Category Archives: Refashion

Flip Flops

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Now that summer is over you probably have a pair or two of trashed flip flops. Perfect! You can turn them into brand new footwear to get you through the winter.  P.S. If you’re dying to do this refashion and don’t have a pair of old flip-flops Walmart has them for a dollar a pair, although now that it’s colder in many parts of the country they may not stock them anymore.

inspired by A Pair and a Spare

Platform Shoes

I saw this project over at A Pair and a Spare and just had to share it with you all. Thank you to Foam Magazine for initiating this project using pieces of foam such as the type you can buy at Michael’s Crafts Stores of Joanne Fabrics. A pair of old flip flops can be the perfect start to a new pair of platform shoes. If you’re dying to refashion a pair of shoes into a pair of platforms, picking up a piece of craft foam is a good option but I’m patient, persistent and a die-hard refashioner so if I don’t have a pair of old flip flops I’ll look for a pair while garage-saleing or thrifting to make my platform shoes. The flip-flops don’t even have to be your size. They can be your size or  bigger, just not smaller. Cut or pull off everything on the flip-flops leaving the sole bare. Place the shoes you’re restyling on top of the flip-flop sole and trace around the shoe so you’ll know where to cut later. Use a craft knife or Exacto knife to cut along the line you’ve traced. Repeat with the other shoe. Depending on how thick the sole of your flip-flop is, you can stop here or repeat with another pair or two of flip-flops until you have the desired height of your platform shoes. Glue the flip-flops to the bottom of your shoes. Let the glue dry for the appropriate amount of time.

 

inspiration from A Pair and a SpareYou’ll notice that the edges of your flip-flops look a bit raggedy. You can cover the edge of your platforms in a variety of ways:

  • glitter
  • sequins
  • decoupage fabric, lace, magazine pics, gift wrap … around the edge – protect with several coats of clear varnish or shellac
  • glue string or ribbon around and around the edge until it’s completely covered
  • sand the edges until smooth
  • and leave as is or paint

 

Urban Threads fantastic sweater boots

Sweater Boots

There are tons of tutorials all over the Internet showing you how to create a pair of boots using the sleeves of an old sweater. I like to use a pair of stripped down flip-flops for the soles of these boots rather than a pair of ballet flats because the thick foam helps to keep my feet warm, whereas the ballet flats make me feel as if I’m walking on top of a block of ice (when it’s cold out). Check out these tutes:

Urban Threads –  Sweater Boots

Craftster Argyle Sweater Boots

Craftster Knee High Sweater Boots

Happy Together Gathered Top Sweater Boots for Mom & Daughter

 

Eeyore Grows Up

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I fell in love with this boxy, way too big for me v-neck t-shirt because of it’s lovely shades of lavender and Eeyore’s sad eyes staring out at the world.

Once again I forgot to take a before pic, but this one is the same shape.

 

This was a simple fix to take this shirt from frumpy adult who looked as if she was hanging onto her childhood way too long and make it over into a t-shirt that is both super cute and fantastically comfy. I know, I know Stacey and Clinton from TLC’s “What Not to Wear” would roll their eyes at describing any garment as comfortable but I really think this works both ends of the spectrum, fashionable AND comfortable.

First thing was to remove the collar. I cut it just below the stitching all the way around. Then I cut off the sleeve hems and bottom hem just above the stitching.

At this point I could have just tied it in a knot at my waist and called it a day, but I wanted to take this one a bit further. I found a Spandex lavender workout shirt that I will never EVER wear again (stop snickering!) and cut a horizontal tube six inches wide leaving the bottom hem intact so I could use it for the bottom hem on my new t-shirt. I slipped the tube on around my hips and since it had fit me well before I cut into it, it now fit snugly around my hips. Perfect!

I used chalk to mark both the bottom of the t-shirt and the top of the tube at the middle front, middle back and left and right sides. After pinning the bottom of the t-shirt to the top (cut side) of the lavender tube, right sides together, stretching the tube to match the marks on the t-shirt and so that the t-shirt was gathered to fit the circumference of the tube, I stitched it all together, put it on and fell in love.

t-shirt gathered to fit tube

 

 

view from the front

view from the side

 

I did try it on with Eeyore in front but I like the surprise of Eeyore on the back and felt that it looked a little more grown-up than entering a room with Eeyore greeting everyone.

I’m so happy with how this refashion turned out that I’ve been looking for oversize tops and coordinating Spandex shirts at garage sales ever since. I’ve made a few more and each one has turned out very different. For instance, I applied the same tactic to an over-sized see-through lace blouse which I wear over all sorts of cami’s and tank tops. I love that it pairs well with either jeans or a pencil skirt.

Tanktop Topper

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I have this collection of scarves which I can’t get rid of because they’re so beautiful, however not only do I not wear most of them, many of them I’ve NEVER worn. Egads! What was I thinking? I thought I’d start wearing scarves tied into chic headbands and around a ponytail, forgetting that I rarely actually wear a ponytail and that scarf headbands slip off my head before I can even leave the house. Yet still I kept buying these beautiful scarves and now I’m determined that I’m going to find ways to use them in my wardrobe. I started with an easy one, a medium sized square scarf.

I can't let all the beautiful detail in this scarf waste away in a closet.

I measured across my shoulders to get an idea how long a slit to cut into the scarf. Then I cut a slit. Note, I said SLIT. I didn’t arc the cut downwards as this is such a sheer scarf I wanted it to cover as much of my chestal region as possible. I liked how I thought that would look.

After putting my head through the slit and determining that I had cut it as much as I wanted I stitched two short rows of zig-zag stitches on either side of the scarf to create bat wing sleeves.

To finish the edge of neck opening I used a drawstring left over from a skirt I had refashioned. It was a very light weight silk so it would go well with this scarf. I didn’t use the entire drawstring. I just zig-zag stitched the drawstring to the edge of the neck opening all the way around and cut away the excess drawstring, saving it for another refashion.

Worn over halter top as a coverup.

This is perfect worn over either a wife-beater tank or a silk cami. I’ve even worn it over a halter dress when a backless dress wasn’t quite appropriate for where I was going. Because this scarf is so sheer I didn’t think that it would provide any warmth, but it does help a bit when a day turns chilly. I’ve also worn it as a scarf by inserting my head through the opening but not putting my arms through the sleeve openings. This style of scarf is much more modern that any way that I could have worn it as a simple square scarf.

 

Sweatshirt Makeover: Olympic Style Sweatshirt Turned Cardigan

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Sweatshirt makeovers are difficult for me. I love sweatshirts. They’re soft and warm and I really don’t want them to be anything other than something comfy to throw on over my top on a day turned chilly, but then I don’t want them to look like most sweatshirts tend to look, boring and/or frumpy.

Somehow or other this white Olympic style sweatshirt turned up in my clothing stash.

Go team!

 

I really don’t know where it came from. I know the progeny of each piece of clothing in my closet and refashioning stash came from but this one is a puzzle. I know I wouldn’t have bought it new and it turned up way before I started doing any garage sale trolling for my refashioning bug. Anyway, I never wore it but I kept it because I love how if fits and adore the sleeve detail.

Gorgeous!

 

First step was to bind the top of where I wanted the zipper to end up on the new top.

Step 1: Open the zipper. Stitch a bar tack by hand or machine over the teeth on both sides of the zipper, each side separately. In other words don’t stitch the zipper closed.

over and under

and across to build up the bulk of the tack so the zipper can't run over it

 

Hint: if you have a heavy gauge thread, use that and you’ll spend a lot less time working the bar tack.

Step 2: Cut off the excess zipper just above the bar tack, in between two of the zipper teeth.

Then I used a seam ripper to take the zipper out down to the top of the cumberbund-like waist and right at the point where I had bound the zipper. Spread fray check on the zipper bar tack and the zipper tape to prevent fraying.

waist band

 

I folded the front to the inside to create a deep v-neck. Since I wanted to be able to wear it open I finished the inside of the v-neck by folding it under once and then again and top-stitching it all down – AND DONE.