Spring Refashions

We’re off today to Miami for Spring Break!  A nice little mini vacay with my Mom and the kids.  My dad has a condo in Brickell (he works there during the week and comes home on weekends)  and we’ll be staying just a few blocks away.  What’s really great is that Vic (who works in Ft. Lauderdale) can just come and stay with us when he gets off work and won’t have to actually commute so far.  We’re looking forward to spending more time at my dad’s condo before he retires this summer.  The kids love it since he’s high up with a water view from the balcony and his building has a fab pool and indoor playroom.

I have a whole bunch of refashioned clothes done just in time for our trip.  It makes it feel like I have a whole new wardrobe to work with!  I’ll be bringing all these looks below plus a few more additions to Miami.  Packing was easy since everything mixes and matches so well.  Above you’ll also see my newest Watson Bra Sets, Green Thistle Carolyn PJ’s, and my Blue Silk Tank. Packed are my blue UPF Skater Dress, my Blue and White Rashguard and a Pink Beach Skirt.  I’m wearing my fav ikat skater dress :)

I also just refashioned the black tank pictured above yesterday.  It was a long dress with attached waist wraps that my sister gave me.  I cut off the side ties and cut an asymmetrical angled hem and then used a three thread rolled hem in teal to finish my edges.

Plus this is the first time the kids packed for themselves.  With just a bit of guidance on how many of each item they needed they did a great job packing!  Ami had outfits layed out for me days in advance-hilarious!  She’s a little fashionista!

My first look is a little top I made as a wearable muslin with my Briar Rose Skater dress cut down to a skirt.  The top’s fit isn’t quite right, I need to tweak it but I like the cut of the shoulders.  It’s the Sonja free dress pattern from Salme that I wanted to try as a blouse.

My main issues are a slight gap in the upper chest above the bust and the length.  I added a band to the bottom and it’s still short.  It’s meant to attach to the skirt at the waist but even with an added 3″ it’s just at my waist.  I removed the waist darts and angled the side seam out.  Since this is just a muslin I used a small remnant to make this and just left the back zipper off.

The skirt is so comfy and much more functional for me this way. To refashion this make all I did was cut at the waist and then cut the top above the waist into a wide band, folded in half and then reserged together.  I also redid my hem into a simple 3 thread rolled edge using my serger.  I’m slowly trying to learn new techniques using my serger.  I binge watched some Nancy Ziemen videos on PBS this weekend!  I loved the dress but the colors are not my favorites, though perfect for my Sleeping Beauty costume.  I love that I’ll be wearing it more now that its refashioned.

Next I remade a lovely Garnet Hill wrap dress my mother gave me for Christmas last year into a more wearable skirt.  I LOVE this fabric- It’s why I wanted the dress when I saw it- but the dress wasn’t being worn much.  It looked lovely but the V was a bit deeper than I like to wear and in Florida I just really wear long sleeves so rarely.  I debated quite a bit over changing it but decided since I only wore it maybe 2x in the last year it was needed.

I cut the fabric straight across under the armhole seams and then cut it into two angled skirt pieces.  I used the sleeves to make my waistband front and back pieces which are just serged together and folded over before attaching to the skirt.  I liked how the cover stitching looked on the edges so on one seam I left the bottom open to a kick pleat and then seamed the skirt above.  I love how this skirt turned out.

Lastly is my kimono asymmetrical wrap skirt that was just a bit too short to wear except at the beach.  I added a 3″ panel from a Boden sarong that I had already refashioned into a skirt but ended up disliking (pattern testing for an unreleased pattern).  All I did was cut my seamed pieces and folded them in half before serging to the edge of my skirt and restitching my edges.  It’s the perfect addition- slightly sheer but just enough coverage.  And since the skirt was aline and the wrap skirt is angled it added an interesting shape to the edge as it curves slightly in.  I just love the mix of these two blues and they match perfectly with this Linen + Chiffon Floral Top.  Indigo and blue are my favorite color combination.

Looking forward to our little break! So glad I took the time to get to all these refashions.  Do you love remaking your closet as much as I do?  Happy Sewing!