Friday, October 28, 2016

2016-10-28: Cheshire Cat Vest

The completed project

There's a great thrift store near my house- Texas Thrift.  It's on Fondren just south of South Braeswood on the west side of the street.  The items are tagged with different colors, depending on when they were received.  Each Monday one of the tag colors is selected to sell for only $.99.

There is always good stuff to be had there.  I Last week I found 6 shirts nice shirts for Bert at $.99 apiece.  On another Monday I found this gray Disney t-shirt with the Cheshire Cat.  It was too small for me but I loved the cat.

Before
Cutting out the good parts
 After washing the t-shirt I carefully cut out the cat and most of the spooky-looking tree.


I then appliqued the cut-out to the back of a raspberry-colored hooded vest.  The entire cutout was outlined in black so I only needed to use black thread in a zigzag stitch to apply the cat to the vest.

I'm very happy with the result.  Plus I already own a cheshire cat hoodie hat with matching mittens and a cheshire cat fanny pack with a tail.  I'm ready for the cooler weather plus the ensemble would make a great Halloween outfit, too.

After



Tuesday, October 25, 2016

October 25, 2016: A More Complicated Upcycling Project



Finished front
Finished Back



I bought an interesting Ralph Lauren man's shirt at a thrift store.  I liked it because it combined plaid with southwestern motifs.  Unfortunately, it didn't close around me, so I had to enlarge it besides restyling it.

I cut out a 3" strip from the middle back of the shirt (about 3/4 of the way) and inserted an 8" piece of black fabric with embroidery on it in complementary colors.  After I tried the shirt on again I thought that the addition looked too jarring.  It needed to mesh with the rest of the shirt more.  So I appliqued the pieces that I had removed back onto the fabric insertion.
restyling the back of the shirt
 I didn't cut the shirt all the way to the collar because the shoulders fit fine and it would be too much trouble to redo the shirt collar.  That left a space that needed to be filled.  I covered it with a piece of black lace from my stash.

Of course, then the front needed something more.  I added more black lace above the pockets.


Before - front
Before - back
When I first started restyling clothing I enlarged tops by adding fabric to the side seams.  I've found that it works better to simply add to the garment back.  That preserves any darts besides being an easier, better looking solution.

Saturday, October 1, 2016

October 1, 2016: My Poodle Shirt Refashion

I bought a t-shirt from The Mountain that had big poodle face on it.  The shirt was light gray.
After
I lowered the neckline and shortened the t-shirt.  Then I dyed it pink and added a big silver bow.

Now I have a shirt that looks like my little Sweetsie-poo! 

 I think my grandkids will enjoy looking at their Grandma wearing this silly shirt.


Sweetsie and me