Baggy jeans refashioned into a dress

 

These men's, hip hop style, Guess jeans have been languishing in my sewing room forever waiting for a good overhaul. The denim was pretty nice and there was a fair bit of it in those legs, despite the waist almost fitting me. I recall with a smile the skater boys sk8r boyz of the 90s getting about in similar ludicrous styles and thinking they were the beez kneez! It was time to do something with these and with the Aussie Sewing Guild's Castaway to Couture competition currently running, now was the time.

Had I known how much work it was going to be I may not have embarked on this project. I nearly scrapped it halfway through when it was a shapeless, disjointed muddle, but I'm rarely one to give up on a sewing project so I pressed on. It took many hours, but I think it turned out alright in the end. 

I believe that a successful refashion incorporates some features of the original garment into the new one. I wanted to make a dress from my jeans and, after contemplating many options, I decided to use the upper part of the jeans for the skirt and the legs for the bodice. I thought a front-opening bodice would tie in nicely with the skirt and I found this vintage Simplicity pattern with a zip front that I used to start me off. By the way, that small pile of scraps above is all I had left of the jeans when the dress was finished!

My first step was to cut off the legs leaving enough fabric for the bodice and skirt in the two sections. That first cut was a bit scary.

I then cut along the crotch seam so I could start forming the skirt. It ended up being really tricky to get the front and back centre seams of the skirt sitting nicely. I had to unpick nearly all the original seams to finally get it looking ok. Since the original waistband almost fitted me, I left that as it was. I managed to cut the bodice pieces out of the legs and the unpicked jeans cuffs became the collar. You can see the fading where the cuffs were originally turned up.

I adjusted the bodice to fit the waistband, while still fitting me, and sewed the bodice to the skirt. The button stands were cut from small scraps and their insides were pieced together as there weren't big enough pieces left! I redid the unpicked topstitching on the skirt and used similar topstitching on the bodice seams to match the original as closely as I could. The armholes were finished with bias binding, from the op shop of course. The seams above and below the armholes at the back are the original jeans seams.

The final touches were the front snaps and some rustic sashiko-style stitching here and there (with op-shop embroidery thread) for some added interest on the plain denim. The belt is the original jeans belt.

And now for some pictures!

 I just love those deep pockets. I can't keep my hands out of them!

 

I am so pleased that this competition pushed me into doing this refashion as it's been ages since I did one. I really enjoyed how the process evolved and changed to suit the challenges imposed by fabric quantity and existing seams. I also loved using nearly every last scrap from those jeans and embellishing with recycled bias binding and thread. The five metal snaps are the only new thing I used. I am very happy with the final dress and I look forward to wearing it proudly!

If you would like to enter the competition or see (and vote for) the entries, visit the Australian Sewing Guild Facebook page. You need to like the page to vote. Entries close 31st May 2016.

 

StyleArc Toni Designer Dress

My sewing projects usually start with the pattern, but in this case it was the fabric. I found this rather dramatic fabric at the op shop a few months ago. There was over 3m and I snapped it up excitedly. Over the ensuing months I periodically draped myself in the fabric and pranced in front of the mirror. I envisioned something long and flowy and fabulous. I wanted a dress like those gorgeous ones made by Amanda Valentine in Season 13 of Project Runway (pictures via Tom and Lorenzo):

Amanda Valentine Finale Collection

Amanda Valentine Finale Collection

I searched my pattern collection and magazines. Nothing. I scoured real-life and online pattern shops. Where were the drapey and dazzling maxi dresses? Then finally, I found this: the StyleArc Toni Designer Dress. It definitely had potential and the more I investigated it, the more I liked it. After much pondering I eventually bought the paper pattern and was very excited to see if my vision could become a reality.

If you would like to buy the PDF version of this pattern from Gumroad, you can get a 20% discount by clicking on the affiliate link above and adding the code meggipeg20 when you make your purchase.

The dress is quite unusual and reminiscent of a Japanese design with the shaped sides that drape towards the hemline. I imagine these could look quite different in a thicker fabric, or they could be left off and the sides straightened for a more conservative look. There are pockets in the side seams too.

 

The other lovely feature of this dress is the collar. It is interfaced to stand up and frame the face, 

or can be folded down for a more casual look.

The most difficult part of making this dress was the collar, but that really wasn't too hard. The rest was super quick and easy. 

This fabric was a bit slippery to work with, especially at the cutting-out stage. I thought about the placement of the gigantic flowers before I cut and I think they turned out to be quite well located.

So, my vision. Did I get my Amanda Valentine-esque flowy dress? I do believe I did! When I first made it I wasn't sure if I liked it, but after strutting around the house in it for a bit, I quickly changed my mind. It feels amazing to wear and I think (hope!) it would turn a few heads if I find a fitting occasion to wear it. Fancy sewing meet-up anyone?

Don't forget the 20% discount on this pattern from StyleArc with the code meggipeg20.

Faux wrap skirt - Burdastyle 07/2013 #111

I do love getting my Burdastyle magazines in the post every month (thank you to my lovely family for this birthday present last year), but I have to do a bit of seasonal adjustment. That's not the statistical kind, but the practical kind where I sit in shorts and a t-shirt flipping through the latest issue and store away winter coat patterns in my memory to make in a few months' time. Same goes for the summer patterns and I've just got round to making this skirt that I've had in mind since the Australian winter last year.

Burdastyle 07/2013 #111

 It's a simple skirt with a faux wrap and a little tie at the side waist. It is available for download from Burdastyle. I like the casual style and practicality of this skirt.

The faux wrap is also handy if there's a gust of wind - it's always a bonus not to flash one's knickers.

I used this drapey, herringbone print fabric that was an op shop find. It's one of those prints that you don't want to focus on too closely as it makes your eyes go funny. A bit like this:

Hopefully no one feels drunk looking at my latest creation!

This skirt was simple to sew. It's basically a wide tube that is folded in near one side and tied to create the wrap effect. I found that my fabric caused the fold to slip down as I wore the skirt so I added a line of stitching on the waistband to hold the fold in place while making sure I could still get the skirt over my hips. I cut my usual size 38, which was fine, but I ended up taking in the side seam near the wrap as it seemed to hang at a strange angle. It's fine now. That meant I lost one pocket, but side seam pockets are awkward and not very useful in my opinion anyway.

 So that's it. I love getting something made that's been in my mind for so long and I'm very happy with this light and flippy little skirt. The top is self drafted.

By the way, if anyone in Australia is thinking of subscribing to Burdastyle, I ordered mine through Newsstand in the UK. It ended up costing around AU$160 for the year (approx $13/issue). I get each monthly issue at the beginning of that month, which certainly beats finding a local newsagent who actually stocks the magazine, waiting months for each issue to come in, fighting other sewers for copies and paying $17 for the privilege. I looked at lots of suppliers worldwide and Newsstand seemed to be by far the cheapest for Aussie subscribers. If you find it cheaper, I'd love to know.

UPDATE: thank you to Kristy (see comment below) for the tip that she orders the magazine through Burdastyle for $118 (to Australia). I can't believe I didn't find that bargain myself!

Refashion flared pants into skinny cuffed capris - a tutorial

It's been a while since I did a refashion, but when I spied these lime green, ankle-freezer, flares in the op shop for only $4, I saw potential!

I have turned pants into shorts before...(brown ones, blue ones, black ones)

...but previously I have always added a stretch knit fabric for the cuffs. This is actually what I had planned to do this time, but when I checked my ribbing stash, nothing matched the green. 

Bummer.

After some thought I decided to use the fabric that I cut off the bottom of the pants to make cuffs. I did some googling and found this useful tutorial for lengthening boy's pants with cuffs. 

Here is what I ended up doing:

First, cut the pants just below the knee (or 2cm below the length you want the finished shorts to be). Save the scraps.

Try on the shorts inside out and pin where you want to take them in so they fit nicely (and skinnily) on your legs. Stitch your new side seam(s). Depending on the seam finishing and topstitching you may only be able to neatly take in one side seam, not both. Take in the seam with no topstitching. I was able to take in both sides. You can see my new seams below.

Cut off the excess fabric, leaving approximately 1cm seam allowance. Neaten with an overlocker or zig-zag stitch if desired.

Measure the lower edge of the shorts where your cuff will go. Make sure the fabric is lying flat. Mine measured 21cm.

Using your cut-off piece of fabric, line up any centre or side seams and mark lines showing the width of the cuff (21cm in my case).

Cut, then sew along your marked lines. The seam allowances should be the same as your shorts so the cuff is still the same size as the lower edge of the shorts. I kept the original hem on my cuffs as I wanted them fairly wide. The total height of my cuff piece is 20cm.

Fold the cuff in half with wrong sides together. Now the height of mine will be 10cm.

Now, with your shorts right side out, and cuff with original hem side up, pin and sew the cuff to the shorts as shown. Don't worry, this seam and the original hem stitching will be hidden inside the cuff.

The inside of your shorts will look like this.

Press seams and cuff to neaten. Yes my iron is held together with masking tape coz I dropped it!

Then fold back the cuff to the outside of the shorts. Voila!

This is what it should now look like. The cuff should be folded back approximately 1cm below the seam you have just sewn.

To hold the cuffs in place, stitch in the ditch along the side seams of the cuff on the right side of the shorts. This will hide the stitches.

Wear your stylish new shorts with pride!

I had a bit of an embarrassing experience while I was making these. It was Easter holiday Monday and I had finally got Mr Meggipeg and the boys out of my hair around 4pm (I sent them to the skateboard park). Getting into my sewing groove, I had just put on my lime green, too short flares, so I could plan my refashion, when the doorbell rang. Thinking the boys must have forgotten something, I opened the door to see their young, 'I'm with the band' guitar teacher standing there! I looked at him in horror. The flares! What was he doing here on Easter Monday?? I had to invite him in while I rang Mr M (who'd left his phone at home), all the while, flitting quickly across the room  (in the hope of becoming an indistinguishable green blur) and hiding behind the kitchen bench. I finally managed to propel the guitar dude out of the front door great speed, with him probably thinking that I was a complete basket case. The following Monday (yesterday) I wore my new cuffed shorts for him and strutted about. Funny, that he didn't comment....