a better length

Found this size m/p london fog trench (with liner) at goodwill for 7.99! It fit great in the shoulders and torso, whereas most trenchcoats make me look like a football payer. The sleeves were about 1.5 inches too short, so I pulled the hem and lenghtened it! So happy!

Back on the Wagon

Well, I recently moved to Iowa after finishing the degree. This place has so far been great for motivating me to be crafty and re-pledge to Wardrobe Refashioning. Now I just need to unpack my sewing machines and supplies and get my room set up! See ya around!

Plaid & Cantaloupe Accent

This was another generous donation men's shirt from Pudding Cup. He was not so thrilled with the slightly rumpled look of the fine seersucker material. I loved the orange and had a thrifted light yellow shirt to chop up as accents for the dress. Unfortunately, the yellow thing was too small for me to do the sleeves and the waist piece. So cut up a cantaloupe colored twinset that I thrifted a long time ago... it was on it's way out stretching and rolling on the edges anyway (sorry, I forgot to take a picture of that but it was just a typical tank & cardi).

Anyway, it fit my younger niece perfectly and even has a little orange headband to go with it. Again I made the little bow on the waistband removeable. Much fun!

stripes and puff sleeves

Over the last 2 weeks or so I have been busy working on this little number. Pudding Cup is over stripes so he gave me this shirt. I wasn't at all sure that it would be 'doable' since it wasn't pink or cutesey. I was all set to make the dress sleeves with the same stripe when I remembered that I had some green dress fabric left over from the funky pieces I had purchased for my sister's messenger bag. I was going to use it to make green applique leaves or something.... well, it turned out to he exactly the green I needed for the dress using this striped shirt!

I made the little bow removeable in case she didn't like it. Luckily, mMy niece was really happy with it and her mom even wanted it for herself. :-)

P. Cardin Trench Refashioned to Messenger Bag

I wanted to make a messenger bag for my sister's birthday present. I used the tutorial on mmmcrafts. It called for some heavy weight fabric and I wanted it to be water proof too. So I hit my local goodwill and found this Pierre Cardin men's trench coat for $8. It had a few oily looking stains and the liner was absolutely gross around the bottom.

I was able to cut out enough to make the pieces needed for the pattern. And realized the belt would make a great shoulder strap.

I also bought three funky solid color tops to cut up for the appliqué, but that didn't turn out to be such a good idea. So I made some strips from one of them and used some of my stash to make the liner. The inside pocket was a breeze, but the outer one gave me a little trouble and helped me realize that there really is a science to turning out crisp pointed corners. Anyway, I made it two weeks ago, but had to wait to post it until she opened it. She just called and said she loves it! Yay! She also mentioned that I need to get some tag thingys that say made by me. We'll have to design it but I'm wondering if folks order these from somewhere. Does anyone know?