Refashion Friday: The Leather Sheath

I'm thinking I should change the name of my daily blog seeing as how I seem to have a hard time getting it posted on time.  I suppose better late than never, right?  So, here's what we have been up to:

The Leather Sheath

So, one of Ellee's favorite things to do is shoot a bow and arrow.  Not a heavy duty real one, mind you.  I'm not that brave.  But a junior size, and she is really into it.  For Christmas, we got her a nice bow and arrows to begin to practice.  After watching the Hunger Games (don't judge), she decided she needed a sheath that she could carry her arrows around in for quick draw.  So, mom went to work on making that a refashion.  And didn't we find the perfect .49 cent item just to do the trick!

It's genuine leather!  So, I thought the sleeve would be perfect to make the pouch.  It was already lined and shaped in a way that a sheath would be. Perfect and Easy!

I first cut off the sleeve and the lining.  Then I cut off the bottom of the jacket with enough fabric to fold over and make a finish strap for the sheath.

I sewed a seam down the whole length of the bottom, creating a finished edge.  I then sewed the lining of the sleeve back together.  Then I positioned the straps where they would need to be for her to carry them across her back and sewed them into place.  After this was done, I turned under the bottom of the sheath (or top of the sleeve) and sewed a small seam close to the edge.

Then it was done!  Tada!

Update:  The strap ended up being too long because she couldn't just reach back and grab her arrows, so I took out the seams on the strap and cut several inches off, but still making it long enough to go over her head and sewed it back in place (not an easy task.  I ended up cutting the bottom seam off and then reattaching the strap, then sewing it back up.  Moral:  make sure the strap is the right size first) and she is happy as a clam!

Refashion Friday: Little Black Dress

Little Black Dress

This week, one of my bests got a refashion makeover, Kathy.  I enjoy refashioning for others (if you haven't noticed), mainly because I get to sit and talk while I sew.  This girl is one of the best encouragers that I know!  I just love this girl!  So, she came to me with this large black dress that she used for a Valentine's skit, but wanted to wear this dress for church.  It really was a pretty fabric, but way too big and long sleeves.  I knew I could fix her right up!

First, we started with flipping the dress inside out and pinning it to fit her body.  I sewed up the sides, trimmed them with the serger, and that part of the dress was done.  That easy!  Next was the sleeves...

Once again, I flipped the dress inside out and laid it flat.  I chose the length I wanted the sleeves to be, keeping in mind I would be adding a hem.  I cut straight across and then used the cut piece to measure the other side to cut off.  Once cut, I serged the edges and then created a hemmed sleeve with the regular sewing machine.  Voila!

 Isn't she cute?

 

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;)

Infinity Scarves: Can't Get Enough of Them!

I had a really hard tearing into this dress.  I know it's very long and maybe a little outdated, but i did like this as a dress.  But alas, my Refashion Friday is here.  So, time to get busy...

And this is an easy one, Folks...

really, just cut off the width that I wanted my scarf to be,

took the current hem out,

and rehemmed both sides of the scarf,

and that's it!  And so, Britnee took an array of photos and I'll share them with you.

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday!