Monday, May 7, 2012

New Blog and a refashion

  Ever since I discovered the world of craft blogs, a couple of years ago, I've entertained the idea of writing my own. After all, I love to create and I love to write. All this time though, there have been a couple things in my way.

  Firstly, I just didn't feel like I would have enough to contribute, not enough to regularly post. In the end I realized that some of my favorite bloggers aren't my favorites by reason of quantity, but because I like the things they make. I decided that it doesn't make much difference if I only post once a week, just as long as I have fun doing it. And if I'm lucky, someone besides me will enjoy what I write.

  Secondly, I couldn't come up with a name! That one held me up for months after I decided to start a blog. Finally, a few weeks ago, I was talking with my husband about blogging, and had him suggest a few names. The first ones he came up with just didn't quite fit ('Legendary sewing,' anyone?) but when he came up with the perfect pun on our last name, I just had to go with it. I do, often, say 'grr' when I am sewing and creating. It can be a very frustrating and rewarding experience.

  My final roadblock seems really silly to me: the guts and time to just sit down and write the first post. As you can see, I have finally conquered that one. =)

  So, to make good use of this first post on my new blog, I am going to share a refashion that I did a while back, when I first learned that there was such a thing as refashioning. Here is the 'before' picture in all of its glory (NOT!) :
   I wasn't in love with this dress when it was first given to me... it was handy while I was pregnant but just wasn't flattering.
   I lopped the bottom of it off and hemmed it to turn it into a shirt, slit the neckline and stitched down the sides for a v-neck, and added a denim tie. I took off the original ties and tied them at the shoulders, and stitched down the sides to make it a little more fitted. That turned the dress into this:
  I still wasn't completely happy though. It was just a little awkward to wear and still not very flattering. So after wearing it a couple times I took the leftover fabric and made sleeves out of it, adding lettuce-edging at the wrists. I removed the stitching from the armholes, then sewed in my new sleeves. I also got rid of the waist tie and the shoulder ties, then took out my new hem and lettuce-edged that too. I took the sides in some more, and since it was still too low-necked for me, I cut a bib shape out of a white shirt and inserted it under the v-neck of my new shirt. This is my finished product:
  I have to say, out of all the refashions I have made since, this is the one I wear the most often. I think it looks much better than when I started with it, do you? Or maybe I should keep going and turn it into a dress for one of my little girls... ;-)
 Thanks for stopping by,

6 comments:

  1. Very flattering and I love the lettuce edging.

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    1. Thank you! The lettuce edging is my favorite part too. =)

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  2. You did a great job. I want it. Lettuce edging is waaaaaaaay beyond me. I can barely sew a hem. Congrats on being featured on Marisa's blog NDAD. Kathy

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    1. Thank you Kathy! Sometimes I actually find the lettuce edging easier to do than a regular hem... the hard part is making sure the zig-zag goes over the edge on one side but stays on the fabric on the other. =)

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  3. Congrats on your blog! And your re-do is awesome!!

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    1. Thanks! I'm happy to hear that you like it. =)

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