Another Refashion

From this (a women's top):

To this (a girl's top):

Making it cute: A Hoodie Refashion Tutorial

I adore this but there is no way that I'm spending close to $100 for it. So how about making something similar?

(Picture from Chasing Fireflies)

I had this pink hoodie that we got at target. Rarely got worn. Perfect for a refashion.
It went from that to this pretty quickly:
#1.) Cut a heart out of paper the size you want.
#2.) Trace the heart and draw lines down to the corners of the hoodie.
#3.) Start sewing ruffles from the top of the heart and follow the line all the way around and then follow the hoodie boarder until you end up back where you started.
I have jersey bias tape in big rolls. (I'm sure there will be a lot of jersey tutorials this year with this stuff.) If you don't have that you can cut your own jersey into one inch strips, or use any other type of fabric that you think would look good. I bet ribbon would work too!
You're done! This would be a cute gift for valentines day for your little girl.

A boy project!

I reconstructed a couple shirts the same way I did the girls. I should have taken the neckline in a bit on the abercrombie one and I should have made the sleeves a little wider on the stripped one, but oh well. Next time.

Ugly Yellow Turtleneck, Reconstructed

Using that same tutorial I showed you, I turned this ugly jersey turtleneck into a little dress for Hannah. (The yellow was not a good color for me.) The fabric was so soft and warm that I couldn't just throw it away.

Instead of using one of her shirts for the pattern, I used one of her dresses. Easy huh? I just sewed a line down from the shoulder and sewed on vintage buttons. (It doesn't really open there.) Then just randomly added a ruffled bottom. She wanted to wear it to school today so I snapped a few pictures.

Reconstruced shirt/sweater Tutorial

Ever since I made the Halloween costumes I've been wanting to sew. Fall starts off my "sewing season" and I am feeling it this year!Making DS's shirt and pants really inspired me. I can do this! So last night I made the girls a two long sleeve shirts and a sweater. I should actually say that I reconstructed them. Two shirts and a sweater from old shirts/sweater of mine. (Ang, recognize the orange stripe one? You gave it to me awhile ago, really cute. . . but I think horizontal stripes look much better on my skinny kids. Hope you don't mind.)
I have to tell you, it really is SO easy. I'm not sure what I was so afraid of before. Sleeves, smeeves. Sometimes I put up "I can't" walls before I even try something. I'm sure it's because the first time I ever sewed anything was my oldest daughter's Cinderella costume a few years ago (with the help of my little sister.) and I didn't understand how to do the sleeves in the written pattern instructions. I'm much more of a visual learner.
I thought that maybe some of you might want to see how I did it, so after I made the two shirts, I took photos to do a tutorial. Of course I had the thought to show you AFTER I made the first cut into the sweater, so just pretend it's not there. ;) Please excuse my unfinished basement floor and paint splattered cutting mat. Here we go:



Find an old shirt or sweater with a small neckline. I found that all my crew neck stuff works really well because I didn't have to alter them at all, they just fit the girls perfectly.

Take a shirt of your child's that you like how it fits on her/him and lay it on top of the folded shirt you are reconstructing. (I fold it because I want to be sure that both sides are the same.)

Cut out the basic shape of the front of the shirt. Make sure to leave a 1/4inch for your sewing allowance.

Take the sleeve and cut out two sleeve shapes using your child's shirt sleeves as your pattern. Again, don't forget the sewing allowance. If you can, Use the finished cuff so that you don't have to finish it yourself. I think it gives it a more polished look. Plus it saves time.

Turn your sleeved and main part of the shirt inside out and sew the point of the shoulders together and then sew down to the armpits. Repeat for both sides.

Now just sew all the way up the side and the underarm on both sides of the shirt.

Almost done. Just hem up the base of your shirt and you've done it! Way to go!!!

If you reconstruct any of you clothes, I'd love to see! I'm going to do some pants soon. Want a tutorial? It's basically the same thing. Just use clothes you have and trace the "pattern" of your kids existing clothes. I'll take pictures if you are a visual learner like me though. Let me know.

I'm done!

And not a moment too soon! Our church party is tomorrow night. Can I just say how much I like working with vinyl? It made making the logos, mask, straps and belts so much easier and cute. They're all happy with their costumes. I'm glad.


I'm just happy that my sons turned out! That was my very first time making pants and a shirt with sleeves. I wasn't sure I could do it. I traced my pattern from pants and a shirt he had and hoped it would all work out. For the muscle shirt I made two sides to the front of the shirt and sewed the muscles between the layers and just filled them with polyfill. For the Superman logo I traced the red part on the paper from the computer then cut it out and traced it again on the vinyl. Then backed it with the yellow vinyl and sewed them together.

He said, "Mom, I look like a tiny little action figure toy!" I guess that's a good thing.