thornberry

Remember this pair of pants?

Embroidered by me, worn by me quite a few times about ten years ago.  Not at all in style or my style anymore, but I couldn’t bear to get rid of them.  So finally - they’re a skirt!

I cut both legs off, cut them in half vertically, squared them up, then sewed them together to form a skirt with an elasticised casing waist.

So much better on Clare than on me!  And the left over “shorts” have now become running shorts for my husband (since they’re not worn for very long and he’s not too embarassed to wear bright turquoise shorts in public - what a tolerant man)!

Freya recently bought this dress, but didn’t completely like it on her (this isn’t her in the photo, by the way - the photo is courtesy of the retailer she bought it from).

She felt a little too much like the second wife from “Big Love” in it.  So I took it home and took out the sleeves.  What do you think?

After unpicking the sleeves, I used bias binding to face the armhole, which I then turned to the inside and hand-stitched to the lining.  A professional result, I think!

Our theory is that if she doesn’t like it as a sleeveless dress, I can turn it into a skirt.  If that doesn’t work out, it may become a bag.

I don’t have anything new to show you.  I have started the embroidery on the baby dress, but it will take me ages.  I think that I might have to break my vow already and start a few other projects to do at the same time.  Maybe there isn’t a valid reason to finish one project before starting another - different projects meet different creative needs, so maybe it’s good to have a few different things on the go at once!  Well, that will be my justification anyway.

I embroidered and constructed these pants for myself some time ago, following an idea in Inspirations magazine.  The original outfit was pants and a top for a little girl.  They did get quite a bit of wear, but aren’t really my style now.  They look a bit too much like pyjamas (possibly because I did use a pyjama pattern to make them).  Gee, it would have been a good idea to have ironed them before taking the photo . . .

They’ve been in the op-shop bag for a while, but somehow I just couldn’t bear to get rid of them - probably thinking of the time spent doing embroidery!  Now I think that I will refashion them into something else.

Possibly a couple of simple tote bags?  One from each leg?  Using the rest of the fabric for lining and handles?

This bag is a very belated birthday present for my friend Sue.  It is made from a set of three coordinating tea towels - the check was used as the outer, the cream waffle as the lining, and the pink embroidered tea towel became an applique, inside pocket and quilted straps.

I didn’t use a pattern, just folded each tea towel in half, sewed side and bottom seams, and boxed the corners.  Each strap is the length of the tea towel, and I guesstimated what would be a good width.  I quite like the appliqued embroidery as well. 

The interior pocket is divided into three (pen pocket, phone pocket, and miscellaneous pocket) and is quite sturdy.  The straps have a layer of pellon inside.  It was pretty quick to make, once I had done the mental work of figuring out to do and had a window of opportunity arise!

I started this bag before I had Stella - it is finally complete!  And you thought that I wouldn’t be subjecting you to any more of the curtain fabric, didn’t you!  Rest assured, this really is the last of it!

After I’d finished it, I realised that I have made a mistake - I have put in two “female” magnetic snaps, rather than a male and female - well duh!  So what do I do now?  Just leave it (they are still magnetised and sort of stick together a little bit) or unpick the lining seam, remove one of the snaps and put in the correct one, then sew it all back up again?  I think that it is likely to drive me nuts if I don’t fix it, but am quite annoyed with myself because it has taken me forever just to complete it!  I am keeping this bag for myself, so can possibly live with it for a little while . . .

Update: I fixed that magnetic snap the next day - and it only took about five minutes. 

These cushion covers are probably the last items from Freya’s barkcloth curtain fabric.  Okay, they’d photograph much better with inserts - but I didn’t have any!

So the curtains have become a bag, a skirt, a headband, tissue cosies, and three cushion covers.  Not a bad transformation!

Mum found this lovely pillowcase for $1 - so it too is transformed into a nightie!  I suppose that it could be a dress, but it is made of flannelette.

The ric-rac, bias binding, elastic and thread cost more than the fabric - that’s typical when sewing though; the notions are almost always the most expensive part!  The bottom frill is made from fabric cut off the top to shorten the pillowcase a little (Miss Clare is a short girl, like her mother) with the hem bound in bias binding.  I also bound the neckline and armholes in bias, and used it for the shoulder ties.

And obviously, no baby yet!

It’s a good thing that there was plenty of curtain fabric!  I’ve just finished a skirt for Freya, which will match her bag nicely!  Here is a photo of the front laid out flat:

And hanging up:

I was quite proud of myself making this one because I tried encountered a few challenges and tried out some new techniques.  I am generally very wedded to the pattern - I rarely deviate from the instructions, although I probably should try different ways of doing things.  This time I have!  No consultation with the pattern instructions at all, and I even changed the pattern pieces.

My first challenge was with the fabric - there were a couple of worn spots and small holes, so I needed to be fairly careful with pattern placement.  The side and bottom hems and curtain tape all had to be unpicked to give more fabric to work with, and the pattern is directional.  Although I haven’t been able to do a perfect match at the centre front seam (the poor flower gets a little cut in half) I did the best I could, and overall the placement of the flowers is okay.  It also worked out okay on the back.

The pattern I used was a straight-ish skirt with darts - rather than using it as it was, I slashed the pattern pieces up to the darts, folded out the darts and spread the rest of the pattern to give much more flare at the bottom and made it into a four-gore A-line.  I’d read a great article in Australian Stitches magazine about skirts and grainlines, so placed the pattern pieces with the grain running up the centre of each piece, which places all the seamlines slightly on the bias.  I think that this has given the completed skirt a much nicer drape.  There is a centre-back zip, and I have used petersham ribbon to face the waistband rather than the facing pieces included with the pattern. 

Now I just hope that it fits!  Although I did check the waist measurement, it looks a bit big to me - maybe the skirt will sit nicely on the lower waist / upper hips.  I suppose that I can alter it though if I need to.

I sewed my finger for the first time ever while inserting the zip - so it’s a good thing that Freya is a “blood” relative!  I managed not to bleed on the fabric.

There is a little bit of the fabric left, which may become incorporated into Sherbet bags for Freya and for me!

I did a little refashioning on Sunday morning - Miss Clare’s floral top was once a size 1 romper from the local op-shop.  I cut off the bottom and hemmed it with some pre-gathered lace.  I also made the skirt - it’s a beautiful soft fine baby cord, with elasticised back waist and pleats around the bottom (the pattern is McCalls M5169).  There were another couple of variations in the pattern, and I think that I will definitely give them a go some time!  The styling is entirely by Miss Clare . . .

I’ve really got on a roll with the pillowcase dress / pillowcase nighties - how about this one?  The pillowcase concerned was also from the op-shop.  I use a combination of the above two tutorials - I prefer that the neck casing is elasticised, rather than a drawstring for both the neck and ties (a safety issue, I suppose - I’m not terribly keen on drawstrings the whole way around the neck).  Reading the two tutorials in combination gives a nice mix of instructions and measurements though.

I think that this one would be a lovely summer dress rather than a nightie.  I used pink bias tape for the bindings and straps, and pre-gathered eyelet lace around the bottom.  Miss Clare loves it!  That makes three pillowcase dresses now - and I suspect that there may be more in the works.  Looks like every small girl that I know will be wearing these in summer!

Maybe I’ll think about joining Wardrobe Refashion!