Linen blazer refashion, #43

Alright I am beginning to get back into things, still have a long way to go. No iron craft this week either since things have been crazy. But back to some refashions, I finally got some pictures taken! Yay!

Thought this might fit as is, I got this on my trip to visit my family. But after a wash, it was a bit boxy and needed some shaping.

Taking it in was going to be a bit of a challenge and then I realized if I did then I would have fit issues with the sleeves. With my arms I would not have room to move my arms. So I needed to get creative. 

I realized elastic would be the answer. I added elastic to the back of the blazer and also down the arms.

Now I have my arm room and the blazer fits better! Sometimes it is just simple! 

Here's the recap! Great blazer for the springtime. Too bad it is summer! Maybe some cooler weather will be in my way. Who knows! 

Cheers,
Lauren

I am back and so will be the blog!

So what I dreaded might happen- actually happened. Life got a little busy and carried away. And my blog took a back burner. Several things happened. I lost my mentor to cancer. It was incredibly saddening and I am currently trying to put things together. The lab was almost ready and I am left with some uncertainty. However, the only thing I can do is to keep moving forward and look for the guidance of others. And maybe say many, many prayers for strength and knowledge to move forward. I cried for days and I am sure I am not done crying. It just feels so surreal.

After that occurred, I took a small tumble down some escalator stairs, I think my head was in the clouds coupled with some water soaked steps and I just lost my balance. Luckily the only thing that I hurt was my shin. No broken bones, just highly bruised ones with a lovely knot. It took some time but I had to stay off of it. Still no heals for me. I did a little bit of sewing. Then I was out of town on a well needed vacation.

So the blog took a back burner. This weekend is catch up with pictures, editing, and scheduling posts. Hopefully things will get back in the swing of things and you will see some good stuff! :) But don't you hate it when your life gets in the way of your life?

Cheers everyone,
Lauren

Navy formal dress refashion #42

BTW, no iron craft this week. Too much going on personally, I just could not do a dollar store craft. :( My apologies!  Instead I am going to have a refashion today!

Remember these dresses? Gosh like back from the 90s? Slits and built in hips!

It is actually an Afred Angelo dress, so someone paid a pretty penny for it and then probably was in a wedding of some sort. I loved the lace portion of the dress and the back. And it fit well.

The slit reminded me of Jessica Rabbit. Like my socks with the dress?

This was going to be an easy refashion. I cut right at the slit. Hemmed the dress and the lining. I then took out those "built in hips"- which you can see in the bottom picture. I simply went straight down where the sew line originally winged out.

Done! Perfect for a party!

After taking the pics, I realized that the lining was not straight so I fixed it. Love this new lace dress! Here is the recap!

Cheers!
Lauren
(almost 1/2 way there!!!!!)

Maxi dress, Simplicity 2692

I am attempted to sew. I am truly. For me, it helps relieve stress. I finished this garment at the beginning of May but took forever to get an end photo. This crazy psuedo animal print in multiple colors, I believe could only be justified as a maxi dress. I opted to turn it into a 1 shoulder dress using the simplicity pattern 2692.

It was an easy sew. Really. I did no pattern modifications other than not gather as much in the bust. Which lead to the zipper issue. I corrected this by adding an invisible zipper that somehow I made magic happen and it completely hides in the seam. I was so excited! Also with the middle band I had no idea if it was going to work or not. It barely worked!

My new dress, which is light and silky feeling. Perfect for summer!

messy hair!

I also was part of the Clara Dress Sew a Long. This also took up  some time. I am almost complete. Post soon to follow! I am still struggling with my blog. Please bear with me, a lot has happened in the part few days.

Cheers,
Lauren

Mom's peplum dress part 2 (refashion #41)

Part 2 of this dress is converting the top portion of the dress!

First, I took out the side zipper. Closed up the side seam. Next, I unpicked the center back with my trusty seam ripper for the new zipper to go in. Now, one of the issues I realized was there was like a big pile of fabric at the neck that stuck out. Like If I was the Hunchback of Notre Dame this would work. For me, not so much. You can see the pin marks where I needed to have a neck be placed. But I also did not want to loose the width. I could afford to look inches in the waist and busst but not as much as the neck. Essentially, I sewed a diagonal while putting in an invisible zipper.

That previous statement would almost warrant a merrit badge but I got it to work. I closed up the top binding. Done!

Neck hump gone! Close fitting top here! 

Such a versatile piece! 

Recap! This was a wonderful 2 for 1 refashion!

Cheers,
Lauren

Mom's peplum dress part 1 (refashion 40!)

Mom gave me another dress (yay for dresses!) I was a big black peplum dress she was going to wear. She actually paid a seamstress to fix an invisible zipper which was not put in right... something I could easily fix for her but I'm so far away....

I had no before pictures which I don't know what happened. So I am going to blame computer gnomes. I only had this picture. An almost semi-before. I had cut off the top from the skirt and decided to turn it into 2 pieces. It was going to take a lot of work, A LOT, to get it to be a dress. I opted to go for basic wardrobe staples. I simply cut the top from the bottom. Nothing fancy about that!

I took in the sides and added a side zipper, which with a tight skirt gave me issues beyond belief. I should have just unpicked the center of it. Lesson learned. I finished the top of the skirt with black bias tape. This gave me a wonderful finishing.

Done! Something simple to go with things. Easy option for work!

Recap! Part 1 is the skirt. Part 2 is next.... I am sure you can guess it, a peplum top!

If you can tell I'm slightly off with my blogging. Normally things are scheduled and I just sort of lost track of things. There are some things that in my personal life that I am dealing with and taking a lot of time. I hoping things calm down soon. I can tell I look exhausted in the pictures. I am very tired. I am just trying to take things as I can. This Friday will be my next refashion. Luckily I realized I am getting close to being halfway done and that did cheer me up.

Cheers,
Lauren
49 left!!!

Paisley Skirt to sundress, #39

Found this lovely orange and dark red skirt that I could not turn down. Too big of course. I thought about what I wanted to do with it and one day when I put it on it hit me... easy dress.

Similar to the red dress I just refashioned using elastic

I decided I would just add elastic to the first tier of the skirt, leave the zipper. And wear as a dress! Done. Easy refashion. Very boho sort of feel....

I did have to hem the lining some but that is about the sewing I did. I did not add the elastic to the lining, only the skirt. But the recap. A really easy refashion.

cheers,
Lauren