Refashioned Tank from Men's Button Down

My b-n-law gifted me a stack of clothing after a closet clean out. Is there anything better for a refashionier? It was a little while ago, but I am so pleased to get around to one of his pieces! After gathering plenty of "pinteresting" ideas for men's button downs, I am happy to give one a try...

For the direction I wanted to go with this, I knew this old blue, ribbed, Anthro tank with lace trim would be the perfect partner in crime.

I tried it on first, drawing in chalk approximately where I wanted the pieces to fit together, and made sure to cut below that line.

Then piece two got the axe.  I cut off the arms/chest/collar all in one piece, thinking I may use that portion for another refashion someday.

It took the power of my whole brain to figure this puzzle out: right sides together, top portion upside down, so when sewn and flipped up, full article will be correct. (Yikes.) 

Starting with the underarms in place, then front center and back center, I stretched the tank to match the button down, like you would with elastic*, creating a bit of gather.

A zig-zag stitch seemed right to use to sew these two together, so there would be a little give, and then I trimmed off the excess.

*In hindsight, I would not do this exactly the same. The knit fabric pulled too much in the back especially, and had a funny, puffy effect. I suggest not to stretch the tank portion, but pin the dress shirt to it in the same manner. But, rather than taking the stitches out and starting again, I created a few little darts to get the back to lay more flat, which helped, and was quicker solution.

All in all, I think this is a completely wearable summer top. Luckily for me, I have more dress shirts to play with, so I'll have ample opportunity to put to use the lesson learned here.

...and in the meantime, I'll stop and smell the roses. 

Eyelet Trimmed Sweater

As my farewell to cool weather, and a long, strange winter for us here in ATX, I'm posting my last sweater for what I fear will be all too many moons...

This over-sized grey (and tiny, white striped) sweater came from a place where I often find myself browsing: the clearance rack in the men's department at Target. All it needed was a couple of tweaks.

Changing the neckline makes all the difference in the world, don't you think? Adding this eyelet trim gave a slouchy sweater a sweet, feminine detail that I love.

I needed this super simple refashion, as I've been working on another for weeks and weeks, slowly but surely. I'll give you a clue: sequins. Check out my SequInspiration Pinterest board for more hints. Hopefully it'll be ready to share really soon!

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.

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

Elbow Patch Fix

For my hubby's birthday this week, I decided to fix up a favorite pullover of his that has been in the "needs repair" pile for at least a year. It turned out to be a pretty fun gift because he'd totally forgotten about it!

I have not taken on a lot of menswear. Honestly, I'm usually not sure what to do with it. That is, when keeping it menswear; I can refashion it to me-wear, no problem!

Elbow patches are pretty trendy right now, although this is a classic fix to a genuine problem. I guess that makes it a win win! But don't tell my husband- he would never wear anything knowing it's on trend! ;)

Here's how I went about this: I first patched the holes from the inside of the affected sleeve with a small piece of fusible interfacing, just to make sure it didn't continue to wear or anything. Then, I cut out two ovals from an old pair of cords and ironed on with fusible web.

Booty Rip!

I used some fray check around the edges of the patches, but still wanted to stitch them on, which I did by hand. Obviously. I don't mind that it looks hand sewn, I think it's kind of charming or something. But, truth be told, I've tried to do it with the machine, and can't seem to get it right. The fabric always crinkles and pulls on me... need more practice I guess- or some tips!

Regardless, he seems totally into it, and for a guy who doesn't like a big fuss over his birthday, I think it was a gift success on a couple of levels. As was this cake! Yumbo!

This Black Forest Style Berry Gateaux, from What Katie Ate is probably the most high maintenance cake recipe I've ever attempted! It is slightly altered from her recipe, because of a few things I couldn't find and didn't want to run all over town to get. Overall it turned out pretty well- and much better than I thought it would a couple hours into making it! It kind of looks like a disaster though, a delicious one, but a disaster. So did my little kitchen!

 I think I used every dish and utensil I own!