To The Maxi!

Hi, all!
We've sadly been awfully neglectful of this poor blog, but that's what happens when life gets in the way of everything else!

Due to a number of family medical issues -- and that aforementioned *life* in general -- I haven't had much time to craft lately at all. That doesn't stop my Pinterest boards from growing by leaps and bounds, though!

Today I thought I'd tackle an easy refashion that I'd been thinking about for a while -- a maxi skirt! I had this sundress I'd picked up at the thrift store hanging in my closet for ages.

Sundress!

 

I didn't take pictures throughout the entire process, but all it involved was chopping off the shirred portion at the top, then folding over and pressing first 1/4" then 1.5" to create a casing for elastic. I stitched close to the folded edge, leaving a gap of a few inches through which to insert elastic. I measured a piece by wrapping it around my waist and marking the length with a Sharpie.

After that, I inserted the elastic and safety-pinned the ends together so I could try it on again. Thankfully, this was a smart idea. I needed to tighten the elastic more in order for the skirt to feel properly snug at the waist. Once I made this adjustment, I stitched the overlapped elastic twice with a zigzag stitch, then closed the gap on the waist.

And... ta-da!

I know, it doesn't look very different, but it is. Unfortunately, because I'm tall, the skirt doesn't quite go down as long as I would have liked -- even though I cut it as close to the shirring part as I could. It's okay. It's still light and flowy and extremely comfortable. So it's all good! And besides, I have a couple of other thrifted sundresses that are just begging to be made into maxis, too... :)

In other crafting, I also put together some bracelets a while ago, following this tutorial. Very cute, and very easy.

Anyway, that's it for now. My list of projects is huge, and now that life looks a little more normal *knocks on wood*, I hope to get on top of them. Watch this space for new posts (hopefully) soon!

Refashionista!

Well, okay, no. I'm far from an expert, yet. But I DID finally bite the bullet and jump in to the refashioning pool! I had two tutorials (this one, and this one) pinned to one of my Pinterest boards (don't you LOVE Pinterest??) for a Polo-shirt makeover, and the idea has intrigued me for a while. So when I was last in Ye Auld Thrift Shop, I took a skim of the racks to see if I could find something that appealed.

 So this is the one that jumped off the rack at me. Not bad looking, huh? It's a men's XL.











So the first thing I did was cut off the collar and give the neck more of a scoop in the back.

Then I tried the shirt on and pinned the sides to take them in. You can just barely see the pins. I tried to make them approximately even in terms of the amount of fabric being taken in on either side. I had to do this twice. The first time I pinned too far in. After I moved the pins out about an inch or so, the shirt felt much more comfortable. I also marked approximately where I wanted the hem to be, because the shirt was too long, and I cut off about four inches, or so.

Then I stitched along the line of pins, and tried the shirt on again to make sure I liked the fit. Once I was satisfied with that, I trimmed away the excess material. I didn't bother running a zigzag stitch along the edges, simply because knit fabric doesn't fray so that extra step is completely optional.

Just for a little bit of added detail, I sewed about five inches of elastic along the lower side seams, gently stretching it as I went. This put some soft gathers in the sides -- just a bit of a feminine touch! This photo shows the inside of the shirt. The following photo shows how it looks on the outside.

I didn't bother hemming the bottom of the shirt because I liked the so-called "deconstructed" look of it. Along the neck edge, though, I folded the fabric in approximately 1/4" and stitched it down. That's it!

And now, the final product. The front:

The back:

I chose not to pick off the pocket, as I was worried about any potential holes left in the shirt. I didn't know what I'd do to patch them, if I needed to. So I just left it.

The verdict? I like it. It's quite comfortable, and in theory I could wear it right-way forward, if I wanted. I've caught people looking at me curiously, though. Seems people start wondering when someone appears to have her shirt on backwards...