Monday, November 14, 2011

some old clothes refashioned

If you like sewing and haven't discovered Tea Rose Home and Keeping It Simple yet, do yourself a favor and click on those little links there and spend some time exploring. These ladies are so creative and constantly inspire me to go "shopping" in my own closet to see if there is anything I can refashion. We all have those clothes we never wear but can't seem to get rid of, and on these blogs you will see so many ideas of things you can do to make them cute again! With budgets being tight, it's a great way to have something "new" without spending any money!

This turtleneck and skirt were 2 of those things for me. I've had them both for years and this was the first time the skirt had been taken out of the closet probably since I moved in over 4 years ago. The turtleneck wasn't much different. I wanted to turn them both into something I would want to wear again so they wouldn't just be taking up space in the closet.
(You will be relieved to know I never actually wore this outfit. Yikes. I just put it on for the before picture.)

I wanted to turn the turtleneck into a cardigan because they are pretty much my favorite thing right now. To do that all I did was mark the center of the front of the shirt with pins

and then cut it open!
It's made of ribbed fabric so I was able to make a straight cut just by following the lines of the ribbing. The best part is that the fabric doesn't fray at all so I didn't even have to hem anything. Instant cardigan!

I also cut the turtleneck part off and used the fabric to make a cute flower (4 circles folded in half and then in half again with a button in the middle)

For the skirt I pretty much just wanted to make it shorter. I'm just not a floor-length skirt kind of girl. I used another skirt that is the perfect length to measure where I wanted to cut

and then just hemmed the bottom.
It's a big improvement just like that, but I may still use the fabric I cut off the bottom to add something to the skirt. Maybe flowers along the diagonal seam? What do you think?
I used a tutorial on Sweet Verbena to add a cowl neck to that white shirt. I think it turned out cute, but hers is much better. I was just trying to use fabric I already had and I didn't have enough to make it very big.

A "new" outfit for $0!

Sometimes when I'm about to cut something I get a little bit nervous that it won't turn out how I imagine it and the original thing will be ruined, but then I just think I never wore it anyway so if it is ruined it doesn't matter and I might end up with something really cute! What do you have in your closet that could be refashioned?

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6 comments:

Heather said...

Great refashion...I like it all!

Liz Smith said...

that is so cool!!!!

Unknown said...

Wow girl!!! So many great tips here:) This post is so informative and I think my subscribers would really enjoy reading this. I would love for you to come share it at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways on Frugally Sustainable today. And, I really hope that you will put Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways on your list of carnivals to visit and link to each Wednesday! Here’s the link: http://frugallysustainable.blogspot.com/2011/11/frugal-days-sustainable-ways-1.html

Warmly,
Andrea @ Frugally Sustainable
http://www.frugallysustainable.com

Unknown said...

You made it:) Thank you so very much for linking up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways:) I'm so happy to "meet" you! I am totally loving your blog and your posts! I really hope you make Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways a part of your Wednesdays! And keep the great posts comin'
Very sincerely,
Andrea @ Frugally Sustainable

G Inspires said...

Very cute!

Casey said...

You did a great job. I'm always looking in my closet too!
Casey