this scarf. I love it!!

Thanks and kudos to Jennifer from Jaybird Designs who shared this pattern for free.  Check out her Etsy shop, lots of lovely stuff.

Now as a preview. . . I found this gorgeous sweater for $3 at a thrift store. I spent that much because it is so soft and sparkly. I'll work on it this weekend for a pretty Monday outfit. Stay warm out there :)

Older Projects

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.  We had a lot of fun and a lot of food!

Today I'm posting a couple past projects, with the holiday traveling and all I haven't had a chance to do sewing this weekend.

First up, a lovely muumuu with blue fishes.  I was so excited when I found this at a dollar a bag sale.  I saw so much potential for a dramatic makeover!

I cut off the length, and gave it a V neck, but I also brought in the sides to make it more fitted and put in a couple darts that gave it a nice shape.  End result?  Fab! This is one that even I have a hard time believing it's the same garment, and I'm the one who sewed it.

Next up on the re-do road, a makeover for my daughter.  She loves all things Asian, and I've been lucky enough to find a couple cute nightgown/house coat type items at thrift stores that were pretty easy to remake into cute tops.  She likes to be unique so remaking something into a one of a kind piece is right up her alley. 

This started out as a pretty standard house coat, zipper, quilted collar,  and long.  I thought for sure the collar would be first to go, but she actually likes the collar.  All I had to do with this one was take up the length, and shorten the sleeves.  She paired it with a white belt and some black shorts to suit her own sense of fashion.  I must say the collar was a good call as it turned out to be one of my favorite elements of the new shirt.  Score one for the kid!

After my daughter wore this to school she came home and said several of her friends told her "I wish my mom sewed!"  That gave me such a thrill, to see her happy and proud.  Being crafty pays off in so many ways.

Belted Cardigan

Another two piece makeover today, I suppose since it is fall it's all about layering.  I was at the mall last weekend finding shoes for a wedding I was in and kept seeing lots of cute girly outfits in the windows with belted cardigans.  I thought the look was really cute and wanted to try to do something along those lines but on the cheap of course!





I had a very dowdy dress that I picked up at a yard sale or .50 and another sweater from my dollar a bag church sale.  The sweater was nothing special and the dress was downright unattractive.  BUT the good thing with the dress was I thought the blue and pink color scheme was pretty and there was plenty to work with.  The good thing with the sweater was for a second hand white sweater it surprisingly had zero stains and was nice and soft.

(1)I started by taking the sleeves off the dress.  I knew I was going to be layering the sweater on top of it and it would be more comfortable sleeveless.






(2) Next I took the buttons off as I was going to be sewing the front together and turning it into my favorite cleavage enhancing V neck.  

I pinned the front closed and tried the dress on to perfect where I wanted the V, as well as where I wanted to cut the skirt to turn this into a shirt.  I cut strips from the leftover skirt to create a long belt.

(3)Now for the sweater, I used some dark thread to illustrate the technique for cutting a sweater.  This sweater was super easy as it has vertical stripes.  One stripe was directly down the middle so made a great guide for where to cut.  As you can see I sewed a line of straight stitch on either side of where I wanted to cut.  I then turned the cut edge under and sewed it in place. 






Finished product!  I put my new cardigan on over my new floral blouse, and wrapped my snazzy belt on top of it all.  I was really tickled with how this came out.  I even ended up keeping the pockets that were in the dress.  After wearing this today I have a couple ideas of how I might like to tweak it a little, maybe try it with a navy cardi, and layer a lace cami under?  A re-do of a re-do?

Hope you have a wonderul Thanksgiving!

-Lucia

Neapolitan

I was in the mood for a major re-do, and I have to admit this one had me frustrated.  I had to put it down last night and let it sit I was so aggravated.  I knew where I wanted to go, but it just wasn't coming together.  I'm getting ahead of myself though, to the before pics!

This started out as two pieces.  One is a blase' peachy colored gingham shirt I picked up at a yard sale for $1.  The other piece is a brown turtle neck I've had around for ages but never wear because, well I'm just not good in turtle necks.  The good thing with both of these is the color.  When I put the peach shirt on I loved what it did for my complexion, and the brown sweater is a really nice chocolately color.



First things first I cut the peach shirt in half.  Probably a little more than half actually, I've got a good bit of peach gingham to do something with now.  Next I cut the sweater off right under the arms.  This turtle neck is more like a ribbed cotton, not a woven sweater so it was easy to cut.

Next I pinned the top of the peach shirt to the bottom of the brown shirt and sewed them together.  This part was pretty straight forward.

The part that gave me trouble was the neck.  At first I thought I was going to keep the collar as it was, but once I tried it on I just didn't like it at all.  I decided to cut the collar off and re-vamp the neckline.  Whew, this part stymied me and I had to put the whole thing down.  I came back to it the next night and it all finally fell into place.  I pinned under where the buttons and button holes had been to show the solid peach lining, then sewed everything down.  Finally!





Now again I tried it on and it was just missing something still.  I decided that the two shirts still looked like two shirts and not one.  Inspiration struck and I took the neck off the turtle neck and fashioned in to two cuffs for the sleeves.  This little bit of brown on the top of the shirt suddenly made the whole thing seem like one piece.

Finished product!  This is really different than anything else in my closet, and I'm so curious to hear what reaction I get when I wear it tomorrow.  I happen to love it!  My boyfriend said I look like neapolitan ice cream, which is a description I will not only accept but now I want ice cream. . .

No Sew Fix and a Bonus

Today's fix is a no sew quick fix!  I picked this blouse up at Goodwill over the weekend.  It is a bit blah as is, non descript, probably something you'd pick up at Wal Mart that a million other people have.  But the good thing is the fit is perfect as is, and the print is very nice.  Really I only have two major complaints with this piece, one the scoop neck, two the sleeves are a wierd length with elastic at the cuff.

First things first, to fix the neckline I took a handy dandy safety pin, gathered the front of the shirt and pinned it together.  This changed the shape of the top in a very flattering and pleasing way.  Second fix I simply pulled the elastic cuff up to my elbow and turned it under.  Ta Da!  Very quickly I had a blouse I really liked. 

Now, since I didn't sew today and I feel like that's cheating a bit, I'm going to throw in a past project that is one of my favorites.  Unfortunately I didn't take step by step pictures of this project, this was before I thought about starting a blog.  I will have to do another project like this because it turned out so amazingly well, this is hands down my favorite blouse.

This started out as a robe, house coat kind of thing.  It had a zipper down the front and went to the floor, had an odd collar and long sleeves but the good thing is - it was in excellent condition, no tears or stains, and the pattern was just gorgeous.  There is a kind of cherry blossom branch pattern over the leopard print. 

Major re-work on this one!  I took out the zipper, and cut the whole thing in half.  I also shortened the sleeves.  I took the material from the bottom of the robe and added pieces to create a wrap shirt, including ties.   The end result is FAB!  The shirt is flattering, comfy and gets compliments everytime I wear it.

Just realized the only picture I have of this shirt has the before and after together and they are in the wrong order.  Ah well, I'll have to try for an action shot of me wearing it out sometime.

I have a couple very frumpy dresses I'm eyeing for next week, cross your fingers that I've got a winner in the basket!