Refashion Month |first| Sew along guest: Olga from Kid Approved

When I was planning this series, my first idea was to have a guest for every single day, from the 1st to the 31st of July. And I made a huge list of my favourite bloggers, to contact and try to have them. Some couldn't and it's understandable, but I was left with more days left than guests. I then decided I would leave the weekends opened and do a guest a day through the week.

But, then I was contacted by Olga, she was wondering if she was in time to join the series. I had announced it already so, another idea clicked my mind! The weekends! Of course! So, for people who wanted to join us, I have opened my weekends to them!

So, Olga, from Kid Approved is my first sew along guest! Check her blog, I'm sure you'll love it!

My name is Olga and I blog together with my friend Oksana at Kid Approved. I mostly sew for my four children with occasional selfish sewing for myself. I believe in creating children's wear that's unique and whimsical, but at the same time functional, comfortable and age appropriate. Since I am also a huge fan of refashioning, I am super excited to be here today as Magda's guest.

A few years ago I was looking for a basic beige top that would go will all my bottoms, mainly my skirts. I couldn't find anything until I came across a beige t-shirt at Target. I bought it thinking it would solve all my clothes dilemmas and then maybe wore it once because seriously look at this.

Yawn. Can it be more boring. It was definitely time to turn it into something else, like a t-shirt for Ania.

This is what I did.

1. Cut the shirt apart at the seams. Use your favorite t-shirt pattern to cut out a new shirt for a child. If you can save the bottom so you don't need to hem it!

2. Join the front and back bodice pieces right sides together at the shoulder. If you have stretchy material, reinforce the shoulder seams ( I use clear elastic tape), otherwise the shoulders will droop and not look pretty.

3. Position neck binding as shown in picture and stitch it to the neck opening, stretching the binding, but not the shirt underneath it.

4. Once the binding is attached, join the other shoulder seam. Make sure everything matches perfectly at the neck! Next attach the sleeves ( I chose to add binding to my sleeves as well). Turn the shirt inside out, align the side seams and the underarm sea, pin. Sew the side seams and the sleeve in one continuous action. Repeat on the other side.  If you saved the hem from the original shirt, you are done! The shirt was cute, but there was no stopping  me, so I added a reverse applique.

5. Draw the shapes you want onto the shirt. I used two hearts. Next, pin the fabric you would want to show, right side to wrong side. Basically, the contrast fabric would be inside the shirt. To prevent puckering, pin the tear away paper used for machine embroidery on top of your contrast fabric. Don't have that? Tissue paper works too. Slowly stitch around your shapes.

6. Carefully cut the top layer, so the contrast fabric is visible. That's it!

|day 5| Refashion Month Guest: Nellie from Nelesc Designs

My next guest is Nellie, from Nelesc Designs. What do I love most from her blog? The surprise element. Her refashions are always so creative and so well thought that I always get surprised and think How did she come up with that? Although unexpected they turn out wonderful and unique pieces. Check out her first HAT pattern, have you seen any like that?

When I was asked to join July Refashion Month, I was so super happy. I was already a follower of this wonderful blog and to be able to showcase my work to another audience is really a treat! Refashioning clothes is very much part of who I am artistically and personally as I also have had to refashion my life after having two kids on the autism spectrum.  

For this post, I decided to refashion a dashiki I had for a very long time.

A dashiki is a colorful garment widely worn in West Africa that covers the top half of the body.  A common form is a loose-fitting pullover garment, with an ornate V-shaped collar, and tailored and embroidered neck and sleeve lines. The dashiki found a market in America during the Black cultural and political struggles in the 1960s.

I love the dashiki because of the power it emits. I bought my dashiki back in 1998 in a flea market in North Carolina while visiting my sister. I was newly married,  had no children and was continuing to explore my cultural and political identity. I did feel quite empowered in it and wore it often until it got too small for me and tore.

After that, it sat in my draw for a very long time as I didn’t want to give it away but didn’t know what to do with it, until now. 

I realized I could cut most of the design and applique it on to a v-neck t shirt. This way, it still has the same design elements of a dashiki and I can still wear it!

I love the way it came out. Nowadays, my power is less linked to my cultural and political identity but more closely related to motherhood. In my refashioned dashiki, I feel like a strong, woman warrior mom!

|day 4| Refashion Month Guest: Heather from Feather's Flights

Heather from Feather's Flights is our guest today. She's the sweetest person and what I like about her blog is that she not only shares her wonderful works, she also shares tutorials and many tips to help our sewing skills to improve and Heather has recently released her first patterns (check it out HERE) - find my version for her pattern tour on the 9th.

I'm so excited to be here! I LOVE refashioning and can't wait for a month of refashioning ideas! Because my post got scheduled on July 4th, which as you may know is Independence Day in the United States, I could not get past the idea of a 4th of July inspired outfit. Well, Henry was named after my German grandfather who was born on July 3rd, and my father was raised in Canada and their Independence day is July 1st. I decided to combine these three heritages (USA, German, and Canadian) in an outfit for Henry. I'm really excited for him to wear it on July 4th because we will be getting together with the German side of my family, and they will definitely appreciate his little lederhosen.

I used a tank top I found at Walmart for Henry's shirt. I was going to fabric print one, but I ran across this awesome striped one and couldn't pass it up.

For the pants I used some of my brother's tan twill pants to make some adorable lederhosen for Henry. I didn't go with traditional leather because it's not and not conducive to toddler play. I used Compagnie M's free Charles pants sewing pattern. I just shortened them and added some straps.

For the Canadian part, I added some cool embroidery to the chest piece. My sewing machine has lots of embroidery stitches and I found one that looks like the maple leaf and reminds me of the Canadian flag. It's the perfect touch!

For me I used an old men's polo shirt to make a shirt for me. I cut off the collar and made a neckline that I like. I also cut off the sleeves and moved them in while taking in the sides. Aren't the colors of the stripes perfect for Independence day?

I left the button placket on the front and decided to add some pleats to the back neckline. I actually really like how it turned out! I kept the fit a little loose to help me keep cool in the hot summers.

|day 3| Refashion Month Guest: Alida from Alida Makes

Today's guest is Alida from Alida Makes. It's not long ago since I discovered her blog and when I did, I could only think How on earth I didn't know this blog before?! Again, she became one of my faves right away. She's so talented, fun and so inspiring! And why not saying so?! she's so beautiful! Check out her blog HERE. 

Hey y'all!  I'm so excited to be here today for the Refashion Month Series!  When Magda invited me to be a part of this I knew what I wanted to use:

These linen curtains.  You see, someone gave them to me, and to make them fit my windows I had to cut a good 2 feet off the bottom!  The stuff I cut off has been sitting in my sewing room ever since.  I really love linen and wanted a breezy top to wear for the Summer months. 

I decided on a high-low tank because I love the look in theory and wanted to try it out.  I wasn't convinced at first, but once I layered it with a lace cami underneath I actually like the way it looks!  The pocket is made out of another set of cut-up curtains I had in my stash.

I decided to use cotton ribbing to finish the seams on the neckline and arm holes.  I like it because it's unexpected.  I also love the tribal print on the pocket!  I've been waiting to use it for years.

I hope you enjoyed my post!  Come visit me at Alida Makes to see many more sewing projects and lots of tutorials!

|day 2| Refashion Month Guest: Ari from Max California

I'm not really sure when exactly I found my first guest blog, all I know is I became a fan right away! Today I am introducing you the creative lady behind Max California. Ari was the winner of Season 6 of Project Run & Play and we have competed together for the Sew Off too, her boy designs are the best always, so check out her blog if you don't know it yet!!! 

Hello! I'm Ari from Max California! I was super stoked when Magda asked me to be a part of Refashion July, as recycling and refashioning clothes is a MASSIVE part of my DIY aesthetic. I was cutting up band t-shirts and re-constructing them into  new shirts or skirts for myself and my friends when we would go to gigs (pre-motherhood!). Most weekends I would be found on the floor of my sewing space hacking up a t-shirt last minute literally as everyone was walking out the door to jump in the taxi to take us out! These days, I sew less for me and more for my kids, but I still have a huge pile of clothes that I use more than fabric meterage! During Project Run & Play I made friends with an awesome little lady who will be showing her stuff off here later this month, Suzanne from Winter Wonderings. She wrote an amazing summary post about the cost of competing that really struck a chord with me, and made me more determined to refashion old clothes instead of buying new clothes or new fabric. Since the competition I have bought only a few metres of lycra for a costume commission and some fleece for Vince's Sonic Hoodie, All my sewing since February has been out of my stash of fabric and clothes! Today I'm going to talk about the two ways I go about refashioning! The first way is to see a shirt, or a pair of pants, and cut them down to size. Resizing them to fit you or your small ones. Finding a dress that is a few sizes too big and cutting it down to a dress that will fit you. Or doing the reverse! I have found kids tees I loved, then adding fabric to make them larger and fit me! Of course it's not all just complete resizing. You may see a skirt that you like the buttons and features on it, and re-use those features into something completely different. The second way is to view the clothing you are going to refashion as fabric. This is the way I use mostly and the way that I am going to demonstrate to you today! When I got to the op-shops things that catch my eye mostly are the patterns on fabrics. Or even just plain fabrics, it's easier to find a colour I want in a second-hand shirt than new off the bolt at the fabric store. In my stash of 'clothes to cut up' I had this old singlet from my sister with roses on the front, and this nightie I bought from the op-shop when I was pregnant (It was super comfy but it needs new life!)

I decided to make Edison a few Bimaa Sweaters, since I love the cowl-neck on her and we are heading to New Zealand in a month for a family vacation! It is going to be FREEZING and the Bimaa Sweater is my go-to layering piece for her wardrobe. (PS. I'm not affiliated with Lou Bee Clothing at all, I just really dig Sarah's patterns! I was not paid/bribed to pimp her stuff, it's just seriously that awesome.) I decided that the singlet would be the main body of the shirt, and the pattern on the nightie would be for the cowl and cuffs. I wasn't sure if I was going to manage to squeeze out the sleeves from the singlet as well, but the side-seams were very flat and on the *outside* of the shirt rather than the bulk being on the inside. So I cut the sleeves out of the side-seam sections that I normally would discard.

Check out my scraps! The white singlet is on top, and as you can see there is HEAPS of the maternity nightie left! The finished result? Well, see for yourself!

 You can see in the sleeve up there the side seam of the original shirt!

Now I have heaps of leftovers for maybe some little matching leggings?

You can check out other things I have recycled and refashioned by checking out my Recycling Clothes tag on my blog! Thank you so much for having me Magda!

Refashion July 2013 edition!

I've been pretty excited here, and I am so happy to kick off today with my first blog series. It all started as a self challenge last year, as said here, and when I realised I was already inviting a few of my favourite blogger to be part of this with me for this year too.

I was able to put together lots of talented ladies! Some have big/popular blogs, others don't, but I am sure you will love them all equally! So don't miss every single one of them.

Max California - Alida Makes - Feather's Flights - Nelesc Designs - Threading my Way - Serger Pepper - Refashionista - Mammy Made - Carissa Knits - Do Guincho - Sewing Mamma RaeAnna - Made with Love by Hulibug- Winter Wonderings Wanderings & Whatnot - Theresa's To do's - MellySews - Mikelina Makes - Charity Shop Chic - Sew Chibi - Wunderbar Life - Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy! 

I hope this will be a source of inspiration to everyone! Follow and sew along, you can share your refashions with us in the flickr group.

And to start it I bring you a simple no sew refashion of my own for today! I had these jeans I loved and fitted me so well, but they were stained and I always wore them around the house and maybe to the grocerie a few steps away from home. It was breaking my heart that I couldn't wear them more often, to other places too. 

I forgot to take a before picture. It happens to me much too often, and it really bothers me, but I couldn't remember to take that photo until I had the jeans all covered in bleach! That's when I get the autch moment! Lucky for me, I was wearing them back in 2010, when we made a little fashion show with kids. They were all wearing refashioned items.  

Here's how they were before (sorry not too good pictures in this post!!!). 

I had seen a lot of bloggers bleaching their jeans and getting wonderful new pieces from old ones, but I was always a little too scared to try and do it myself. I realised that I had nothing to lose though, my jeans were ruined already so why shouldn't I give it a try?!

And I did it! I bleached my jeans. They were left in the mix of water and bleach for a whole day and night, and from light blue they have turned white. They weren't totally white after dry and they still kept some stains. 

But then I dyed them in my washing machine and they turned out a new pair of jeans, brown, which is a colour I've been loving more and more lately. 

I guess I will be able to wear them a lot more often now! And if I get sick of the brown colour, I think I can re-do it all over again.

It's such an easy process I'm still amazed why was I so scared to try it. And I loved the look of the contrastic thread on the brown of the pants. Don't you?

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