Refashion Friday: A Perfect Fit

I had the pleasure of having a very dear friend from high school come visit me this week.  We had so much fun catching up for a few hours.  I told her she couldn't leave until I refashioned her and refashion her I did!


This is what we started with:

One large white tshirt

A lacy blue striped blouse

First, we turned the tshirt inside out and pinned the shirt on both sides till it was the fitted size we needed.  Then, I sewed the seams on either side.  Once the seams were sewn, I clipped off the excess fabric and served the ends together.  That was all there was to do.

Pinned tshirt

Sewing the side seams

Next, we decided the outfit would not be complete without an infinity scarf.  This blouse was the perfect completion to the outfit.  I cut the fabric into strips wide enough to make a blousy scarf (approx. 12 inches).  There was only enough fabric in the bodice to cut one piece, so I separated the sleeves and used them to extend the scarf.  I sewed the ends together, then hemmed the sides.  Voila!

I really can't tell what this is a picture of,
but I think I'm cutting the shirt into strips

And then we had a little fun:)

Little Bit Boho Zippity Zig Zag

Little Bit Boho...Zippity Zig Zag

As I cleaned through my mounds and mounds of refashion possibilities this week, I came across this cute, LITTLE dress that has all my favorite colors on it.  Sadly, it might possibly fit my left thigh, but not much beyond that.  I needed a way to show off this Boho Chic dress, keeping all those fancy ruffles, yet make it a fit for me too!

I've been planning on making these cute little undershirts with an extension for quite some time.  A lot of times of want to wear a cute shirt, but they are just not quite long enough for me to just wear legging with the amount of junk I have in my trunk (if you know what I mean).  So, I need something that can extend that shirt to cover everything necessary.  Today was the day!  You will see more of these extended undershirts, rest assured.  But here's to the first.

I started with the dress and found an off white shirt that fit a little strange in the chest anyway and matched the off white in the dress.

Cute Boho dress

Off White Shirt

I cut the sleeves off the white shirt and made a deeper V out of the neckline.  I hemmed these up with just a simple rolled hem.

I put a gray shirt underneath it so you
could see the top better.

Next, I took the dress apart at the seams.  The front ruffles I left in tack, just separating them from each other.  Ignore my multitasking going on in these pictures.  I was creating my trim healthy mama snacks as I cut apart fabric.  I hate to waste time:)

all pieces separated, then ruffles are sewn end to end

The back of the dress still in one piece.

 I used the back of the dress to cut long straight pieces to add to the top of the ruffle, because I was afraid the undershirt was going to be quite long enough to show off the ruffles as much as I wanted.  I ended up being correct and the finished product still isn't quite long enough for me, but I was adjust it some other time.  It worked for the day that I wore it.

The back cut into pieces to extend the ruffle plus add a little ruffle
on top of the ruffle.

 I gathered the extra pieces about 1/4 of the way down, then sewed them on to the top of the existing ruffle.  This created another top ruffle, but also gave a few inches to extend the ruffle once attached to the shirt.

putting a gathering stitch in the soon to be top ruffle

Sewed the gathered ruffle unto the existing ruffle

A ruffle ready to be attached to the shirt

Once the ruffle was attached, I took out the gathering stitch, sewed the ruffle together at the ends making a complete circle, then sewed that to the bottom of the shirt.  It turned out that the ruffle was now too long to fit exactly, so I resewed the circle to be the size of the shirt and resewed the ruffle back in place on the shirt.  

The particular fabric of the dress did not need a hem because the fabric doesn't unravel.  However, the ruffles were very uneven in length at different places, so I did my best to even all that up.  It wasn't perfect, but I don't think anyone but me would have noticed.

Finished seam that sewed shirt and ruffle together

The finished product

 There was enough fabric left over to make a cute hippie headband.  I felt like Rhoda on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.  My kids thought it looked dorky, but people, I know style;)

The 12 Days of Ellee The Eighth Day Fitted Cowgirl Pinstripes

The 12 Days of Ellee

On the Eighth Day of Ellee 

My mother made for me

Fitted Cowgirl Pinstripes,

A Flowery Printed Black Skirt,

More Ruffled Dresses,

A Red Dress with Short Sleeves,

A Sassy Little Mini Dress,

One Gaping Green Shirt,

A Fitted Chevron Dress,

and a Turquoise Dress fitted to me.

This was another fairly simple refashion.  The top was a large and Ellee is definitely not a large!

Not a Large

Safety pinning the sides to take off excess fabric.

The first thing we did was flip the shirt inside out.  I safety pinned on each side, where I needed to sew to remove the excess fabric.  Once pinned, I sewed along the line of safety pins, removing the pins as I sewed.  Once sewn, I cut off the excess fabric, leaving 1/2 inch trim from the stitch.

cutting off excess length from the bottom

Once the sides were sewn, I flipped it right side out.  Ellee also felt the shirt was a little long, so I trimmed off a few inches from the bottom.  I resewed a hem back in the bottom.

And, there you have it folks!  I asked her if she wanted a little length off the sleeve and she said no, so we left that as it was.  I think it turned out rather cute.

The 12 Days of Ellee: The Fourth Day The Sassy Little Mini Dress

The 12 Days of Ellee

On the Fourth Day of Ellee 

My mother made for me

A Sassy Little Mini Dress

One Gaping Green Dress

A Fitted Chevron Dress

and a Turquoise Dress fitted to me.

 We started out with a shirt that was too small.  Ellee is very tall and long waisted, so we have this problem often.  So, we added another shirt to the mix that she picked out a few weeks ago.

 I laid the mint shirt out as flat as possible, making sure to line everything up.  I then used a ruler to cut straight across right under the armpit line.  I cut across and set aside my top half for another day.

After cutting, I placed the mint piece under the shirt to see if it
would fit.  What luck!  It was a perfect fit!

 With the skirt in the position I was going to sew, I carefully pinned along the edge of the green shirt, trying not to pin the back and front of the skirt together.  Once pinned, I carefully flipped it over and pinned the back the same way.  I wanted to make sure my sides were even (the same length) so I used my measuring tape and measured on the side seams to make sure they were the same on both sides.

 Next, I carefully made sure the pins were not holding the opposite side, carefully slipped my machine between fabrics, and started to sew.  I lengthened the length of my stitches because knits have a tendency to stretch if you're not careful. I sewed on top of the existing stitch using thread that matched the top piece.  Of course, taking pins out as I go.

I trimmed the excess fabric underneath.  I didn't have to do any hems or serging, because both tops had finished edges and knit will not unravel.  Voila!

The Twelve Days of Ellee Third Day: Gaping Green Shirt

The 12 Days of Ellee

On the Third Day of Christmas

my mother made for me...

One Gaping Green Shirt

A Fitted Chevron Dress

and a Turquoise Dress fitted to me.

Poor, skinny, little Ellee!  Everything we find for her is too big!  She just loved this green shirt she found, but, once again, she could almost fit two of her in it.  So, it was time for momma to get to work!

 The first thing we did was flip the shirt inside out and pinned it evenly on both sides where we wanted to take it in.  We also pinned the sleeves, following along where the existing seam was.  This shirt was a little tricky because the shoulder seam was not a straight seam on the top of the shoulder, like usual.  It went at an angle in the back.  It caused me issues later, but I'll get to that.  At this point, I pinned anyway.

Once she removed the shirt, I turned my pins sideways, forming my seam line.  Then, I sewed straight seams on both sides, removing pins as I sewed.  Don't sew over the pins.  It never works out in your favor:)

This is where I turned the pins and sewed a straight seam.  Sort of

This is where I did a straight seam on the sleeve.

This is where my dilemma started.  If I stayed with the shoulder seam,
there would have been no ruffled sleeve left.

This is where my dilemma started.  If I stayed with the shoulder seam,
there would have been no ruffled sleeve left.

When I got to the sleeves, I noticed my dilemma.  The sleeve didn't lay flat and it I sewed across following the existing seam, there was be no more sleeve left to create the ruffle effect that Ellee liked.  Long story short, I just laid the sleeve flat where the edges came together and, instead of following the existing seam, I kept the same straight line, only taking out a few inches from the sleeve.

With that problem solved, I was able to finish up the shirt by clipping the excess fabric from the sleeves and the sides.  My fabric was knit, so it will not fray, so I didn't put any finishing stitches on the seams.  The ruffled sleeve also had been finished off with a serger and, since I met my seams when sewing, there was no need to serge the edges again.