Here’s one I made earlier…

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Amy

…and forgot to post about here. But it’s one of the decreasing group of me-mades that still fits in my second trimester, so I feel it deserves a proper mention at last.

I’d finished it just in time to wear to Day 5 of the London Olympics last August:

We bid for quite a few different events when the tickets were first released, and ended up with women’s water polo (don’t knock it – I first watched a match at university when my friend Anna played for Yorkshire. It’s fast-paced, exciting, pretty easy to follow, and extremely violent. No, there are no horses involved. People keep asking me that.) And we got to see Team GB play!

We later lost 16-3 to Australia.

We’d probably have gone to pretty much anything though, to see the Park and soak up the atmosphere:

The fabric came from a thrifted slightly-too-big t-shirt that caught my eye in a charity shop: look, they’re actually proper little British lions!

When I checked the label, it turned out to be by Pringle of Scotland (prestigious luxury brand dating back to 1815), so a total bargain at four quid – as the lady at the till in the charity shop pointed out; she seemed a little miffed about the whole thing.

And it was just perfect for refashioning, because it came with two layers of fabric – there was a whole other t-shirt of the solid blue colour under those lions!

I managed to squeeze a Renfrew out of the top layer with some creative cutting and positioning, and then had plenty of blue for the contrast banding.

It perfectly fit the bill for a subtle show of London 2012 support – a very British design from a UK firm. And blue, just like Stella McCartney’s design for Team GB.

It was a brilliant day out, and I’m so glad we got to go – it’s probably the only time in my life I’ll actually attend an Olympic event. So I bought a keyring to show off to potential future grandkids, and legged it for the last train home.

Restyled dress to peplum top

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Amy

This dress came from last summer’s House of Fraser sale for £11 – I bought it for the zingy blue and the nice thick knit fabric. But I didn’t like: Restyled dress So restyle choice number 1: to stick with the dress and lengthen it with a contrasting panel of fabric; or go even shorter and turn it into a top? Meandering across this pin speeded up the decision-making:

Source: minimestyle.com via Amy on Pinterest

A peplum! Perfect: once I’d removed the skirt and unpicked the original pleats, I had loads of fabric to play with. I shortened it (keeping the hem intact), improvised some new pleats, and ended up with this:

Peplum top

The neckline created restyle question number 2 – I had that cake/frosting dilemma kicking around at the back of my mind. Should I keep it blue and basic for easy co-ordinating? Or frost it up a little with some stripes… yeah!

Peplum top neckline

For a moment, I was worried I’d gone a bit too Dr Seuss with it, but I think I’ve got in in perspective now. You can’t beat mixing bright blue with a little red, can you? Outfit-wise, I’ve played it safe with jeans so far, but I’d like to have a go with a pencil skirt a la that pinspiration outfit…

Peplums: love em or hate em? How do you wear yours?

Shoe restyle: painted espadrilles

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Amy

Mmm, espadrilles… summer in a shoe. I’ve wanted a pair for ages, with a nice chunky wedge heel - but being on the tallish side, I tend to have an unrequited affair with high heels. All my pining after them doesn’t change the fact that I’m limited to about a 3 inch heel, to avoid ending up a head taller than most of my acquaintances. So I was interested to see this pair shimmy up on eBay:

They were a shade of pink that I never wear, needed a good clean and had ratty laces – but, they were espadrilles with a 3″ heel. I masked off the soles and got going with a stencil brush and a jar of yellow Dylon Fabric Paint for dark coloured items (I also tried a normal paintbrush, but found the stencil brush much better at working the paint in evenly.)

It took 3 coats to get the yellow consistent… with IRONING to set the paint after each layer. No, it’s not easy to iron a shoe. Stuffing the toes with scrunched-up paper worked best, but it wan’t ideal. If I’d been braver at straying from the instructions on the jar, I might have tried using a hairdryer to heat it instead.

I wanted my espadrilles to lace up like Dita’s, so I sewed on a D-ring to each front section using a simple blanket stitch. They’re laced up by threading a metre of grosgrain ribbon through the D -ring, then through the already exsisting holes in the slingback strap, then criss-crossed over and tied in a bow at the side.

First wearing was to my sister-in-law’s barbeque in the brilliant sunshine last Sunday, with the cuffs of my skinny jeans rolled a little higher than usual to show those bows!

I think they’d look super cool and Coachella-glam when I go camping with 50-odd teenagers in a couple of weeks’ time (part of a youth work team taking the group to Newday) but the kids tell me it always rains, nearly always floods, and everything gets ruined in the mud. Hmm.

Would you risk your handmade creations camping in the UK?

The evolving crazy Pendrell

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Amy

This started with a men’s shirt that I tried to refashion into a women’s shirt. I put darts in, moved em up, moved em down, took em out… took the sides in little by little by… too much. I finally had to accept it was too small, and needed a dose of extra fabric. How about… roses?

The check print and colour of the shirt put me in mind of gardens, and trellises – and therefore - tumbling roses. I think princess seams are one of the best ways of mixing fabrics in a garment, so over to the tried and trusted Sewaholic Pendrell pattern.

It was pretty experimental, so I didn’t take pictures, but basically I cut the front and back centre panels as one complete piece (so I could keep the collar of the original shirt). Once I’d worked out where the natural shoulder seam should be (by hanging it on a wire coathanger and marking the line) I folded down the shoulder seam allowance on the pattern pieces, lined them up and cut them. Then the rose sections were just cut as per the pattern.

I had enough fabric to do the ruffly bits, but once I’d started sewing them in…

… it looks a bit like a frilly apron, doesn’t it? Argh. It went in the UFO pile (that was back in June 2011 – yes, it was supposed to help me out with Me-Made-June!) and didn’t come back out again til April 2012. I ripped out the ruffles, and this time I kept the seamlines clean. And added the pocket back on, to cover the little hole I made when I over-enthusiastically ripped it off in the first place.

So it’s a little crazy – those roses hit you straight in the eye – but I’m pleased. And hah! I reclaimed something from the UFO pile at long last! I will eventually be victorious, and conquer all of those sad half-projects loitering around…

Shirt restyle

Posted on August 21, 2011 by Amy

Do you remember I was a bit unsure about this fabric combination?

The plaid fabric is a man’s Gap shirt from the charity shop, which turned into this: (Claire, you were right, the shiny blue stuff was for the pockets!)

I kept the buttoned placket, cut the front bodice as one piece, and re-attached the collar a la So Zo. I used one of my all-time favourite patterns, Simplicity 2406, which was also responsible for these two:

I’ve had a couple of attempts now at refashioning men’s shirts, and they’ve generally gone hideously wrong – especially when I’ve tried to turn them into a fitted women’s shirt. I was inspired by Zoe’s version to have another try, going for a loose style and avoiding extra darts and seams. Key lesson learned: it’s not necessarily helpful to rip all the original seams to get separate fabric pieces. When I cut the bodice, it took in an inch or two of the sleeve section – fabric I’d have lost by removing the sleeves first.

Having mentioned Zoe, it’s a good a time as any for this:

I, Amy, of Diana & Me, sign up as a particpant of Self Stitched September’11. I endeavour to wear at least one item of self-stitched or refashioned clothing each day for the duration of September 2011.

This is the same thing I pledged for Me Made June’11… but I’m treating that as a practice run (having skipped a few days, and worn Pendrell tops more or less continously for the month). With a few more projects completed since then, and lots more under construction, I’m looking forward to September as a much more sartorially interesting month. Anybody else joining in?

PS – though Pendrell tops will not be taking up such a high proportion of SSS’11, I love the way Debi’s wearing hers here. And her skirt pattern is up for a giveaway, finishing at midnight tonight!

Peaches and Picnics

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Amy

What a beautiful summery Sunday we’ve had.

Mr B and I are a little bit sunburned after a massive picnic and rounders game in the park with about 40 friends from church… a perfect outing for the dress restyle I finished off yesterday. Here’s the original:

I bought this peachy dress just last Saturday in Oxfam - honestly, I went in purely to drop some stuff off, but I had to go all the way to the back of the shop to find a lady to take it off my hands, and on the way back out ended up handing over a fiver for this.

On first glance I liked the print, and on closer inspection, I couldn’t resist the shoulder pleats:

And best of all it was size 22 – lots of lovely fabric to work with. I removed the sleeves and shoulder pads, took in all the seams, altered the hem, and found the perfect piece of red ribbon in my stash:

I got quite a few lovely compliments, including one from a very cool teenager, and someone who told me I ‘always look so glamourous’! (which is an adjective I’d never have applied myself).

It got me thinking back to this post by Tilly. I wouldn’t say that taking up sewing again has completely changed my life, but it has radically altered my approach to fashion and shopping:

Prints and more prints: my pre-sewing wardrobe was very very plain. I could rarely find RTW garments where I liked both the print and the cut or style – not a problem when you can match them up yourself. Plus, I definitely gravitate towards to interesting print designs because they’re much more fun to sew with!

A concious shopping mindset: Ok, so I still shop – but usually for zips, thread, and exciting fabric. I’m far less likely to be sucked in by a clothing shop’s sale or advertising campaigns. If I do shop for RTW clothing, it’s either for something very specific that I’ve admired and mulled over for a long time, or it’s something I can’t make myself. Either way, it’s a calmer, rational process that doesn’t net endless spur-of-the-moment garments which never get worn.

Individuality: a year ago, I’d never have worn a dress like this to an afternoon picnic, and probably not even a skirt. I like to fit in, and hate feeling wrongly-dressed for something, so I’d tend to play it safe (and that nearly always meant jeans, apart from formal wedding-type events). Somehow though, I’m free to be much more adventurous with me-made items – I can’t completely put my finger on why. I think that naturally we feel more comfortable in clothes that fit well, and have pleasing colours and/or patterns and texture - but maybe it’s also the creative process of designing and making? Me-made-clothes include something of my personality and skills as well as personal taste, as if what goes on in my head authentically matches up with my outer appearance - not trying to be someone else, or hide behind a new look. Even if no-one else knows my outfit’s handmade, it boosts my confidence. Anyone relate?

I’m aware this is straying into daytime TV talkshow host territory…that it’s all about being yourself and what’s on the inside that counts… but much as we mock it, it’s true. Fashion only works when it’s a) fun, and b) matches up with who we are and what we do.

So this dress ticked all the boxes - cos I could still run fast enough to score an awesome rounder while wearing it.

A bit of button restyle

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Amy

I picked this linen top up for 3.99 in a charity shop recently, on the appeal of the polo-mint embroidery. Diana’s modelling it here, as that neckline is more revealing than it looks, finishing well below the average bra. I guess it’s supposed to be a holiday top for throwing on over your bikini, but seeing as I a) never wear bikinis, and b) rarely go on a hot enough holiday to wander round in swimwear and a linen top, I wanted to make it a bit more wearable.

So, aside from the resizing adjustments at the side seams and darts, I stitched in a piece of fabric behind the V (usefully repurposed from cutting off the hem) and added on some self-covered buttons:

I’ve got a bit of a thing going on for self-covered buttons. Honestly, if you’ve never tried them, give them a go… they’re easy easy easy and make everything look a little bit more fabulous.

I wore this for a boat trip up the Thames with Mr B’s family. The reason I’m sitting inside? We had about 10 minutes of sun followed by over an hour of solid rain. Sigh. But hey, I felt simultaneously summery and nautical in my restyle, and Bobby’s Aunt brought a big box of food, happy days! So I really don’t know why I’m pulling this face:

Day 25: neverending toile

Posted on June 25, 2011 by Amy

Once upon a time, there was a competition called Rae’s Spring Top Sewalong, where any sewing maiden could enter three beautiful tops in a quest for wonderful sewing prizes. This girl had two in the bag well in time for the deadline, but three is a magical fairytale number, and so three it had to be. She toiled away for a whole morning, forsaking Saturday Morning Kitchen, to produce a thing of such beauty that all the Sewalong judges would fall at its feet and bestow said prizes instantly. But…

…the top would not go right. The fabrics which looked so fetching together in the planning stages now looked odd; the cut was too tight here and too big there. The girl was glum. Princess Karen offered kind words of wisdom, but there was no fairy godmother to rescue the top, and so it was cast into the Miserable Pile of Failed Projects.

Fortunately, the girl was not downcast for long, and bravely attempted a new challenge: Me Made June! To begin with, all went well, and there was much wearing of Me Made items… but alas, as the month went on, the girl began running out of new things to wear. Desperate for something different, she returned to the Miserable Pile, retrieved the top and frantically stitched and stitched…

Oh, so close! As she tried it on, the girl realised the top would have been really cute, if she hadn’t rushed and decided to attach the collar piece to the bodice by eye, instead of measuring it properly. Could she live with those strange puckery bits around the neckline? No. So the top remained a toile, and the girl had to wear a Pendrell to work. Yet again.

But she was feeling plucky, and prompted by Refashion week over at the Sew Weekly, she gave it one last try. Perhaps she could have unpicked the ruffled collar and reattached it, but instead she got ruthless and hacked the whole thing off. She wanted simplicity and summer all rolled up in one – yes, of course, something like the Sorbetto top – so fortuitously similar from the bust darts down. But having already made a Sorbetto top, could the pattern be adapted into something different…? A little bit of drafting, measuring, and fairy dust, and by the end of the evening she had this:

YES!!! Finally, the girl and the top had overcome their animosity. The top fit, and made the girl feel pretty… it just got a bit creased after they’d skipped around in the sunlight all day.

And so they lived happily ever after.

The end.

Finished at last!

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Amy

Yes, my re-styled shoes are finally complete. I suffered from the old roblem where the last 10% of the work takes longer than all the rest put together. It’s as if my mind thinks that a mostly finished project will, in fact, finish itself. But thankfully, the bank holiday weekend intervened and sorted everything out.

These pictures were taken in my parents’ back garden on gorgeously sunny Easter day. I actually wore plain flats most of the day – looking at the photos now, I wonder if even the shirt and skirt combo was a bit too much print-mixing…? (The skirt is in fact half of my outfit for the Sew Weekly sewing excursion, but at the moment it sits below my natural waistline, which I want to sort out – will post more about it after that.)

Anyhow, this was how I wore them the night before:

I posed for this shot in a pub beer garden at about 10.30 in the evening (still warm!) That slightly gritted grin is because of a drunken group of lads to my left, who decided to comment in high-pitched ‘lady’ voices. Oh, the things we bloggers have to put up with in the pursuit of worthy photos.

But even that couldn’t spoil how super chuffed I am with these shoes!

I’ve posted most of the steps involved in making these here: including the sticky-up ruffles at the back and the polka-dot heel sections. Following on from there, I just added a long ruffle in a sort of semicircle round the heel to cover the edges of the other sections. All it took was a lot of ribbon, fabric glue, pins and patience (and then more patience to clean all the gluey pins).

Why the glass of pink bubbly? Well, beyond celebrating Easter, the sunshine, the shoes…. I got the job I was interviewed for a couple of weeks ago! Cheers! Went back to work today with a little spring in my step.

Today’s Outfit

Posted on March 27, 2011 by Amy

Here’s what I wore to church this morning:

Yep that’s my magnolia skirt from last week, plus another recent project…

I found the jumper in a charity shop a month or so back, when it looked like this:

Check out those sleeves! I looked like an American footballer in it. There are no photos of me wearing it (that’s deliberate) but if there were, you’d literally be knocked out by the size of my shoulders.

So, I chopped off the sleeve edges, folded the excess under, and used a combination of straight and zigzag stitching to secure it in place. Thing is, there’s still a tendency for the knit to unravel, and I’m not quite sure about my methods. If it had been woven fabric, or even a close knit, I would’ve made armhole facings and sorted it that way… but how to manage this loose chunky stuff?

Has anyone else adapted knits like this? How did you do it?

Diana & Me

A sewing and crafts blog.

Category Archives: Restyle