Walking the Wild Side like Oonaballoona !

So like many, many others I have become an avid reader and drawler of the wonderfully creative and dazzling Oonaballoona. Reading her blog inspires me to be creative and step out of my comfort zone of classically boring black, navy and white safe zone, even if it is just for a few times.
So off shopping for fabric I went with Oona in my mind and come home with the goods I did....

Okay so I still wore my grey and white with it.....

What was suppose to be a shirt dress until I saw I made the hem a wee bit shorter than my modesty would allow, turned into wonderfully cool floating kimono to wear in Summer. I am going on a houseboat holiday in January next year and I can just see myself sipping cocktails on the top deck as I lounge in my new bright and fabulous kimono.

 

 

So I made this from my own drafted pattern from an op shop bought dress and apart from the too short a hem issue, it fits great. I highly recommend trying to make your own patterns some time.

Its really quite easy, just lay your piece of clothing down, fetch some tracing paper, pattern drafting paper, freezer paper, or baking paper whatever you can find that you can see through, lay your clothing flat with the paper over the top and pin in place. Use a tracing wheel to go over your paper where all the seams are. The tracing wheel should leave holes in your paper showing you exactly where to cut out your pattern pieces. Keep moving your piece of clothing so that you can get all the parts of it laying completely flat before you trace.

 

Have a great day

Sonya

XX

 

Bye Bye Grandpa

My latest thrift shop buy made me so happy. I forked out $3.00 at the local thrift store for what I thought was a mens shirt. However at a closer look I realised there was a matching pair of pants underneathe the shirt, OMG this was a pair of grandpa pyjamas.....
But I love the fabric, it's lightweight cotton and not that flannelette stuff or brushed cotton you see in Jammie's. It actually looks like a cotton denim with a great paisley print. you wouldn't believe how happy I was to get not only the shirt but the matching pants... OOOH the possibilities.

My first thought was to make an elastic off the shoulder blouse which are all the rage again, but with further thought I realised I just couldn't get myself to cut that collar off and I really don't know if I could bare the feeling of elastic holding my top up. I remember having one of those blouses back in the early 1990s when I was about 14 and it drove me crazy!

The next thing on my bucket list of refashions was an open shoulder top, loose fitting, slightly longer at the back, and just reaching the waistband at the front. I absolutely love crop tops but being a mummy and heading towards the big 4 0, I like them to cover my flesh and just hit that waistband.

So here we go, here is my BEFORE shot.

and my AFTER shot:

 

And here was my inspiration although I wanted it cropped at the front.

 

 

 

 

 

Cute isn't she! No Grandpa's gonna wear this gal!

 

Now would you like a tutorial?

 

 

First thing I did was cut those shoulder holes out. I started the cut about 2 3/4" from where the collar meets the shoulder, and made the hole about 13" long. I actually used another top as a guide but if you use these measurements and look at pictures you could easily cut them without a top as a guide.

 

Then it was time to cut some off the sleeves I wanted mine to rest just below the elbow. I then made little cuffs out of the left over scraps from the sleeves.

 

 



 

I placed the cuffs  right side together with the sleeves right side and carefully made gathers in the sleeve so it would fit the cuff.

 

 

Then it was just time to take in the sides a little and hem up the bottom to my desired length!

 

 

As soon as summer hits I'll come back and add some more shots of me modelling it for you.

Cheers for now and happy sewing

Hugs Sonya

xx

Refashioned dress made into a cute matching top and bottom set

Hi I'm Sonya, and I hope you enjoy my brand new blog all about thrift shopping and refashioning and sewing your own clothes.
I am one of those people who doesn't really enjoying reading long long blog posts and just really skip to the photos first to see if I like what the blogger is doing. If I do, then I'll go back and read any info that I'm looking for. If that's you too then feel right at home.  Plenty of pics here.

So with that said, I'm going to jump right in and show you the project I completed today.
I looked through my closet this morning and found this dress that I never wear, as it's a halter top dress and I can't stand those around my neck. By the way I found it at the thrift store 2 summers ago for only $5.00!
FROM THIS:

 

 

TO THIS:
Here it is.., a cute top and bottom matching set.... Which only took about 1/2 day to cut and sew..

And here was my inspiration:

 

Tutorial

Here we go:

 

First thing was to cut that small halter bodice off. Didn't need that strangling device anymore :)

I decided to make the box shape top first. To do this I used a top I already purchased ( yes for the tidy little sum of $1.00) that fits me well. Its a great super easy design as its basically a square with the sleeves incorporated.

I layed it out flat on my fabric and cut a front piece and a back piece. Making sure I adjusted where the neckline came to on each piece.(TIP : The front is normally lower than the back) Remebering to leave about a 1cm seam all around and a little extra at my sleeves as they have a folded back section, which I will show you soon.

 

 

 

Now I have my 2 pieces, front and back Yay... easy right!

 



 

 Now it was time to make those cute folded over cuffs on my sleeves and sewing over the hem on my neckline before sewing the two pieces together.

 

 

Don't forget to cut out your little 'V's in the seam allowance of the neckline so it curves nicely when you hem it over.



 

 

 

Don't forget to press, press, press those hems! Now its time to just sew this baby up at the side and shoulder seams, add some cool pockets if you want and she should come out looking something hopefully like a top...

 

 

I then made the cute shorts to match. Again I used a pair of my own shorts that fitted well, cut around, making sure I especially got the crouch area cut out right. (TIP: the back crouch seam is always bigger then the front to allow for your booty)

 

 

 

I added extra seam at the bottom of legs, so I could fold up a cuff on each leg.

I also reused the waist band of the dress as it fitted perfectly around my waist and sewed this onto the shorts stretching the elastic as I went.

 

 

 

AND HERE WE ARE

 

 

and my daughter modelling the finished product for me, but oh how embarrassing.... she didn't want to show her face.

 

 

 

well I hope you have enjoyed my first post of refashioning old clothing and I hope you have fun sewing your own. Please drop by again and follow my sewing adventure, turning old into new.

 

Hugs Sonya