The Eighth Daughter: Sewing up-cycling

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Sewing up-cycling

I find a lot of my clothing off the rack just doesn't fit very well. Or after they get holes or stains or shrink I still try to work around the issues by "up-cycling" them into some thing new. Here are some of my repairs and re-workings.

This went from a nice pair of jeans,

into a ripped up pair of jeans,

into a patched knees pair of jeans,

into a pair of Bermuda shorts,

and then into a pair of cut offs.

Above shows the idea of using some old

t-shirts and making some binding

around the hem and the

patch pockets.

I don't usually like the frayed edges on my jeans.

It becomes necessary to find a solution. Binding!!!

It fit in the store. But then I washed it.
This shirt sleeves were too short, and it was too short
as they always are on my long torso.
I usually figure they shrink after my first
wash, so I look for the larger size. However,
I couldn't find the larger size,
but figured, I could suffer with short
sleeves. Well, I couldn't.

I opened up the faux henley button placket
and added two inches of ribbed knit from an
old tank top, to the sleeves and the hem. I added
a little insert to the neckline
to cover my bust. I re-attached
the sleeve tabs and sewed on white contrast buttons
to flank the insert at the neckline.

Same issues as before. The sleeves were too short
the shirt was too short after washing.
I didn't have any fabric or old
t-shirts that would have worked with this shirt.
So I went and found some very cute
printed jersey.

I love my dress-form. It's always nice to work on
a dress-form. Good old Sea-wolf.
I got one that was as close to my
actual measurements as possible
so I could sew for myself.

Super cute printed jersey that matched
the color.

In progress

Draped on my dress form.

I changed out the body fabric to the
new print. Added the extra fabric on the hem.

And changed the short cap sleeves
to a flutter sleeve.

So much stretching while
I was sewing. (I"m such a naughty girl)
Again, use a ball point needle.
Use the correct stitches for knits.
Or use a serger.

Knit stay tape (water soluble) is a great thing.
On this project I couldn't make a longer sleeve
work. So I just make a flutter sleeve. It's not tight
on my bicep, or deltoid muscle, which is nice.
But even tho the sleeve is still short,
I don't mind it as much since
it's not so tight on my upper arm.

$3 shirt from Walmart Clearance.
Again, too tight on upper arms and too short.
I know, just buy a larger size Ruth!!!And yes, I usually do!!
However, they didn't have a larger size
available. And I loved the stripes.
$3 was ok with me.

Of course, even tho
I buy the large, they are too large in the
waist. I usually buy the large,
and then if it's too big in
waist (even tho it fits my bust and arms)
I'll just do a quick stitch down the sides
about 3/4" to take in.

So, I lengthened the sleeves
by unstitching the hem. And
added a small godet to the
side seams.

I hemmed the sleeves and hem
at only 1/4" instead of the 3/4"
that it came with. Lengthened it
a 1/2". I found a cute printed
fabric that matched the colors
perfectly. The stripes don't match up
on the right side, but they did on the
left!!! So, half success.

Inside of shirt.
This shirt was pulling uncomfortably
in the bust.
So the side godet added a bit of room for
me to feel more comfortable.
It also loosened
the sleeve since they are usually too
tight on my arm.

Inside of godet.

Cute tank, with adorable embellishment.
However, I never wear tanks without
a cardigan since I burn so badly in the
sun. You never saw the hummingbird
when I did that!