hello! I’ve made a new outfit by refashioning some other previously worn old things… from a skirt and old jeans, I’ve made a new/old tunic top and some new/old shorts. I realise I probably I should be using some of the new fabric already in my stash instead of “already used” fabric – truthfully I am not very sensible a lot of the time – however if I really like a fabric but not the garment so much then I do feel like it just makes sense to reuse the latter if I can. Actually, I have been making a number of things lately, and from my stash! but just haven’t got around to taking photos or blogging them yet. For some reason, I’m finding taking photos to be the biggest challenge now.
Anyway, previously I had this skirt, and some of Mum’s old jeans.
I really love this fabric, but it was ultimately a bit on the flimsy side to be a skirt really. I am, obviously, much happier with the new things. To be honest it’s just a casual and fairly unexciting outfit but it is the kind of very comfortable and practical outfit that suits my lifestyle very well for the time being.
For the new top, I partially used a pattern from the Japanese pattern book, Stylish Dress Book, but just for the yoke. I stitched up the pockets on the old skirt, cut out armholes and stitched it to the yoke. The armholes are bound with the same linen. The denim yoke is cut from old jeans, and lined with indigo-dyed linen. I added a pocket harvested from off of an old pair of jeans.
I made the denim shorts using a heavily modified Pietra shorts pattern by Closet Core patterns. My version is a lot more A-shaped than the original and there is absolutely no elastication at all.
My littlest grandson G enthusiastically rushed over to join me modelling here … he was so cute and funny! You just have to imagine his huge delighted smile here! My legs are a little wider and I tapered off all pieces toward the top substantially to make it close fitting about my waist, and inserted an invisible zip in the centre back seam.
I cut the legs to be a little wider at the bottom edge, and substantially tapered off all pieces toward the top to make it more close fitting about my waist. Closure is by an invisible zip inserted in the centre back seam. The facings and hem edges are bound with pretty gingham printed cotton, leftover fabric from a very recently finished dress.
I removed the pockets from the jeans, unpicked all the old topstitching thread, and re-stitched these to the shorts back. I had just enough burnt orange to finish the yoke and pocket on my new tunic top, and used a vibrant and sharp lemon yellow for the shorts. These, along with the jeans in the first place, were inherited from Mum.
Worn above with my white Booragoon top, blogged here, and below with a matching Sorrento bucket hat in the same MaaiDesign wide checked linen, blogged here.
Taking off all those long (long) lengths of bias cut channelling took quite a long time, made even more painful with the memory of how carefully I had stitched them on in the first place to perfectly line up the channels with the lines of checks, as well as switching up threads depending on whether I was stitching on a black row or a cream row, this additionally making it more difficult to see the stitches I was unpicking. I know, I wonder about my own sanity too, sometimes…
Anyway. Iteration Number Two was essentially the same dress sans the elasticated channels. I reused the same shoulder straps to be a halter neckline and allowed the otherwise unaltered dress to hang like so. I actually quite liked it like this and wore it with a little T-shirt underneath a few times.
please excuse the totally gratuitous Clara pic…
Actually, this top started out as a dress too, but surprisingly she wasn’t into it as a dress. I’d gone to great lengths to find a piece of matching cream-coloured fabric for the yoke for hers, and was very pleased to unearth an old cushion cover of a really nice cream coloured cotton damask from my stash. Normally, Cassie prefers, nay demands! cream- or ivory-coloured tops, so I was a little nonplussed when she suggested the yoke be dyed! Who is this person and what have you done with my daughter?! However I could appreciate that the all cream number as a dress was a little, um choirboy, thus the snap decision to lop off the bottom to make it a top. Fortunately she was satisfied!
I’ve made a softly floaty blouse 🙂 of course just as summer is on the way out… o no, wait, actually summer is over! However we’re still getting days of 40C. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I love the warmth! Only thing is that I’m getting tired of all my summer things thus the decision to make a new summer thing, ha. #seasonallyinappropriatesewingforthewin It’s light and pretty and easily breezy; and delightfully cool. I fully expect the weather to turn cold now.
