refashion · sewing · Tutorials

Simple Skirt Alteration: Front Button Up Skirt Refashion

I can’t believe we are already halfway through June! I’ve been working on several projects, but some haven’t been going according to plan and I needed a simple project to cleanse my sewing palette.

I found this skirt on Poshmark two or three weeks ago. I was just buying a top but before checking out from the closet, I saw this skirt and fell in love! It’s by Emily & Fin and the listing said it was from Modcloth, but I also found it sold through Anthropologie. It has a really cute California inspired print with images of the Hollywood sign, the Golden Gate Bridge, Wine Country, and cacti and palm trees. Best of all- it has pockets! After getting the skirt and trying it on, I realized I wasn’t a huge fan of how it laid on my lower half. It felt a little blah. I really loved the print and colors and wanted to make this work for my wardrobe.

I was imagining putting a slit in the side or the front when I thought about adding an entire button front. This would allow me to add some detail and let me have a leg opening!

The original plan was to cut right down the center front of the skirt, but this skirt already had a seam, it was just in the back! Want to do a similar alteration? I’ve documented the steps below!

This alteration will work well with skirts that are gathered or has pleats, and works best with a back (or front) zipper. This skirt had pleats so I was able to remove two to give me more material. You can certainly add extra material to make a button front as well. Another tip for wanting to DIY this look, you may need extra material for your waistband. My skirt was originally meant to sit down towards the hips, but I fit it to my natural waist and was able to tighten it just a little bit.

Step one is to remove the back zipper, and seam rip the back seam.

Step two is to remove a pleat on each side, or remove gathering. This step definitely depends on the style of your skirt. If you have gathering, you may want to consider removing the waistband and redistributing all gathering, but this is totally optional!

Step three, open the stitching on your waistband. Re-stitch waistband ends with right sides together to create clean ends. The bottom of the waistband remains open to re-insert the skirt.

Step four, mark where the skirt lines up with the edge of the waistband and measure. This will be the fold point for the button front. My fold measured 1.5″. I marked this measurement on both sides of the skirt opening, and folded them in. Interface this folded section with lightweight fusible interfacing. I folded in the serged edge of each side, folded again to finish the button front and top stitch closed.

Step 5, baste mark the top of each button front where the original skirt stitching was. This line becomes where the waistband gets re-attached. Fit new skirt in-between wrong sides of waistband and stitch shut. I stitched all the way around my waistband but you can handstitched shut if you don’t want stitching to show.

Step 6, mark buttonholes and stitch. My buttonholes are 2.25″ apart. I only had 5 matching buttons on hand, so I only made 5 buttonholes but it works perfectly! It’s the perfect amount to get a great opening.

And that’s it! This was a pretty quick alteration – I feel weird calling it a refashion because the garment wasn’t really re-vamped.

This was a pretty quick project, although made a little longer when photographing and recording, but it’s a nice project to take on! I made a little behind the scenes video which you can find on my Pinterest!

You can also see my new haircut and glasses (1st photo)! I cut 10″ off two weeks ago and it feels great! I also finally updated my frames! I’ve had the same glasses frames for about 10 years and never felt the need to get new frames until this year when I got a new prescription. (I mostly wear contacts so glasses don’t often make an appearance.)

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refashion · Tutorials

Nightgown to Pajama Set Refashion with 2nd Ave Thrift Store

I posted this upcycle a few week ago on Instagram but wanted to share the behind the scenes details here on the blog!

It had been well over a year since I had been “in person” thrifting, so when 2nd Ave Thrift Store reached out about collaborating on a project, I was all for it! This was my first time shopping in a 2nd Ave Store, but certainly won’t be my last. I was really impressed with the selection, and was so amazed by the size of the store!

The first section I looked through was the dresses. There were some really great pieces – quite a few options still new with tags but I like to refashion pieces that are a bit more worn and well- loved. I turned around and was facing the pajama section when this adorable nightgown caught my eye. The dress was made from this comfy, cozy, cotton fabric that’s been washed quite a bit, and has such a pretty print.

There was a project I had planned in my head months prior but wasn’t able to find the right piece, but thought this nightgown would be a great option for my idea. I wanted to make a lounge set of matching top and shorts. I did have a moment before cutting where I thought about making a complete romper, but really wanted two seperate pieces that would be able to look like a romper when put together.

My plan was to cut out the shorts first, then that would determine the length of the top. The first step was to un-do the hem of the nightgown, which I was going to use for length on the shorts. When I undid the hem, the fabric was not very forgiving, and instead, I cut off the hem underneath the stitching holes to use that material for the drawstring waist.

There are a few ways to make the bottoms. You can use a pattern or trace a pair of shorts you already own (like I did with this refashion). I used the free Peppermint Spring Shorts pattern, but I squared off the bottom hem and made the rise higher because I wanted higher waisted shorts. The sides of the pattern lined up perfectly with the sides of my nightgown, which made this project easier.

After cutting the shorts, I was left with an angled top. I wanted to utilize as much of the fabric as I could so I cut the hem of the shirt into a curve.

I was originally going to fold the top of the shorts down a few inches and insert elastic, but I didn’t want to lose the height. I used the leftover fabric from the center of the nightgown to add an additional 2 1/2″ band to the waist. I did wind up cutting (and then immediately restitching) the original waistband height on the shorts. Doing this gave me the seam detail I wanted, and it made it easier to stitch in the ditch when closing the waistband.

My waistband has a piece of 2″ wide elastic, and two extra stitching lines to secure the elastic and for design. There’s an excellent tutorial on Melly Sews if you are looking to get a similar result.

It’s a bit hard to see in the before photo, but the sleeves were wider than I wanted, and the neckline was a bit low. I wanted to fix these fit issues for a more comfortable feel. To do this, I removed the sleeves, stitched the shoulder seams a few inches down, and the underarm seam to match. I brought in about 1/2″ from the shirt side seam for a cleaner fit as well, before re-attaching the sleeve.

After this alteration, I hemmed the shirt and the shorts to finish. I love this set! I love the fabric, and the print, and absolutely love that I can mix and match the pieces with different tops and bottoms in my wardrobe. And together they create an amazing faux romper!

It was wonderful to be out thrifting again! I missed the adventure of picking out pieces in person, and one of my favorite discoveries is that 2nd Ave also has a great linen section! There are about four rows of tablecloths, fabrics, sheets and bedding. Most thrift stores I’ve been to don’t have a large linen section, usually some bed sheets and maybe a few pillows, but I don’t often find a large selection of textiles in stores. This was an awesome find and I can’t wait to go back and look through those racks again! There are several 2nd Ave Stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia – check out all the locations here!

I also found an amazing piece to wear as is! It’s a vintage petite Liz Sport romper that came with a matching belt! I have to hem the shorts a little bit but I love this piece!

etsy · handbags · handmade wardrobe · refashion · sewing · Tutorials

Jeans to Pinafore Refashion

Hello, hello! In the past few months my apparel sewing has slowed down quite a bit and my bag making as been taking over! I’ve been working hard to add new bags to my Etsy shop, and finally designed and created my dream bag! (I’ll share more at the end of this post!)

But as the title says, my main reason for blogging today is to share my latest refashion! This piece has been several months in the making. I started dreaming about this project back in December! I wanted to share a little of my thought process, because it really was an idea that bounced around a bit before landing! One of the most common questions I get asked is where my ideas come from, so here’s how this one formed!

I had a pair of corduroy pants in my refashion pile, that I was stuck on what to do with. I started looking online for corduroy dresses, or jackets to gather some inspiration. I came across this adorable pinafore from Show Me Your Mumu, and started going down the pinafore rabbit hole!

I do quite a bit of fabric Tetris in my mind when figuring out if I can realistically make a refashion work. I knew if the pants were long enough, and I was able to cut them off with enough fabric to spare, this project would work.

I sat with the idea for a bit (some other projects got in the way of starting) and before I knew it the weather was warming up. I wasn’t motivated to sew with corduroy anymore, but the idea was still taking over in my mind. I started searching on ThredUP to find a replacement garment to bring the idea to life. Thankfully the perfect pair popped up in my search and the project was back on!

I started searching for a pattern for the bodice. (This is something that can be self drafted!) I came across the Amber Pinafore Dress from Named Clothing. I’ve had great luck with Named Patterns in the past so I knew it would be reliable for me. I tested the bodice with cotton fabric before cutting so I could work out any fit issues beforehand.

Now onto the tutorial! Sorry for the photo quality, I realized I was taking more video than photos for this project so some of these are from screenshots.

First, with the jeans on, mark knee length. This was my starting point to cut because I didn’t want to make my skirt too short. (I cut off an additional 2” once I had a better idea of length.)

Seam rip open each cut pant leg, leaving one side seam intact. Undo hem as well.

Cut bodice out of each pant leg. (For a better fit, the top of my bodice lined with the jean hem, and the bottom of the bodice lined up with my original pant cut line.) I traced my bodice piece onto each leg, making sure to match where the Jean seam line was for a consistent look. (Tip: mark on your pattern piece where seams need to hit!) Try to keep the bodice towards the ends of the leg to be sure you get the most use out of your fabric.

Once your bodice is cut, you can see how much fabric you have left to work with.

Next step is to turn the remaining jeans into the skirt. Going back to the top portion of your jeans, seam rip the inner legs.

On the front of the jeans, seam rip the fly section a few inches up, until the jeans can lay flat, and you can see the triangle start to form on the bottom. Don’t seam rip too far up, and don’t hit the fly zipper. This part of the project you may have to play around with a bit to get the right fit. Pin the triangle in place before adding any fabric, and try the skirt on to test the opening width.

Thankfully my front triangle didn’t need much fabric, so only a small portion of my fabric went into this section.

Continue this process for the skirt back as well. Seam rip the center back seam a few inches, and lay back flat. You may have to seam rip more on the back than the front. My opening was wider in the back, and I didn’t have enough material from one pant leg to properly fit. I stitched my remaining fabric together for a bigger insert. You can see I placed my new seam in the center of my insert, which takes extra time to pin and stitch properly, but creates a more finished look. I also folded the pant leg triangle sides in more to create a flatter piece.

The back was a bit harder for me to fit. I recommend pinning in place, then trying the skirt on to be sure it lays nicely.

After the inserts are finished, the rest of the material is for the straps! Now, on my pants, since I cut off an extra 2” from my original pants, I was able to use most of that for my straps. (You may not have that material to work with, but you can always make the back straps out of a coordinating fabric if you don’t have enough!) I had to add some length from my remaining fabric to extend the straps, as you can see with my seam lines.

My entire bodice is lined with cotton muslin. For reference, my straps were cut 2” wide and stitched with a 3/8” seam allowance.

Try your skirt on and pin bodice in place. I started by pinning the front, making sure to get my bodice pieces close to each other. Once front is pinned, pin back straps, making sure straps are comfortably tight. These will be pinned on an angle. Remove pinafore and double check the back straps to make sure their distance is even. If your jeans have belt loops, the back loop is a great center point to measure from. I hand stitched my bodice down, but you can certainly sew by machine.

To finish the skirt, I evened out my hem, serged the edge and hand stitched up 3/8”. I didn’t want to make my skirt any shorter, but this part is all personal preference!

What made this project work: mid-rise jeans. With the type of bodice I added, the waist of my jeans needed to come up, so starting with mid rise jeans meant they didn’t have to come up that much higher. This is something to consider if you want to make this style pinafore yourself, mid rise or high rise jeans would work best. If you have a pair of low rise jeans, you may have to re-fit the waist altogether and may not have enough material for the entire bodice (or you may have to build a different bodice. Search for “overall dresses” for another idea!)

Another tip, if you want more material to work with, use boot cut or flare jeans! My original jeans were technically a “crop pant” but because of my height, they were normal length skinny jean on me.

Want to go a step further? Add a little extra length to the bodice front and strap ends, and make the entire top removable with buttons! I did this for my skirt to overall pinafore refashion a few years back. It’s a great way to get more wear out of the garment! (Post here!)

And a quick note: here are the new bags I’ve been working on! These little crossbody bags have been in the works for years and I’m so incredibly excited with how they turned out! The exteriors are made from reclaimed and secondhand fabrics! Shop Crossbody’s on my Etsy!

inspiration · Janome Sewing · refashion · sewing · Tutorials

I’m Teaching at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo!

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful (and safe) holiday season! I have a bit of a different post to share today but something I am really excited about!

I will be teaching at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo!

The expo is February 24th -28th 2021 and I am teaching two classes:

My Upcycled Wedding Jacket with Embroidery

One Needle Class: 1124 Upcycling with Embroidery
FRIDAY, 4:00 - 4:45 PM (PST)
SUNDAY, 12:00 - 12:45 PM (PST)
Give old clothes a new look with machine embroidery! This class is centered around inspiration and
learning techniques for adding machine embroidery to apparel.

Double sided zip pouch made with fabric swatches!

3133 Upcycle Swatch Book Fabrics into a Zipper Pouch
THURSDAY, 5:00 - 7:30 PM (PST)
SATURDAY, 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM (PST)
Swatch books are filled with beautiful fabrics that can be turned into something useful! Turn two coordinating fabric swatches into a small zipper pouch. You’ll learn how to make a lined, flat bottom bag with a zipper close.
$5 project kit.

This year’s expo is virtual, so you can access the expo from your desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone! Purchased classes will also be recorded and available for a limited time after the live class.

Both classes I will be teaching are focused around sustainability and using your sewing skills to encourage upcycling!

My first class, Upcycling with Embroidery, is a lecture style class where I will be sharing projects, ideas and tips to add machine embroidery to old clothes. This class is open to all skill levels, and I welcome anyone to attend even if you don’t currently own an embroidery machine! One Needle Classes are $6, and 45 minutes long.

My second class is a project class, meaning you will need a sewing machine (preferably with a zipper foot) and iron/ironing board to do the project. Three Needle classes are $30 and there is a kit that will need to be purchased for this class, which is $5 and includes fabric and zipper for your project. This is a great class for beginner sewists who are looking to make a project with a zipper! I will be sending kits with fabric swatches, so you can see exactly what I use to make the bags that are in my etsy shop! Three needle classes are 2.5 hours long.

Registration opens tomorrow, January 12th! And please note, registration for classes with project kits will close February 2, 2021 to allow time for shipping, which includes my swatch book class.

If the expo is something you’ve been thinking about attending, or are already set to register, I hope you consider one or both of my classes! I would love to see you there!

Click here for the full 2021 Sewing and Stitchery Expo Catalog

handmade wardrobe · refashion · sewing

Floral Tablecloth Lander Pants

I’ve had so many projects this year that haven’t worked out. There are a whole bunch of reasons why; using the wrong pattern or the wrong fabrics, rushing projects or starting and losing motivation to finish, the reasons seem endless.

I wanted a project that had a good chance of working out. I wanted something fun and inspiring and not too difficult to make. I also wanted to use this tablecloth I just picked up on Poshmark! In my quest for using sustainable fabric and secondhand sources, I’ve been looking on sites like Poshmark and Mercari for tablecloths and sheets. I saw this piece on Posh but didn’t make a plan for it until it arrived. A tablecloth can have a pretty broad range of feel, and even if it says 100% cotton, there’s a chance of it being thicker, thinner, etc. This tablecloth was a great, medium weight, almost canvas like but a little lighter.

I decided to make a pair of pants and landed on the Lander Pants! I’ve made Lander Shorts before and they come together pretty easily, and I really like the fit so I knew these were just about fool-proof.

I am a skinny jean lover. I used to wear boot cut jeans growing up, but once the skinny jean trend started, I never stopped wearing them! But I like getting out of my comfort zone a little bit – like I did with this jumpsuit – and thought making a pair of lander pants would be fun!

My last pair of Lander Shorts were made in a size 2, so I made the pants in the size 2 as well. The size 2 fits really well in my hips, but has the slightest gap in the back waist. This happens with all of my pants and jeans, and honestly I just haven’t taken the time to figure out how to solve that problem. It isn’t a big deal, and I almost always wear a belt with whatever bottoms I’m wearing, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

I also really love the button fly on these pants. I used to dislike installing jean buttons on anything – jeans, jackets, etc. I was using the Dritz jean buttons because they were convenient to purchase but they were really difficult for me to install. Every time I hammered, the tops would bend, or the screw would bend making my buttons lopsided. Since I started buying a lot more supplies online this year, like my needles, I also started branching out for other supply options. I came across jean buttons from Wawak Sewing and couldn’t believe how great they came out! Just wanted to share that option for anyone else facing a similar issue!

I followed the instructions for the hem, but wound up cutting off 3″ from the bottom before folding up the final hem. For my petite friends – I’m 4’10” and cut the pattern for the ankle fit. I love these pants with flats, and I also really like them with ankle boots and heels, although I won’t wear these with them as often! These pants are bright and bold but they pair well with so many of the basics in my wardrobe – they fit right into my closet!

refashion · sewing

Shirt Dress to Peplum Top Refashion

Happy Sunday! I’ve been busy with sewing projects and finally took a little time for a new refashion! Usually I post refashions on Friday’s but this one is done and I didn’t want to wait until next Friday to share!

I bought this shirt dress secondhand on ThredUp awhile back. I fell in love with the color and was happy to see the size was in petite, so it should really fit. When it arrived, I still loved the color but I wasn’t thrilled with how it looked on me – it felt a little boring. I kept it in my closet for a bit, hoping I would be inspired to wear it, but it just sat there. I really wanted to wear this piece and didn’t want it sitting in my closet any longer so I decided to refashion it! I knew making it into a top would guarantee me wearing it often, and I turned to a previous refashion for a little inspiration.

Back in February, I did a very similar refashion of turning a dress into a peplum top, and I loved how easy the process was, I wanted to do something similar for this top. I had this dress from Zara pinned as inspiration for a long time now, because I really loved how the peplum was connected to the bodice, giving it more of a layered look than just straight sewn on and wanted to recreate that detail with this top. It wasn’t a hard process, and I have the steps down below!

  • If you have a dress with an uneven hem, you will have to even it out.
  • Mark where you want your waistline to be. For me, it was right where the button placket ends. From this point, measure down 1″. Measure this point to the end of your even hem. Mine measured 14.5″. Use this measurement to continue to mark the top of the dress where your waistline will be cut.
  • Seam rip one side seam up to your new waistline and cut the bottom half off your dress. If you have an uneven dress hem, you can also cut off the hem.
  • On the bottom half of your dress, measure the halfway point, mark and cut. With right sides together, stitch one side together creating one long strip of material. Gather this strip to the length of your dress top. Once your strip is gathered, stitch strip ends right sides together and set aside.
  • On the top of your dress, fold the bottom up 1″ around the entire hemline. This fold will be very helpful later on.
  • With right sides together, stitch your gathered bottom to your top hem. I like to divide the gathered piece in 4ths, to properly align the sides and centers.
  • Fold the waist on the foldline from before, tucking the gathering under. I pinned on the front for show, and then switched my pins to the wrong side to sew. Stitch this with about a 1/4″ seam allowance, just enough to catch the waistline and gathering.
  • Complete the waist by topstitching just the folded edge, making sure not to stitch the bottom peplum.
  • Lastly, hem your peplum! I did a 1/2″ hem since my dress wasn’t long to begin with.

I love how this top came out and it is going to get so much wear in my wardrobe! The last step I wanted to do was to add buttons to the top pockets but I don’t have any matching ones at the moment. The pockets don’t need them, but I think they would be a cute touch. I photographed this top with the sleeves cuffed but it looks cute with the sleeves long as well!

I also created a video tutorial! Check it out below! (Music is Voyage by Ikson Music)

refashion · sewing

Jeans to Lander Shorts Refashion

I haven’t been thrifting since February, and while NJ is starting to open back up, I probably won’t be comfortable going to a thrift store for a while. Thankfully when I went thrifting pre-Covid, I always picked up all sorts of pieces, for all seasons so I still have a good stash to work through!

When I saw these J Crew jeans in the store many months ago, I gasped. Liberty of London fabric – jeans that look like they would fit me – was it the ultimate score? Sadly not. Upon closer inspection, there was a lot of wear on these jeans, some staining and a less than stellar low rise waist. These were tagged as a size 25, which is one size up from mine. But after washing them and trying them on, they were so tight it was uncomfortable. So to the refashion pile they went.

I was originally planning on making a chambray top with the jeans but after planning it out I knew I would have to incorporate another fabric and I didn’t want to do that. A few months passed and the weather was getting warmer. One wardrobe item I am always in need of is shorts. I buy some of my shorts secondhand, and the last few years I was buying whatever was available in my size, not based on if I actually liked the style or fit. So I thought this would be a fun opportunity to make a pair of shorts!

I went with the Lander Shorts from True Bias since I already had the pattern and I love the button fly and high waist. I cut a size 2, and made no changes to the pattern.

Since the pants were tight, I knew I would need to add fabric. I wanted the front pockets to remain the same on the sides, so adding fabric to the crotch was the only option. To do this, I wanted to start off with a straight line, and cut the original crotch curve off.

This refashion was all about strategic cutting and mirroring. I really wanted to keep the details on the jeans; the side pockets, back pockets and rivets. I also wanted to leave the waistband as in tact as I could, since the buttonhole and belt loops were already made.

Here’s one tip I learned along the way: if you want to keep the back pockets from the original garment (without needing to remove them), use the “pocket markings” on the pattern to line up the pattern piece with your garment. This will make sure that the back pockets won’t tilt in the process of making a new garment.

Realistically, this isn’t a refashion I will do often. I use this method of piecing in other refashions, but never quite to this extent. It worked well because the busy print doesn’t show all the added seam lines, but doing this on a solid or large print would definitely show.

I really love these shorts, and love that I was able to save the pants. I absolutely love the prints from Liberty, but since I don’t want to buy fabric, it was a treasure being able to find something Liberty “in the wild”. This print is available, so if you wanted to re-create the look, you definitely don’t need to refashion some jeans! But I hope this post gave a little more in depth look on how to patch pieces together. I do wish some of the details were easier to see in pictures, like the pockets, so this refashion may not look like a lot of work at first glace, but they were definitely a labor of love!

refashion · sewing · Tutorials

Shower Curtain Lounge Pants – Free Pattern From Trevor Loves Mommy!

Melissa is a talented blogger over at Trevor Loves Mommy, you may know some of her awesome refashions (like this top and this dress), and she recently came out with a pajama pants pattern – that’s free! (Sign up for her email list and the PDF will be sent to your inbox!) I absolutely love free patterns and love telling people about really great ones. I’m so excited to share this pattern with you!

For some reason, pajama pants are not a popular project in my sewing, which is weird because I actually need more pairs. I have one pair of flannel pants and one pair of cotton pants. Both pairs were gifted to me from my mom and I wear one or the other at least twice a week. Elastic waist pants are comfortable to wear, and so simple to make!

I’ve been getting really inspired by border prints lately and working border prints into apparel. There was one piece of material in my home that had a beautiful border print that I thought would shine on these pants; our basement shower curtain! We don’t use the basement bathroom much and I really bought this shower curtain with the intention to one day use it for a sewing project. It lasted two years before I took it down! The shower curtain came from World Market, and is a cotton/poly mix.

To use the border print, I wanted to be sure I didn’t have to hem the pants after cutting, so I made a toile first. This pattern comes in sizes XS-2XL and the pattern suggestion is to cut out your RTW pattern for pajamas (XS for me), but the pattern also includes sizing – and finished inseam! The inseam measurement helped me with cutting down the pattern for my short legs! On the pant “shorten or lengthen” line I removed 3” to start. After finishing my toile, I also removed 3” from the bottom hemline of the pattern. This way, I was able to keep the original hem on my shower curtain.

The only other change I made to the pattern was my elastic waistband. The pattern shows a single elastic waist, but I wanted a little more detail to mimic some of the RTW lounge pants I’ve been seeing. This is a really easy change; here’s a short tutorial! (Please note, I did not have to add any length to the waist, and elastic I used was 1/2″.)

Right after cutting the pants pattern out, serge or zig zag the raw edge of the waist. From the top of the waistband measure and mark 2.5” down.

Iron the serged edge down, and iron down on the 2.5” mark. Sew the pants together as instructed.

Once pants are stitched, turn the waistband down and stitch as follows: Leave a 3” gap on the back and first stitch the top 5/8” down. Next top stitch the bottom down. You may need to stretch the fabric a bit to fit evenly, but it fits. Next, stitch two more channels 5/8” from the top stitching line. I found it best to go in this order, but stitching the bottom down first also works well.

Once all three lines are stitched, feed elastic into each channel and stitch ends of elastic together. Once all elastic is in, stitch the 3” gap closed, and your pants are done!

This pattern was great to sew. The fit is awesome and it is so easy to cut length out for shorter legs. The instructions are detailed and clear, it is very apparent how much time was spent making this pattern! Not only is this a quick and easy sewing project, it is also a great pattern for beginners or if you are teaching someone to sew!

Get the pattern HERE!

Here’s a short video tutorial as well – yes, I joined TikTok!

{This post is sponsored by Trevor Loves Mommy, as always, all opinions are my own.}

#RefashionFriday · refashion · sewing

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion

This refashion was intended to be blogged a few Friday’s ago during Fashion Revolution Week but day the just got away from me! If you follow me over on instagram, you will have already seen this refashion – but I wanted to share a few details here about it!

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched

I picked this dress up at one of my local thrift stores (weeks before lockdown started) with full intentions of upcycling it. I fell in love with the colors and stripes, and really loved the fabric. It was well loved, but still in good condition – making the fabric that perfect washed and worn feel. I didn’t know what to do with the dress at first, but knew there weren’t too many options because it was a pretty short dress! (This dress is size S, brand is Soda Pop. Based on fit and style, I’m guessing it is a junior department dress.)

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched

A fabric like this screams summer, and the first piece of clothing that comes to my mind when thinking summer is shorts. Now yes, my wardrobe also needs like, basic denim shorts, but a pair of colorful shorts would be a welcomed addition to my wardrobe! Since this fabric was so bright and fun, I wanted my shorts pattern to be a little fun as well. I used the Paperbag Waist Shorts from Peppermint Magazine for this refashion and cut a  size 8 (the pattern is free, but donate if you can!)

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched

This was a refashion that required me to seam rip almost the entire garment. I removed the bodice and straps, and removed the front pockets. I seam ripped open one side of the skirt to work with the material, and let down the hem.

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched

In order for the shorts to fit on the fabric, I had to cut the pattern in half before tracing it onto my fabric, and piece together the fabric. Had the skirt been a little longer, or fuller (gathered or pleated skirt) I probably wouldn’t have had to do this. This part was frustrating, because I thought the pattern would fit without issue, and I needed to re-think my cutting. (If you have to cut a pattern piece in half, don’t forget to include seam allowance where the pieces meet!)

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched

I was able to use the dress bodice for the new waistband (along with a little extra from skirt leftovers). This pattern has you insert elastic and a little fake tie in the front so I used one of the dress straps for a tie! I also re-purposed the front pockets into back pockets! For the shorts front pockets and hem facings, I used a light pink cotton that was in my stash.

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched

#RefashionFriday Colorful Stripe Dress to Shorts Refashion - Trish Stitched

I really love these shorts! I think I made them a little too early in the year but by the time summer rolls around they will be getting a lot of wear!

fashion revolution · refashion · sewing · Tutorials

Fashion Revolution Week: Low Waste Alternatives & Skirt to Top Refashion

Hey world changers – how are you doing? We have all been going through some difficult times and I haven’t been talking about it much because I use my sewing as a form of distraction. I hope these refashions & posts have distracted/inspired you in these times!

Today I’m sharing another simple refashion with a “before” you may be familiar with! I made this skirt several years ago, and I’m definitely not the same size I used to be! This skirt stayed in my wardrobe because I love the fabric so much, and I recently moved it to my refashion pile because I wanted to be able to wear it once again!

Fashion Revolution Week: Skirt to Top Refashion- Trish Stitched

This refashion is based off of this cute top! I am a huge fan of gathering and have done multiple peplum refashions, but haven’t tried an empire style top! This skirt was a very simple pleated skirt with a side zipper. Here’s how I refashioned it:

I took off the waistband, removed the zipper and removed the pleats. I took 5″ off the top of the skirt portion, and used that and the waistband to cut a new bodice and straps. I made a lining from some fabric in my stash. After the bust portion was sewn, I gathered the remaining skirt and attached it to the bust. Then the zipper was re-inserted on the back, and straps were sewn on!

Fashion Revolution Week: Skirt to Top Refashion- Trish StitchedFashion Revolution Week: Skirt to Top Refashion- Trish StitchedFashion Revolution Week: Skirt to Top Refashion- Trish Stitched

For the bust, I used a pattern I had in my stash, McCalls 6838, but you can use all different patterns to get a similar result! I made a muslin of the bust portion because I had such little material to work with. Some of the pieces had to be franken-stitched together before making the bust.

Fashion Revolution Week: Skirt to Top Refashion- Trish StitchedFashion Revolution Week: Skirt to Top Refashion- Trish Stitched

Here’s a short video with some behind the scenes!

{Music in Video is Early Hours by Ikson on Inshot App}

Starting on a sustainable fashion journey can often lead into wanting to go sustainable in other areas of life. For the past few years, I’ve been taking small steps towards going “greener” in other parts of my life, mostly trying to reduce the amount of plastic and trash we create. (We already do a lot of the basics, bringing reusable bags to stores, using metal straws and re-usable cups.) My rule of thumb is, when something in our household is running low, I start looking for alternative products, or a more sustainable system. This is a slower process to go waste free but one that is working well for us. Progress over perfection!

Here’s a few of the products I’ve researched, fallen in love with and now use on a daily basis!

Blueland Hand Soap & Cleaners – This was an instagram ad that got my attention. When we first moved into our home we bought glass soap dispensers and bulk liquid soap, but as my bulk was finally running out, I decided to give Blueland a try! We were also running low on household cleaners so we purchased the whole cleaning set. Blueland sells “forever” bottles and tablets. You keep the same bottles, use tap water to fill the bottles and pop in a tablet to refill the soap dispensers and cleaners. The foam soap is amazing, and the cleaners have been great! I bought a double batch of soap so we are stocked for awhile!

Dropps Laundry & Dishwasher Detergent Pods – It took some time to switch our laundry detergent because I’ve had bad skin reactions to detergents in the past and have been afraid to try a new product, but Dropps have been incredible! Dropps are pods and what I love is that they aren’t sold in a giant plastic container! We also bought the dishwasher pods, which we love! Another sustainable option I almost went with is Tru Earth, which are laundry strips!

Soda Stream – I know this is a strange one to be on my sustainable list but it’s a product that has cut down on so much of our waste. Drew and I love bubbly water and we would go through a case of La Croix a week. The recycling bin was getting outrageous, so we switched to Soda Stream last year. We don’t drink much soda, so our system is just used for carbonated water, and this little unit has been awesome!

Next alternatives we are trying: Shampoo and conditioner bars! It took some time to research, but I’m hoping the ones I ordered work for my hair! They are set to arrive next week so I will update soon!

What are some of your low-waste alternatives?

There are a few low waste youtuber’s I love following, and if this is a topic you are interested in, check them out!

Shelbizleee

Sedona Christina