Reconstructing a Shirt into a Skirt

       The last piece in my Summer Reconstruction series is a velvet shirt that was desperate for a makeover. When I found this top, I really liked the color and texture. The velvet has a cool squiggly imprint, however the style of the shirt was all wrong. Using this fabric for a top is outdated, so I realized that what this garment really needed was a total re-purposing. I envisioned a piece that I could wear going out or on a date and created a simple, fitted miniskirt.

 

        To transform this shirt, I cut the top half off just below the sleeves. This left me with a piece of fabric almost ready to wear as a skirt, but in order for it to fit better, I needed to do a bit of sewing. I put the skirt on, pinned one side to fit against my leg, and sewed a seam there. Next, I folded the raw edge of the waist and sewed it for a clean waistline. Because the fabric is very stretchy, I needed to take in each seam a little more than most fabrics.

Thank you to Naomi Kolok for taking and modeling in the photographs featured in this series! 

Reconstructing a Skirt into a Dress

      My favorite piece that I've redone this summer is a skirt that I turned into a dress. I had a bit of difficulty deciding on the style I wanted because the skirt had so much fabric to work with. There were many ways I could drape it or add sleeves, but I finally decided to stick with a very basic style that could be worn a few different ways. This way, I could wear it with or without a belt, move the straps to one side, or wear it without straps at all.

 

       The skirt originally had a lining, so I cut it all off to make the material lighter and easier to work with. Then, I added straps at the waistband with thick, black ribbon. Lastly, I cut a long piece of thin ribbon to use as an optional belt. 

Thank you to my beautiful cousin Naomi Kolok for modeling in these pictures!

Reconstructing Another Button Down

      Here's another button down that I transformed. This shirt is a pretty basic button down in a comfortable, stretchy fabric. It fit really well, but had horrible, poufy sleeves.

         This time, it was a very quick fix. I took out the sleeve seams with a stitch ripper, ripped off the outdated sleeves, then sewed new seams along the armhole edges. Now, I have a simple, tank button down that's a perfect basic for summer. I like wearing it with the bottom buttons undone and tying the ends in a knot, retro style!

 Thanks to Naomi Kolok for taking these photos!

Reconstructing a Scarf

         The next piece in my summer reconstruction collection is a shirt I made from a scarf. Technically, it was just a rectangular piece of fabric that I've had for a while, but this design could be made out of any large scarf.

         First, I cut the fabric into two equal, smaller pieces. I hemmed all the rough edges, and then placed the pieces on top of each other for the next steps. To create sleeves, I measured how wide I needed the neck hole, then sewed about two inches on either side. Then, leaving enough room for arm holes, I sewed along the sides about six inches from the edges (keeping in mind the shape of my torso). This makes the excess fabric flow down the sides and looks really pretty when it's belted.

Thank you to Naomi Kolok for modeling in these photos!

Reconstructing a Skirt

         For my second reconstructed piece, I altered a vintage skirt. I fell in love with the pattern and colors but when I tried it on, it didn't look quite right. I decided it would only need a couple adjustments before it would be a piece I'd be wearing all the time. 

         Skirts are my favorite things to get in thrift stores because they come in cool, unexpected patterns and there are a lot of ways to turn them into modern fashion. A few years ago, I bought a skirt in the same style as this one and simply pulled it up over my chest and belted it to make it a dress (see that post here).

           This skirt was a little big around my waist, so the first thing I did was take it in on the side. Then, I cut a slit on one side that reached about halfway up. Once I sewed all the necessary seams, it was finished! A very easy way to make an old skirt more wearable!

Thanks to Naomi Kolok for helping me with this photoshoot! She'll also be modeling in reconstruction posts to come! 

Reconstructing a Button Down

         For my first reconstructed thrift piece, I created a sleeveless top from an eyelet button down. I loved the fabric but the shirt itself was very boxy. First, I cut off the sleeves then took the shirt in for a slimmer fit. I also added darts to the bust to allow for more room up top after I'd taken it in. The shirt still has a more boyish fit, but now it's not quite so shapeless. 

I wore my shirt in LA the night my boyfriend and I went to City Walk.

Standing at the Universal Studios fountain.

Andy and I in front of Universal Studios!

Reconstructing the Old

          Every summer, I do a lot more sewing than usual. With all the extra time I have, I like to design dresses and fix up thrift finds. This year, I've taken six pieces from drab to fab and did a photoshoot with my cousin to showcase them. In the next couple weeks, I'll be featuring a different piece each post and giving the steps to how I made them. Here's a little sneak peak of the pieces I made!

Modeled by Naomi Kolok

Modeled by Naomi Kolok

Bisou Bisou and a License to Drive

  
   Today I took my driving test and passed! It's taken me a long time to get all my hours logged so it was mostly a relief to finally get my license. Afterwords, I called up my dad at his office and my older sister in Virginia to tell them the good news, then headed to Starbucks with my mom and little sister for a celebratory coffee. We hit up a local farmers' market that turned out to be not as splendid as we expected, so we spent an hour across the street at Goodwill. What was just going to be a quick look for one or two 90's floral dresses, turned into filling my whole basket with dresses and scarves for new clothing recreations. I had to narrow down my findings by a few pieces, but walked out of the store excited to start new (and finish old) sewing projects! Now, if I need more thread or fabric, I can drive my way to get it!

My driving outfit...comfy to drive in but still fun.

The most important part was getting my hair and make-up look'n good for the license picture!

The sweet little drawing my 8 year old sister made to congratulate me on getting my license.

This is a skirt I found that I realized could be transformed from frumpy to cute by pulling it up

into an instant dress!

 

I don't know what to call the pattern of this skirt, but I love it!

My Bisou Bisou shoes I got for $4...they're very simple but the braid makes them look so cute!

Stay tuned for the outfits I'm going to make using this skirt and pair of heels!

In the meantime...bisous bisous pour vous!

Denim Visions

    Lately, I've been on a sewing spree! I have a bunch of t-shirts that I never wear and I'm intending on cutting and stitching them up into original creations. So far I've finished the denim vest I mentioned a couple posts ago and I'm quite happy with how it turned out. As you may remember, I was a little skeptical about it in the beginning. This is because I wasn't going by any pre-made patterns and I never took a single measurement...truthfully those are the steps that make sewing tedious for me, so whenever I make clothing I eliminate them completely!    

  I made my own pattern (well, you can hardly call it that) by drawing out a simple shape on paper, holding it up to me, tweaking it, and repeating these steps until I came up with two pieces that looked like they would fit. I traced the two pieces onto old pairs of jeans, and cut the basis of what I built everything else off of.

   After I stitched the four pieces together, I let my creativity lead me. My favorite part of constructing any piece of clothing is building off of each element I add, just as an actor learns to do when they're improvising. I never draw my designs beforehand, I formulate what I want to create in my head and put it directly onto fabric. I then make changes based on instinct. It's definitely not the most full-proof way to sew because I never know how something will turn out until it's finished, but I like the thrill of experimenting and I normally feel more satisfied with the end product than with what I had originally imagined it would be.

Hopefully, this will be one of many unique creations

I'll be making over the course of the summer.

So stay tuned for more to come!