Pyjama pants and a cardigan refashion

The cold nights of autumn have come upon us suddenly and the kids needed some new pyjama pants. I've got loads of printed flannelette so off I went:



Pirates for Alastair



Duckies for Evie and a girly print for Emma



Puppies for Evie (I cut them upside down to fit into an oddly-shaped fabric remnant. Still, they'll be right way up to her, when she looks down at them!)

Alastair's and Evie's were made from a basic pyjama pants pattern I copied out of a friend's magazine a couple of years ago. Oddly enough, the two of them are about the same size except for leg length (Alastair is 4 and Evie is 20 months)! They both fit in a size two and I just lengthened the leg a lot for Alastair. Both of them still need room for a cloth night nappy, but these are a loose-fitting style.

Emma's I just made by tracing around a pair of her old ones and adding leg length, which is all she ever outgrows. I only JUST squeezed her pair out of a metre of flannelette; she is TALL.

They all wanted to wear them right away, which is always a good sign.

I also took two items off the alteration pile (trackpants for Alastair that used to be Emma's, just tightened the waist elastic, and took the legs up a couple of inches with a long stitch length; easy to let back down as he grows), and accomplished a refashion for myself.

I bought this cardigan (Millers, size L) in an opshop for $5. The chunky knit was what I'd been looking for, and I liked the huge collar thingy and the batwing-style sleeves, but it was too big and bulky. You can't really see all the extra fabric on the sides in the photo. If it had been wool, I'd have shrunk it a bit, but it's acrylic.



I took it in at the sides on an angle, so that instead of fastening all the way down it fastens at the top and then flares out. I've seen cardigans like that in the shops this season and I really like them (but not enough to pay $40 or $50 for one). I took off the extra buttons/press-studs so it looks like it's meant to be like that, and not like it's just too small for me ;)



It still doesn't sit quite right when it's on; I'm considering sewing the little pockets shut to see if that helps. But I'll wear it, and I wouldn't have before. This is the first winter in a while that I'll be really wearing cardigans/jackets, because I don't wear Evie everywhere anymore (winter '06 and '07 I wore Alastair everywhere, winter '08 I was hugely pregnant which kept me warm, and winter '09 I wore Evie everywhere), so my wardrobe is sorely lacking in them.

Daggy dress --> swingin' 50s

OK, OK, long time no post!

I finally cleared myself a craft area and did a little refashioning project. I was after a 50s dress for a themed hen's night this weekend; I scoured the opshops and even the more expensive vintage stores and didn't really find anything. Then I saw this spotty dress calling me and snapped it up without trying it on (because I was sweaty from going for a run, and had Evie with me).

Weeeell, the 'before' pic isn't very promising:



But I noticed the skirt had a decent 'kick' to it down the bottom and thought I could make it into a swingin' 50s rock-and-roll style dress.

I chopped it in half at the weird elasticated waist, and then cut about 4 or 5 inches off the top of the bottom section, keeping the bottom hem intact. I kept the shoulder seams and the neck facings intact (because I hate sewing facings), cut the sleeves off, and cut the top part into a basic darted bodice shape.

First mistake: I cut the back on the front and the front on the back. That's why it has the slightly weird collar - otherwise it was choking me!

I had to add a zip, too, so I cut down one side seam of the top and part of a side seam of the skirt section. The zip was nearly the death of me, and I'll not be lifting my arm much tomorrow night, so no-one can see the mess I made of it!

Added some more darts on the skirt so that it matched up with the width of the bodice, and then joined them together and added the zip.

Finished result:



If only I had the waist of my dress form!

Refashioned skirt

You'll have to take my word that this looks better on me than on the dress form! It *was* a size 22 Innovare skirt that I found on the $1 rack at my local op shop. Made in Australia, and simply gorgeous soft fabric. I am not a size 22.

I took all the seams in the required amount (which taught me a good deal about how a facing is sewn on to a skirt - I had to unpick the facing all the way round first), then tried it on and realised the length was unflattering too. I chopped a few inches off and now it hits just below my knees, which left a few inches of the slit in the back, just perfect!

Now that I have finished uni, it's vaguely conceivable I might do some out-of-the-home work at some point soonish, and all the stuff I wore in previous jobs is too small now :( (In all honesty, even if I were skin and bone, it would still be. My hips have expanded too. Not to mention my boobs.)

On a separate trip to the same op-shop - and purely by chance, as we were sheltering from the rain after Evelyn went to the chiropractor - I found the motherlode of secondhand Tupperware. Thirteen Modular Mates for $41! (Retail value: $266 new.) Made in Australia, interesting, cos it's not anymore.

Now envy my budget-priced organised pantry. I already owned some black-lidded ones, and these ones had green lids, but I'm not complaining:

Plugging away at the to-do pile in the sewing room

Another too-short T-shirt of Emma's, another piece of the pink knit top:

This time I carelessly overlocked the two pieces together backwards, but because I am just *that lazy* I went with it, figuring the inside-out look could be a feature (actually, my other half owns a couple of T-shirts like that). I added some ribbon along the bottom that Emma chose at the local sewing shop ages ago.

I found this skirt on the bargain rack in the op-shop for one dollar. It's in perfect condition and I just loved the print/style. It was originally a size 12 mini-skirt, which makes a perfect decent-length skirt for a tall 6 year old. It comes to just above her knees. I just chopped the non-zippered side off and re-sewed it, although because it was layered and had interfacing it wasn't as simple as I first thought. Another problem resulted when I realised I hadn't measured carefully enough and it was now too small, so I unpicked and inserted a panel made from the bits I'd cut off. One day I'll learn to measure properly.

Purely for the sake of cuteness, here's Evelyn in one of the prefolds I dyed yesterday:

Tie-dying day and a refashion

A group of friends and I decided to get together for a tie-dying session today. I'd never done it before, but a couple of the women had, so they were our resident experts. This is a good way to get a few different colours without buying them all, and have some good company!

This is my stuff:



I got a bit of dye transfer on the orange shirt from packing it up too quickly while wet (had to catch a lift home with my dressmaker's dummy!), but they're all awesome, especially compared to the stained, boring clothes they were before. The big thing is a yard of bamboo fleece fabric :)

I think my faves are the purple and red. I'm definitely going to try this again!



This was a shirt of Emma's that was too short. I chopped up a pink stretchy top I was never going to wear (have plenty left of that for other similar projects), added a strip on the bottom, a bit at the neckline to co-ordinate, and stitched over the butterfly motif in matching magenta thread to pull it together. I tried a rolled hem on the bottom that didn't really work, though. Oh well, live and learn.

I have a new friend

I think she needs a name - any ideas?



I was browsing the shops on my way to a friend's place for a tie-dye session, when I came across her in an op-shop window for $30!! They go for well over $100 (also secondhand) on eBay. All the adjustments work, she does have a stand, but she's missing her 'feet'. I should be able to rig something up. Maybe I'll actually sew clothes for myself now.

I did get a few stares walking down the street with a baby on my front and a dressmaker's dummy under one arm. Thankfully another friend with a spare baby seat gave me a lift home. Pics of the tie-dye goodness later ...

And again ...

I, Georgie, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 / 4 / 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoted, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, me.

I have pics of Alastair's birthday presents (and maybe some of his party!) to post later.

What to do when you have a freakishly tall 6 year old? Buy them size 8 jeans with an adjustable waist - a great find in excellent condition at the op shop for $2. And when those size 8 jeans are STILL too short? Add cuffs!



Miss Six is quite chuffed with her 'new' jeans! Fabric came from the stash.

I'm taking the pledge!

I, Georgina, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 2 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftiness brings! Signed, me.

I'm aiming to do this for the children as well.

Starts November 1!