A Male Reconstruction February 27, 2008

Sounds painful doesn’t it?

The Breadwinner is getting old. Well it’s his birthday anyway. He didn’t want any money spent on him and he didn’t want presents and he was being al me-like and anti-consumerism. I can’t argue with that but I couldn’t not get him anything either.  So I compromised. I found a jacket for $1 at a favourite op shop.

Of course Mr Funky Dude wouldn’t be seen dead in a plain old suit jacket so I had a go at making it more interesting. I frayed the edges and added a dull blue trim. Then I had Son and Heir do a drawing of his Daddy which I copied onto the jacket in redwork (although in cream, not red). Oh and I added some vintage buttons from my stash. The originals were as boring as buttons can get.

One day, perhaps, if I practice a lot, I will be able to stitch a straight line. I’m fairly happy with my concept, despite my dodgy stitching. With more time, I could probably have found a better jacket to reconstruct too. I’m really pleased with the redwork though.

The Bread Winner was intrigued and not displeased with my efforts. Whether or not he wears it is altogether another question…

Op Shop Shirts ready for the knife February 9, 2008

I picked up these 2 shirts for $1 each today.

I’m going to use this tutorial to make sun dresses for next summer for the Lil Miss and maybe my niece. Awful shirts but lovely fabric for sun dresses.

Job’s done! Love that tutorial. I’ll be doing that again.

The first shirt I’m not so thrilled with but the second (which ended up with a matching bag) looks fabulous.  The bodice trim is a lace scrap off a dress of mine I reconstructed into a skirt and cardigan lining. I really excited myself by recycling one of the original labels from the shirt which stated that it was made in Australia and gave the washing in instructions. All still applicable so I reattached it in an appropriate position. Clever hey?

Next reconstructions February 9, 2008

I have one shrunken angora/wool polo neck jumper of the Breadwinner’s. One summer dress of mine that doesn’t look so good since my boobs moved south and a slightly too large denim skirt that I don’t love the cut of.

So my plan is to use the waistband and zip of the skirt and add it to the shirt of the dress to make a new skirt. The bodice of the dress will be used as binding on the cardigan I plan to make out of the jumper. I have no plans at present for the bulk of the skirt.

First up is the jumper. I have heavily zigzagged along where I want to cut top hopefully prevent fraying. Then I cut off the neck, leaving a crew neck and down the middle of the front, creating a cardigan. I cut long strips from the bodice of the dress and zigzagged the edges of them (gosh I’d love an overlocker). I have used them to bind the cut edges. Next it needs some method of fastening. I can’t see how I could make button holes through the thickness of the binding and the lace overlay would probably fall apart if I tried. So instead, I decided to make little loops to hook over buttons. The loops are made from the straps of the dress. I didn’t have any buttons I was happy with so I covered a couple with a little more of the lace overlay from the bodice of the dress.

Next job, the skirt. Attaching the waistband of the denim skirt was easy enough. The challenge was the zip. Normally, a zip would be inserted into a seam.  Due to the way I had deconstructed the dress (and the delicacy of the fabric), there is no seam. Secondly, the use of the denim skirt waistband dictated the zip placement. So what I ended up doing is sewing the zip to the outside of the skirt so ti is fully visible. I  did tuck the bottom edges under and heavily zig zag them in place to secure the bottom but the edges were just sewn on top. I used a close together zig zag stitch in invisible thread and sewed several layers of stitching. Then I simply undid the zip and cut the fabric to make the opening. I hope the zig zagging is enough to keep it together in the wash!

I am absolutely thrilled with the result. It’s the loveliest outfit. I managed to retain the gorgeous fit of the dress when I turned it into a skirt and the cardi sits just perfectly on the hips to be quite flattering. I can’t quite believe I’ve made a great little outfit that can be worn separately or together that looks quite so good. OK I’m no sewing guru and I’m sure there are many talented people out there who could do far better but for me, this is a fabulous job. And new clothes for nothing are a joy!

My First Reconstruction February 8, 2008

This was a lovely brown merino jumper of the Bread Winner’s that had moth holes in the cuff and collar. Far too nice to throw out so I cut a much larger neckline to remove the holes and shortened the arms to my length. The neckline is now like a boat neck but comes down in a V in front. I zigzagged the edge heavily before cutting and bound in a remnant of a green floral quilting fabric. I added a fuzzy brown vintage button at the base of the V just for fun.

The neck is a little wider than ideal but certainly wearable. Not much I could do about that though, the placement of moth holes dictated neck width.

The original jumper. A little hard to see but it had a polo style collar.

And now

From sheet to circle skirt February 8, 2008

I found this sheet for $2 in an op shop recently and teamed it up with a wonderful tutorial on making circles skirts from What The Craft

I wanted to make a waistband out of the large strip that runs across the top of the sheet but wasn’t quite sure how to do it. Instead I made a stretchy fabric elastic casing and hid it inside. The wide strip waistband attaches at the back with a press stud allowing the llng bits to fall behind like a bustle. I’m quite happy with the effect. Not bad for a first go anyway.

The Front

The Back

A reconstruction frenzy will commence shortly February 3, 2008

Hooray! The Breadwinner has cleaned out of his cupboards. Lot’s of sorting through but I’m sure there are some things just begging to be reconstructed. I have lots of ideas I want to try out too. Let’s hope some of them work!