A Sweet Upcycled Sweater

Okay, so this is a super duper later KCW post- it was finished for day seven, the last day of KCW, but I had issues with Blogger so I shut my laptop before I started to pull out my hair. 

So now you know and we can move on!

This is another fun upcyle that turned out great, in my opinion. I found the knit skirt at the thrift store and it was originally from Target. Don't you just love the fun colorful stripes???

I had seen a swingy, slightly baggy but girly sweater on a kids clothing website (I've forgotten where now or else I'd link to it!) and just loved the shape and fit of it. 

So I decided to draft a similar top for K and it was so easy! Instead of a straight bodice, I cut a slight bell shape instead. I added lace trim at the sleeve seams and at the bottom hem to make it even more sweet and girly.

The short sleeves are from another thrifted sweater and the collar of the sweater is from the bottom hem of the skirt- I simply folded it in half and applied it like bias tape and it was done!

I don't know why I like this combination of top with skirt. It seems like major stripe overload but I just thought it was adorable together! K did too- and when she wore this outfit out into the cold the other day, we simply layered a long sleeve  shirt underneath the sweater with a pair of colorful leggings under the skirt with her boots and she was a fashionable upcycle do!

I seriously enjoy fun colorful upcycles and look forward to sharing more with you soon! I've got a lot of thrifted treasures that are just waiting to be turned into something wonderful!

KCW Day Three: Foxy Upcycled Sweater

Okay- so today's post lacks a lot of photos because I have an uncooperative model but I did manage to sneak a few cell phone shots in during lunch so you can see how this darling upcycled sweater looks on a body. 

I used a thrifted Russell brand sweatshirt for the fox face and sleeves. The gray sweatshirt material was leftover thrifted fabric and the nose and eyes are simply black felt appliqued onto the front of the sweater. And the white fur on the ears? Also thrifted faux fur material! Yeah, I know- I hang out at the thrift store a lot but look what came of it!

My inspiration for the sweater came from this design found on my Pinterest board. I love large modern applique on children's clothes~ as seen on my previous KCW post as well!

What else is there to say? He's adorbs! I love this sweater and plan to make a few more upcycled animal sweaters for my other kiddos. Still plenty of faux fur left over and my daughter requested a panda sweater so why not? =)

I'm so happy to be keeping up with the winter KCW challenge. I thought winter wear would not be as fun to sew up as summer clothes but I was totally wrong! It's been a ton of fun and there's more to come tomorrow! I'm truly excited for day four's post because I made THREE pieces! Stay tuned!

KCW Challenge Day Two: See Kate Sew's Kaleidoscope Top

Ahh, I made it to day two of the KCW challenge so I guess pre-planning and preparation actually does work! I'll have to keep that in mind for future projects. =)

Today, I sewed up a fun and easy top from See Kate Sew (Purchase the pattern here.) I upcycled a thrifted golf tournament blanket for the base of the sweater- I think I have enough left over to make a miniature version for the littlest! 

I knitted the collar a few years ago and it was originally going to be the border of a knit skirt for K when she was a baby but I never got around to finishing the skirt. Did you know that knitting takes a long time especially when there are young, demanding children around 24/7?! But I love the truly handmade details of knitted items and so I had to add this touch to the sweater!

The unicorn was K's special request. She makes one for every item I sew up for her and I guess if I want her to wear it more than once, then I must comply as long as the request is within reason.

I drew up the unicorn silhouette onto some white fleece then appliqued it on the front of the sweater. I had imagined just sewing gold sequins to the horn but K wanted lots of colored sequins so I gave in again. The colorful sequins match her personality anyway. I really like how the large graphic applique really makes this '80s-inspired top really modern and girly.

I didn't finish off the sleeves as the pattern originally suggests. I kind of like the unfinished look and since the fabric doesn't ravel, it was fine. 

She loves the look of this outfit- so retro, groovy and cool. =) 

Yep- this one's a keeper. It's comfortable, pretty, and layerable. (That's not technically a word, but you know what I mean!) 

Go get the pattern for the Kaleidoscope sweater if you haven't already! It's a great unisex pattern that sews up in less than an hour! Maybe you could sew it up for the Spring KCW challenge! =)

Upcycled Rainbow Romper

I love a successful upcycled outfit! Especially one that you can barely tell was upcycled from something old! This rainbow romper is one that could be chalked into that category, I think! In a flurry of excitement and anticipation, I completely forgot to take a picture of the before: just a simple Old Navy rainbow-striped knit sundress that I've had for 6+ years and couldn't bring myself to donate because I loved the striped print too much. And now that I'm on a roll with this upcycling/refashioning thing, I thought I'd give it another go and see what happens.

I love rompers in the summer time and so when I dug the dress out of my "To Upcycle" bag, I immediately envisioned a romper. Not just any romper, but a bubble romper. I'm loving the bubble shorts- skirts- tops trend right now. It's adorable and comfortable and very easy to achieve with a little elastic.

Rainbow stripes + romper + bubble silhouette= uber cute, right? Throw in some Photoshop doodles and it's instant eye candy for all to enjoy! =)

Here's a back view of the romper. Same as the front, minus the rosette. The pink bodice is a ribbed knit fabric that I found at the Goodwill. I think I got about two yards worth for $3...I love my local Goodwill- someone's always donating awesome fabric there!

I simply cut an unfinished strip of the pink knit to make a quick sash for her tiny waist. The pink knit is stretchy enough for her to just open the neckline and step into like a skirt. I love stretchy fabric- no buttons or zippers to deal with, right???

Peek-a-boo! To be honest, she hated the elastic at the hem of the shorts. I don't know why! They're not too tight but she kept wanting to pull them down to her knees. That would've ruined the whole bubble effect I was going for! She knows all about the bubble effect- she loooves her bubble skirts so I don't exactly know why she didn't like the bubble shorts. But anyway- she's adorable in this romper and she'll wear it AT LEAST once more this summer before it gets passed down to a younger cousin. That's what I'm hoping for anyway! 

Now I really need to get working on stuff for my boys! I recently went through all the kids' clothes and realized my baby boy only has three pairs of shorts for summer! That might be enough for older kids but babies are messy and I don't want to be doing laundry when I could be outside enjoying some warm weather! Luckily, dad had some old stuff he was going to donate and I snuck some stuff out of his pile to upcycle for junior. I'll show you what I made with those another time! 

Joined the link party at Feather's Flight blog! Go check out all the other handmade stuff- so inspiring!
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Find me here, as well as hundreds of other awesome upcycles!

A Colorful Bohemian Retro Refashion!

Today was a gloomy day outside. After having experienced some gorgeous springy weather the last week, this week's cold and clouds has been kind of disappointing. But it also forced me to stay inside and do some reorganizing and planning for future sewing projects. A refashion was on my list- especially since I have bags and bags of old clothes sitting under my craft table just waiting to be turned into something useful and adorable. Luckily, inspiration struck when I saw these two fabrics stacked together: 

A long bohemian skirt and a '70s muu muu dress.

It's like they were meant to be together, right? I definitely thought so!

And this is what I made with those pieces. A Bohemian Retro refashion/upcycle that my daughter actually likes! I love peasant tops for summer and of course, skirts and dresses are essential summer pieces so I married the two and came up with this fun look.

I even created some rosettes: one for the neckline and three more for the apron.

So here's how quickly it came together: 

1. Cut out the four pieces for the peasant top. Two for the bodice and two for the sleeves. You can find free peasant top patterns online with the help of sites like www.craftsy.com or a new pattern place I love spending hours on is www.sewset.com. I've found several patterns on both sites that I'm going to eventually try out- they're both endless sources of inspiration, in addition to Pinterest, of course!

2. Line up the curves of the sleeves with the curves on the bodice and sew together, making sure the right sides are facing each other. This fabric was a sheer woven cotton so I kept having to double check that I was sewing it correctly.

3. Next, fold down the neckline twice to create a casing for the 1/4" elastic. Sew it down leaving a two inch opening to insert the elastic, run it through and sew it together. Stitch close the casing and then finish your sleeves the same way with elastic. In my case, I merely hemmed the sleeves because my daughter hates sleeves that squeeze in on her arms. Now the bodice is complete so on to the skirt.

4. After measuring how much I needed for the skirt, I snipped down the length of it from the elastic waistband at the top, making sure to hold on to the elastic so that I didn't lose them. I pinned the new seams together and sewed up, creating a much smaller skirt from the large one.  

5. I gathered the bottom of the bodice to make it the same size as the skirt. With the skirt right side out and the top inside out, I inserted the skirt up through the neckline and lined up the edges. Sew together and finish all the seams as needed.

6. Yay! Just made a dress! But it needs something more...right?

7. So I added a pink apron with an overlay made from the bottom of the large Bohemian skirt. I created more matching rosettes and hand sewed those in a cluster at the top corner of the apron and sewed another one in at the neckline.

And here she is modeling her fun new look for us! Sorry about the messy hair- this was right before her bath so we weren't about to doll her up just to undo all the work right after our photo shoot.

Seriously- what's more fun & easy to wear in the summer than an easy pull on peasant dress? It's also colorful (obviously) and Bohemian cool- just full of personality, isn't it?

 I love the fabric rosettes. I'm going to be making more and turning them into a fun ribbon necklace that can also be worn in her hair.

Isn't it cute? My favorite refashion ever! I'm now more inspired than ever to go through those bags and bags of clothes and making some unusual pairings with the fabrics! This one was so fun and fast, I could make one for each of the girls in my family in just a week! Imagine how colorful that family picture would be, huh? =) Looking forward to it! Happy sewing all!

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Linked to jembellish.blogspot's upcycled clothing page.