A couple of weeks ago, I showed you how to crop thrift-shop yoga pants to capri length. Today, I’ll show you how I cropped a pair of jeans; the process is very similar, except that the jeans are a non-stretch fabric, requiring a different stitching technique.
Here are my jeans at their original length:
My jeans at their original length. (You may recognize them from some early Makeover Mondays.)
A couple of weeks ago, following my archaeologist daughter’s example, I started digging through a lot of old stuff. Specifically, garments that for various reasons I didn’t wear any more, but was curiously loath to discard. All right, maybe what I uncovered wasn’t as exciting as King Tut’s tomb, but a certain pattern did come to light: I found 5 different tops with nothing wrong with them at all— except their length. Yes, each one hovered just below my waistline, meaning they would ride up whenever I, well, moved. Not being 4 years old, I didn’t think midriff-baring would be cute, which I assume is why all 5 tops ended up in the same bag, lurking in shame in the back of my closet. What can I do with them?
A while back, I think during a phase when I was intrigued by various dresses-that-look-like-separates on the market, I remember thinking maybe I could come up with my own version, using some of these too-short tops. So when I discovered this beautiful jade-green silk/viscose knit top, I thought it was the perfect candidate.
Jade silk-blend knit thrift-shop top. It’s just a little too short on me to wear without fear of midriff-baring.
Last week, after discovering that I would be heading to Chicago for 8 days, I told you about my initial travel-wardrobe thought process. (This boiled down to the types of pieces I thought I’d need, taking lodging, events, and weather into account.) Since I will be leaving in about a week, my priority now is to create a color palette, so that’s what I’ll focus on today.
Aside: In case my punny use of ORD is causing a raised eyebrow or two, let me explain: ORD is the airport identifier for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. It will probably happen again. End of aside.
Changing Your Clothes is primarily about making the most out of what we already have, so that’s what I’ll do first: make over my Santa Fe Wardrobe from last fall. To my closet!
Oh. A funny thing happened on the way to my closet… I got distracted by this piece of fabric, bought just 2 days before I found out about this upcoming trip:
Cotton print fabric. This is a medium-weight cotton with a bit of stretch, but it was the print I couldn’t pass up! (I’m extremely picky about prints.) It’s destined for a vintage-inspired dress.
For many (including moi), thrift shopping is primarily about the thrill of the hunt: slowly circling the aisles, gradually narrowing your search until you finally zero in on the one pristine cashmere sweater in the entire store. Yesss! You do the dance of joy. You carry your prize home in triumph, carefully remove it from its recycled plastic shroud, lay it on your bed to admire it, and then can’t resist slipping into it. Which is when you realize the sleeves are longer than you thought.
This has happened to me, and I have to admit (shamefully) that it mostly happens when I don’t try things on in the store. But wait— all is not lost!
Even non-thrift shop purchases often come with a catch: alterations that are necessary for a really perfect fit. In the case of a sweater, alterations can be challenging; you’re dealing with a knitted fabric, so cutting into it means having to secure a lot of ends so that runs don’t happen. I’ll probably show you how to do this at some point, but for today, I’m going to use something simpler as an example a common thrift-shop garment alteration: shortening yoga pants.
Thrift-shop yoga pants, before cropping. Even on a 5’6″ girl, these are way too long.
Previously on Makeover Monday, I showed you how to create a peplum out of a full skirt, and prepare it to be attached to a pencil skirt. Today, we’ll finish this project by sewing the peplum to the skirt, then reattaching the partially-removed zipper and the waistband.
Let’s get started, continuing from last week’s post, which got us to the point of pinning the peplum in place and adjusting the gathers.
1. Pin and machine-baste the gathered peplum to grey skirt.
Red Alert! If the zipper on your skirt is not an invisible zipper, like mine, reattach your zipper before adding the peplum.
Adding peplum to skirt. As shown, make sure that the seam allowance of your pencil skirt are folded out; this is where you will reattach your zipper. And fold the zipper-opening edges of your peplum under before pinning it to the skirt. Machine-baste, using previous stitching line as your guide.
It was the best of skirts:
Just-below-knee-length pencil silhouette, charcoal grey, substantial-weight stretch woven fabric, invisible zipper, back vent. Goes with everything.
Pencil skirt (before). Serviceable, but…
It was the worst of skirts:
Dull.
Previously on Makeover Monday, I showed you a skirt that I made to go from work to tango dancing. This week, I’ve got something a little different for you: a quick and easy upcycled accessory project! Read on…
Remember the necklaces shaped like collars that were so popular last fall and winter? Personally, I still love them, especially the ones that are made at least in part with fabric, so they almost look like actual collars. And the other day, I was sifting through a pile (one of many) of pictures I’ve snipped out of various publications, trying to choose some for one of my mood boards, when I ran across a photo of a bejeweled faux-collar necklace, with this note scribbled on it: “real collar, wear like necklace”.
I often find my somewhat cryptic notes in unexpected places, and don’t always remember exactly what I was getting at, but this doesn’t really bother me; these notes always spark at least a few ideas, even if they’re totally different from the original inspiration. In this case, I suspect I was thinking of sewing a fabric collar from scratch, but when I read the note, my first thought was to make it even simpler: take a collar off an existing shirt. Great idea!
Problem: I don’t actually own that type of shirt. At least there are none in my closet at this moment. But I dug through my big clothes-to-be-made-over bag, and look what I found:
My “before” shirt: lightweight cotton with intentionally frayed edges, Western-style. (Don’t judge me: I bought this in Nevada to wear to my first real rodeo. At least it’s a good color.)
Thrift-Shop Thursday is here! Beginning today, I’ll be posting a new project on Thursdays, each based on a garment found at a thrift shop. (I define thrift shop fairly loosely, to include consignment and vintage shops, the occasional yard sale, and even hand-me-downs.)
I’m starting with a series of ideas for dealing with common issues with thrift-shop finds; today’s project will focus on replacing buttons. Enter my latest thrift-shop coup: a Christian Dior (!) jacket that fits my daughter perfectly. (You’ll see it on her later on.)
Christian Dior wool jacket, in perfect condition except for the loose front button. Thrift-shop price: $25.00!
Because I’ve been making clothes nearly all my life, sometimes I forget that certain skills are not, in fact, second nature to everyone. Even so-called basic sewing techniques involve specific instructions, as I discovered this week when I had to fix a dress whose hem had started to come undone. Just photographing the various steps in the process of hand-sewing approximately 11″ was eye-opening— there’s a lot to this seemingly simple repair!
Here’s the situation: It’s a sheath dress in a substantial stable knit, meaning it has some give, but also holds its shape; this quality has to be taken into consideration, as I’ll show you in a bit. Somehow, between the last time I wore it and, well, now, the hem started unraveling between a side seam and the center back seam. (This is a ready-to-wear dress, originally hemmed with the commonly-used clear monofilament that doesn’t tend to wear very well.)
The hem of my dress coming undone. For such a small section to be restitched, it’s actually quite a project.
Ever since I made my first 3D scarf for last week’s Makeover Monday, I’ve been wearing it almost every day. It’s the perfect light-yet-warm layer that goes on easily over everything. (I’m wearing it even as I type right now!) In fact, this surprisingly versatile piece has gotten so much use already that it inspired me to root through more than my scarf collection for makeover candidates. And lo! Lurking deep in a stack of seldom-worn hand-knitted sweaters, I found this:
Cardi-Wrap, pre-makeover. This is literally just a long, wide scarf with sleeves set into the rectangle.
Because no niche IS my niche
Sharing memories along with my grief journey
A seriously fun blog from Jen Wilson
Adventures in Sewing and Beading
Bringing History to Life
The practical pleasures of living in color
A Plus Size Sewing Community
Sewing up a self-made wardrobe
Unsolicited observations on everything.
Stirring & steaming since 2014
Thank you for sewing with us...
Food, Photography & Joie de Vivre
Sew Lingerie + Handmade Lingerie with Madalynne Intimates
Adventures in Life and Style
Home of the Writers Mastermind for Fiction Writers
Sometimes the best ideas are associated with a red couch. . .
Changing Your Clothes 