Leg Warmers!

Happy snow day from Austin! ...If you're not from these parts, that means there was a minuscule amount of snow and ice overnight, and the entire city therefore shut down today because of the novelty and our collective lack of coping skills. Yay! What a perfect day for refashioning, and for winter accessories!

Remember the Cosby sweater from the Felted Footsies post a couple of weeks ago? Well, the arms were saved from that slipper project, and today became leg warmers with a simple hem. I was feeling inspired by the Boot Cuffs that were a happy accident last week, as well as the "snow" today.

I have what I hope will be super exciting refashion in the works- hopefully I'll finish and post before the weekend's up!

Wool Sweater to Vest (+ Boot Cuffs!)

Why, you ask, would I choose to do this to a pretty great sweater? Well...

Elbow patches were put on a couple of years ago, for self-explanatory reasons; similar, but not the same as a more recent Elbow Patch Fix. This is one of my OG refashions, although I guess really it's more of a mend then a refashion... It took me about a hundred hours to do by hand, but the hole got covered, and I thought it turned out nicely. I was very proud. Then, my husband tried it on. Turns out, the patches were not quite in the right spot for his elbows. Dang. He was a good sport and wore it anyway, but lo and be-holed, a new sucker ripped right through where his elbow actually hit. When I then managed to shrink it via laundry, he couldn't really wear it anymore, and it no longer seemed worth re-patching. Dang. Poor sweater, right?

By simply cutting off the shrunken, non-hole-covering-patched arms, hemming with a zig-zag stitch around the openings, a perfectly wearable vest is born! It's his, but I wonder which of us will wear it more?

Added bonus: the salvaged cuffs from the sleeves were perfect for a pair of boot cuffs! For a super fun and femme embellishment detail, I tacked on a little flower appliqué leftover from a Lace Trim Shorts project I did a while back. I heart them.

Crochet T-Shirt Mash Up

This week's post is a little bit late! However, as those standards are my own, I'm guessing you will either not notice, or not care even if you did notice... So here we go:

I worked away all week long on this refashion, based around some inspirational images that I've been collecting via Pinterest. It turned out to be one of the most tricky refashions I have yet attempted.

The foundation of this project is a white crochet pullover, purchased about 15 years ago from H&M in London. It somehow made it through the innumerable moves, closet purges, size fluctuations, and style shifts of my 20s, stayed with my sister for repair a minute, then sat in a box for the first half of my 30s, and here we are. I sometimes mourn the refashion gems I've given away in the past, not knowing I'd want to Frankenstein them someday. Sigh...

At first I thought I'd use the actual top half as the top half, but once I spliced it (using my lovely new rotary cutter and mat- thanks babe!) and started playing with it, I decided to flip it on its head. The bottom hem detail became a boat neck with just a few shoulder stitches about 2" from the ends, and arm holes were created by simply opening up the side seams.

Next, I chose this lovely (sarcastic) grey t-shirt to serve as the bottom half. Considering the pit stains, a couple of holes, and the twisted, uneven nature of this worn-out softie, in conjunction with my questionable construction technique ideas, I decided to spin this one around too.

My methods for this were totally haphazard. A lot of trying on and taking off~ a dress form is high on my wish list! Eventually, 3 darts in the back of the T were made for fit, but strategically placed because of the holes. Wanting these 2 pieces to fit together, be strong, and lay flat seemed like a hefty challenge for me and my sewing machine. So, I secured them together with iron-on adhesive hem tape instead. Though I lacked confidence that it would, this holds and lays really well. But, being that the crochet weave is so open, it felt a little sticky from the inside, so I interfaced from within to cover and reinforce. Maybe this was overkill...

Since I hacked the side seams to create sleeve openings, the finishing dilemma was what to do about the raw edges. I'm down with a raw look, but pull this thread as you walk away, and the whole thing could easily come undone. Taking some embroidery thread, I bound edges by hand.

I'm not 100% happy with the outcome of that part, but I think it will do its job and not leave me unravelled, lying on the floor! (Yes, I'm trying to make Weezer, Sweater Song references.)

I'm not always into the high/low trend, but I like it for this piece. And I did leave the bottom hem of the T raw. Overall, I'm happy with the outcome of this mashed up refashion. I just threw it on with some leggings to get some pics up right away, but I think it has potential to be styled and worn a lot of different ways. (I'll update with a cuter outfit at some point!)

I'd love to know if anyone has ideas of how else this might have been done- especially in regards to those dang sleeves!

Funny Fuzzy Felty Footsies

Martha, Martha, Martha. She's knows how to do it all... Or a lot, and the thousands of crafty peeps that work for her know how to do the rest. Regardless, the template for this slipper craft is from Martha Stewart, but I came across the idea first on a post from A Handmade Life, who upcycles felted wool sweaters to make a couple different kinds of slippers. Love!

This slipper version is super simple to make, and the charmingly home-spun look of the finished product makes me smile. The biggest challenge of this project was getting the template the right size and onto one sheet of paper. Did not work on my little home hp, but my hubs was able to do in a jiff on his copier at work on legal sized paper. The first pair I dallied on over the course of a few days, but when I sat down to do the second in a more focused manner, it took me 2-ish hours to complete. Not bad.

I snagged this awesome pair of thrifted leather pants with intention of multiple refashion uses, and the suede side works perfectly for non-skid soles. (Doesn't this outfit look very Theo Huxtable!?!)

The Martha version is the same material all over (which would be great because it could be thrown in the washer), but I thought this option would be more sturdy and less slippy on hard floors.

I had a great time making these and think they made great gifts. Hopefully, the gentlemen I gifted them to thought so too! I didn't snap a pic of my b-n-law, but d.o.d. looks so cute in his! Love you dad!!!

Dear Old Dad