Shopping My Own Closet

Well hey there! It's been a while - 6 months, to be exact. I don't have any other excuse other than this: life. So... let's get on with it!

I have a full rack of thrift store finds, ready for refashioning at any given moment. In true Colette fashion, I had no idea what to do with any of them. So I turned to my own closet.

There, I found a pair of dress pants that I've had for a good 5 years. Of those 5, I have definitely not worn them for the last 2. Mainly because they've always been baggy, long and generally ridiculous looking. Naturally, I just hoarded them away instead of fixing them.

Enter: baggy, big, wide legged dress pants -

I've seen a few Pinterest pins and a few YouTube videos on how to fix pant legs of dress pants, so I had a general idea on how to do it. Although, I should mention that I did not pull up any said instructions, and I just went for it from memory. Clearly, some of this is just completely made up.

First, I put on my pants inside out. This is super weird if you don't have a habit of doing this outside of the early morning hours when you just toss on pants with zero give-a-damn because you are not yet fully awake. (We've all been there.) Don't panic that this has potential to be inappropriate - I kept my leggings on underneath the pants because it's not that kind of blog.

Next step is to contort yourself so you keep your pant seams straight, but are still able to pin the seams to thin out the wide legs. I started just above the knee and slowly tapered it in towards my ankle.

It wasn't pretty. 

Next, I took the pants off. Once I cleaned off all the blood from the crazy amount of pin pricks this caused, I put them on the table with the legs hanging off so they had a natural "fall". This is probably unnecessary but made me feel like I was doing something beneficial. 

I then straightened up my pins so it was a gentle taper that made sense instead of a line of a drunken seamstress. For the record, I attained the drunken seamstress line without actually consuming alcohol. (Shocked? Me too! Wine probably would have helped, in all honesty.)

Once I sewed my line, I quickly cut off the excess so I couldn't change my mind. My new mantra at this point was "I haven't worn these in years, I haven't worn these in years..."

Now, I thought I took pictures of this, but apparently I failed at uploading them. So the next step was to shorten them so they didn't go past my toes for a few inches. I went ahead and cut off the entire bottom cuff, then created a half inch seam and sewed it up.

Final result? Not nearly as bad as I was thinking! (How's that for a clear show of positivity!)

They still look pretty rough with just bare feet - meaning flats may look a bit goofy. However, slap on a pair of shoes and VOILA - not so funny looking legs!

I do have quite a few other dress pants that have the wide leg (what exactly was I thinking?!) With my short stature, I definitely can't pull it off these days. Never could, really... So I may continue doing this with my other wide-legged pants. Nothing better than waking up your old wardrobe!

Until next time - see you later!

Home Stuffin;

This weekend was one filled with family. I had a great weekend. It started with a barbeque at my brother's new house and then finished with a day filled with my favorite things - chatting with the family, going to my favorite restaurant for my favorite sandwich, and ending things with my wedding cake. You heard me - my wedding cake. We have it every chance we can get.

So when I got home, it was only natural to make my home more... well... homey. I decided to finally cover those pillow forms that I bought. (You can see my mini-haul that these were mentioned in here.) I decided to make the easiest pillow covers ever. Bonus: they aren't permanent so I can switch them out to my liking or just take them off and wash them. (I drool. Don't judge me.)

First thing, measure your pillow. You measure the width first (left measurements in picture below) and then you measure what would be the "height" (obviously the opposite of whatever you just measured) all way around the pillow. I had a square 16"x16" pillow, so it was pretty easy. To figure out what to cut you add two 5/8 inch's for seams to the width, and then you add two 1 inches to the circumference. I'm not fantastic at math, so don't look too closely to my adding of fractions. After cutting, I didn't really pay much attention to how long my seam allowances were, so this step probably wasn't all too necessary.

My first cut didn't go well. I was watching Netflix and for some reason had 8" in my head. So, my first piece was cut completely wrong. Damn Netflix.

The top strip is my "whoops" cut. The bottom is what it is supposed to be. Quite the difference. Probably should have noticed that before cutting.

Next, on the shorter sides, I folded up the edge 1/2" and then again for another 1/2". I ironed that down (yes, I ironed, pick up your jaw) and sewed up the two edges.

Next, I laid the fabric down with right side up and folded up the sides to overlap each other, a la this:

Thus giving me something that looked like this:

Remember that 2.5" overlap that I factored in? (check my math above... but not too close and all judgemental-like) This is where that comes in. You make sure the two ends overlap each other by the 2.5". This is kind of important because it takes this from just a square of fabric into a square of fabric you can jam pillows into.

Then you sew up the two edges to close everything in and trim the corners so they aren't all bulky.

Last - turn it inside and out and stuff in your pillow.

And voila! You have a pillow cover that is removable, changeable and washable. In my video, you may remember I wasn't a huge fan of this red on my couch when I just placed the swatch of fabric on it. However now that it is in actual pillow form...

I love it!

I can't wait to make more of these. It is legit super easy (not that fake easy that people say and no one I can't get past step number one) and took a max of a half hour to make. A little bit more for me since I a) cut wrong b) stopped mid-sew for some grilled pizza. That stuff is delicious and you don't pass it up for anything.

Are you still thinking "what the heck are they doing eating wedding cake?" You shouldn't be - you should just be jealous you don't have this deliciousness in your life.

Have a great Sunday!

Memorial Day Awesomeness

Happy Memorial Day! Today is a day to remember those that fought for our freedom. I saw a perfect saying today "Home of the free, because of the brave". I think this encompasses the spirit of the day very well. Both of my brothers, numerous uncles and my grandfather are all included in that brave, and I am more than proud to say I am related to and support that kind of dedication to our country.

I had to find an awesome dress for this weekend, and this one fit the bill:

It had good bones and a fantastic pattern... but it was completely see-through. Not all that appropriate for any sort of public festivities - or just public in general.

With time not on my side (gorgeous weather! cookouts! family time! Ice Cream!) I made a quick three cuts. That was all it took to make this into a great top. I cut the bottom portion of the dress off (it's not like a see through dress was of any use to me), shortened the arms and made the neck less constricting.

With a quick sew on the arms and the bottom hem (I kept the boatneck with a cut edge) my shirt was ready for the holiday!

And because the holiday is one to celebrate the soldiers - I threw some red, white and blue together in the spirit of freedom.

Along with a National Holiday, today is also my husbands birthday. With the weather being absolutely gorgeous, it demanded us being outside. We went to a National Park near us and took a quick three mile hike around the lake. The views, however few and far between, were quite awesome.

Oh yeah - and I may or may not have dyed me hair pink. 

Answer - may not. I ain't crazy! Although, hair chalk on sale at TJMaxx saw me coming a mile away.

Enjoy your holiday all! Happy Memorial Day!

Fixing for Family - Part 2

Hey friends! I'm still working on the project mentioned last week - life and work got in the way a bit. This weekend I finished up Mandy's other dress. As a reminder, it looks like this. 

Mandy wasn't a huge fan of the hi-lo hem. As you may remember - I was a bit nervous last time to cut into someone else's clothes. This time, I came prepared. 

Just kidding, I wouldn't drink while cutting into other peoples clothes. That's for after. Since the front was a fine length for Mandy, I concentrated more on the back. Chop chop!

Next, I made a hem on the back, ironed it down and sewed it up. Short and sweet. As the back was rounded into the front (hence the hi-lo hem) the two sides ended up being slightly longer than the front and the back. I almost went at it again with the scissors, but stopped when I put it on and noticed this illusion disappeared. Glad I stopped! I'm sure Mandy did not want herself a hoe dress if I kept cutting!

Final look :) sorry Mandy - purse isn't included! (Unless I totally ruined your dresses; then it's all yours!)

Have fun friends - hope you enjoyed your weekend and I wish you a most restful Sunday night! See ya next week!

Totes Mcgotes

Happy Sunday Funday, all!

This week there is no clever "Before" picture. In all honesty, I'm having quite the lazy Sunday and didn't want to spend time showering, getting dressed, putting on my pretty face... it was just all too much for today. So I turned my attention to the piles and piles of scrap fabric I got a bit ago from a lady cleaning out her craft room.

I couldn't help but be drawn to a rainbow fabric. She gave me a ton of it, and I had no other thoughts as to what to do with it other than to test out a few ideas. What girl couldn't use another tote?

I cut a large rectangular piece of fabric, and two strips about 3 inches wide for the straps.

I paid attention to the straps first. I folded them in half first, and ironed that down. Then I opened it up and took the left half and folded it in half again, and repeated the motion on the right side, essentially making my own bias tape. I made sure to iron down all my folds. There was a quite a lot of ironing in this project. I wasn't excited about that part.

I then folded it on top of itself and sewed it down to create two straps. I only sewed down the one side, but in my professional opinion (ha ha), those of you that choose to follow these steps should probably sew down both sides. It would definitely look better.

Next, I folded down the top of the bag and ironed it down. I then folded it down again and ironed it down again (see a pattern yet?). I tucked the straps under the fold and sewed it down.

Next, I folded the strap back up and sewed it down again. I should have ironed this down first too, but in all honesty I was over the ironing thing. I had already had the iron on longer at this point than it has ever been on before.

Next, I kept the right sides of the bag on the outside and sewed down the sides. That's right - right sides out! *GASP* I'm sure all you real sewists are freaking out right now and yelling "That's not the way you do it!". But... hold that thought friends - I have a plan. (And since this is finished now, I can actually say with confidence that my plan panned out and worked. It's not something I can say very often.)

Only then did I turn the bag inside out. I ironed out the seam to be flat and then sewed down the sides again. I made sure to sew down the inside of the edges of the seam (that was now on the inside of the bag).

This resulted on a French seam, so the outside of the bag was nice and clean and the inside seam had no raw or rough edges. Boom.

I was quite amazed that this turned out how I pictured in my mind. And now that I have it, I'm actually quite excited about my bag and how good it looks. I also adore the rainbow pattern - it is nice and bright, something that is well needed in this world of white that is January in New York.

I now have a great tote to carry around books, folders, groceries, whatever I feel the need to carry. And, because this has no lining or inter-facing, it is not stiff or bulky so I can roll it up and use the straps to secure it.

I plan on making a lot more. It was a quick and easy project to get my scrap fabric out of my craft room and turn it into something useful. Maybe I'll put fabric in it...

 

Enjoy your Sunday, friends. I have found myself a new book series and have been wrapped up in it all weekend, so that and a glass of wine is my near future. I encourage you all to do the same!

Quick T-Shirt Refashions

Happy Sunday all! Ever have one of those days where you just want to take it easy? That was my day. I'm getting over a cold that has left me exhausted and congested, so I decided to keep this one easy. To the point where 75% of it is no-sew. Non-sewist's rejoice!

This week I went through all my drawers for all my super comfy clothes to lay around in. The answer is yes: I am pathetic when I'm sick. Much to my surprise, I found a drawer of t-shirts. A whole drawer. Of t-shirts. Ones that I haven't worn in years. I know this because they have years on them - 2005, 2007, 2008.... it's just embarrassing how I've squirreled these shirts away. I found myself on Pinterest soon after, looking up easy ways to refashion shirts. Without further ado... here are my findings, and my attempts.

We'll start with the easiest one. And rock my alma mater. Yes; we were the Kangaroo's. It happened.

Do not judge on the pose, the hair, or the face. I finally got a new camera and didn't realize how well it picks up details such as my just out of the shower hair or my no-make up'd face. It'll be fixed in the afters.

My main focus for these t-shirts was to go to tank tops and summer shirts. I'm getting a bit of cabin fever, so I wanted to do a small prep for summer. I made two cuts:

And that is literally it. 

Next up is a t-shirt I got at the 5K for my job. Although I'm proud to wear a shirt that says I'm recovering lives... the weird bubble made it so that I will never wear it. Ever. Chopped it will be!

I made five cuts on this one. Three are rather obvious; the arms, and the neck. The fourth and fifth cuts are to open up the shoulders so the front and back were separated at the neck.

Then, I tied one of the shoulders together, as such, and made one additional cut to the other sides armpit to make it a slightly larger hole. 

Then I put the shirt on, pulled the other shoulder's ends to the side that was already tied, and tied them up to. Ideally (and in real life) the first knot is off the shoulder and the second is on top of the shoulder to create the "cut out" effect. I didn't catch that effect on camera. (Camera fail)

Next came another alma mater shirt. I just can't get rid of these shirts, despite the fact I haven't worn them in 6 years. This project came with a bit of sewing. 

I started off with the three cuts that pretty much every t-shirt refashion on the internet ever starts off with.

Next, I folded down the front about an inch, and did the same with the back, pinned it down and sewed it up. These will serve as a casing for my straps.

Next, I deconstructed the long sleeves to create two tubes as straps, and fed them through the casing using the trusty safety-pin maneaver.

From there, it was just a matter of sewing the ends together.

This next one made me want to make a gym shirt. I have been going to the gym pretty frequently and have been in the market for some gym wear. All I've found are super tight lycra, low cut tank tops or unflattering shirts. When I saw this old Planet Fitness shirt in the drawer, it got my gears spinning.

Unfortunately, I have zero pictures of the process. Basically, I cut off the arms, and cut off the collar. I made the front neckline rather modest, as one of my pet peeves of gym-wear are the low necklines (who could possibly be comfortable working out when you're barely staying in your shirt?!). On the back, I cut a large, long scoop to just about the middle of my back. I then tied together the straps with some black polka dotted satin ribbon I had laying around.

The front looks like a regular ol' tank top, but the back is now a lot more interesting. I put this on over my sports bra, but I would definitely put a tank top underneath for the gym - a bright color that will pop.

So that ends it for today. Four quick t-shirt refashions that I completed in under an hour. Not all of them are glowing successes, but it certainly opens the mind up to a lot more possibilities than a boring old t-shirt. I encourage you all to open up your t-shirt drawer (I know you have one!) and cut away. Feel free to send me the results (thriftysew@gmail.com).