remaking clothes Tag

31 May Refashioned Linen Dress – A Foot to Spare

Posted at 06:27h in Refashioning Clothes by goodbyevalentino 81 Comments

Over the last few months I've lost 10 pounds. That means several clothes from the past fit once more, and there's nothing like an easy refashion to make my day :) It's true, I wore my dresses this long around the turn of the century - LOL. Above is a dress from Talbots made from Irish Linen. I've hung onto it all these years hoping to wear it again one day. While longer dresses look great on many women, I feel dwarfed by the longer length of a slim silhouette. The lines in the dress are spot so I kept the refashion simple. After removing approximately...

11 Jul Sara Campbell dress – one ruffle too many

Posted at 08:07h in Refashioning Clothes, Ruffles by goodbyevalentino 85 Comments

"Why don't you wear something you made?" Was Hub's comment a compliment or criticism? "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" "It's just so drab." "We're going to a funeral visitation...

05 Apr The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

Posted at 20:53h in Refashioning Clothes by goodbyevalentino 95 Comments

Perhaps you've read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up subtitled the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing by Marie Kondo. Recently I reached my breaking point of being disorganized.The only area in my home remotely organized was my sewing room. I got a taste of the book on my flight to Scottsdale inspiring me to keep my suitcase organized while there, but I read the book in its entirety on the flight home and have been tidying up for the last four days...

24 Nov Wearing the Pants

Posted at 09:32h in Refashioning Clothes by goodbyevalentino 112 Comments

Hubby was about to give his pants away. He had absolutely no idea that plaid pants are quite in vogue. Even his …. Have you ever taken apart a pair of men’s pants? Releasing a single seam gets you nowhere. It was maddening to discover interfacing, horsehair (or a similar product) AND muslin layered between the fashion fabric and the lining to prevent stretching. The front pockets are as deep as the Pacific Ocean and neatly sewn into the fly, waistband and side seam. At times I found taking the pants apart was more difficult that putting them back together. The good...

31 Aug Trunk Show and Giveaway!

Posted at 01:00h in Fashion Sewing by goodbyevalentino 340 Comments

Two years ago I turned over a new leaf, but you might say I've branched out this past year :) This year I'm celebrating 45 Me-Made garments on my 2nd blogiversary! The ruffles continued...

03 Jul Long Weight Over!

Posted at 08:52h in Refashioning Clothes by goodbyevalentino 130 Comments

I was so inspired by Shams’ (Communing with Fabric) post regarding her impressive weight loss that I decided to tackle the pesky 13 extra pounds I’ve been lugging around for the last ten years. I hopped on board the same program as Shams (Eat to Live) since I already owned the book and believed the program promoted a healthy lifestyle. Three weeks later I’ve made enough progress (about 7 pounds) to fit into several of my old, too-tight clothes! They have been hanging in my closet for years just waiting to see the light of day again and at last it’s...

04 Jun It’s June Too Soon!

Posted at 21:52h in sewing bloggers, sewing blogs, sewing clothes, Uncategorized by goodbyevalentino 55 Comments

Dear Readers, The conclusion of Me-Made-May '13 was over four days ago, however, my Me-Made-May '13 page fizzled out shortly after mid-month ...

20 Dec Razook’s Remake

Posted at 19:29h in Refashioning Clothes by goodbyevalentino 134 Comments

“Smile Granny!” joked my husband. This is all I need to look twenty years older – a matronly dress and no makeup. Ta-da! My mother recently gave me her latest thrift store find, suggesting I might want to do a little something with it. Hmmm….I was immediately attracted to the beautiful Pantone color of 2013 silk, and then noticed the Razook’s label inside (once an exclusive women’s apparel store). It was a go. Deciding what to do with the dress was harder than the remake. I eventually settled on the following: Cut off the sleeves. Measured and sewed side seams. The dress had pockets which were discarded. ...

25 Nov Formal Desperation

Posted at 15:00h in Refashioning Clothes by goodbyevalentino 0 Comments

There’s a first time for everything, and I let a formal event on November 23rd sneak up on me, in that I had nothing to wear. I planned on wearing my daughter’s dress but waited until Thanksgiving night to try it on and it wasn’t a pretty picture. Frantically rummaging through every closet in the house, I stumbled upon this sequined dress I bought in 1994. I’ve been hoping to shrink back into it, but desperate times call for desperate measures and out came the scissors and a roll of Steam-a-Seam. I cut nine inches off of the dress and placed Steam-a-Seam...

07 Aug Honor Thy Mother-in-Law

Posted at 21:53h in Refashioning Clothes by goodbyevalentino 0 Comments

For some reason my 89-year-old mother-in-law and I both own the same shirt.She loves her shirt and wears it throughout the summer. I certainly don’t want my mother-in-law to think I am copying her, so I decided to refashion my shirt. Though the cotton is extremely lightweight, I enjoy sleeveless tops during the hot sticky summer days and immediately cut off the sleeves. In retrospect short sleeves would have worked just as well, and the project would have been much easier. My last project, the orange peplum blouse, is one of my best fitting garments and inspired me to simulate a peplum. By...