Mini Pip

Just Add Elastic! Dress to Skirt Refashion

I haven't done a refashioned piece in awhile. I love refashioning because the basic garment is already there. Sometimes all a piece needs is a new hem or sucked in sides. This dress needed a little more work than that.

 

My mom bought this dress from Macy's. Its American Rag, which happens to be my favorite brand. It did nothing for my mom so she passed it onto me. I was going to shorten the hem and take up the straps and keep the same dress but after pinning it, the dress did nothing for me either! It only took about 5 minutes (to take pictures) before I grabbed a pair of scissors and chopped the top off!

I cut the top straight off, leaving as much fabric as I could without cutting into the armholes. I measured 2" down and folded the raw edge over, leaving an opening for elastic.

With elastic in and the seam sewn shut, I made this little dress into a skirt! I even kept the old hem!

I do wish I had thicker elastic on hand. I would have loved a super thick piece but I took whatever was in my stash. I'm wearing the skirt to work tomorrow so we shall see how it wears!

My Bookshelf

I was organizing my sewing books today. This shelf is full of patterns I planned to make, techniques I've wanted to learn, and ideas that have once filled my head. It reminded me of this quote:

"I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited."

- Sylvia Plath

 

Work has been stressful this week, I'm trying to get some creativity back. I'm escaping to the farm this weekend and hopefully that will get me back on track. 

The Craft Apron

The last apron in my collection is the craft apron! I love this apron because it has FOUR pockets so there is a lot of room for pens, notepads, a cell phone, and anything else you may need to carry around.

My mom wears hers when she is at the farmers market to have everything on hand.

 

Details:

Each denim pocket : 5" wide, 7" deep.
Fabric pocket on front : 3.5" x 4.5"
Apron top to bottom: 13.5"
Top length:13"
Bottom length: 17.25"
Straps 30.5" each

On etsy!

 

Related articles

The Ruffle Apron

The Full Apron

The Full Apron

Today I'm introducing the Full Apron! One of the more practical aprons I mentioned yesterday.

I tweaked this pattern multiple times to get the top to lay just right and am really happy with the final result.

See the ruffle apron and fabric details here!

Bodice: 8.5" x 8.5"
Waistband: 18"
Skirt: 16" long
Pocket : 3.5" x 4.5" ( fits an iphone)
Neck ties and back ties: 29" long

Available on etsy!

The Ruffle Apron

I've been working on my aprons for about a year now and they are finally ready to be released! I have three designs in my mini collection so I thought I would give them each their own post. First apron I'm sharing is the ruffle apron.

I designed this apron a few years ago for my mom. She wanted a cute apron to wear at farmers markets and needed a small pocket for her phone. This was the result! Out of the collection, this is the "fun" apron. The other two are a little more practical (still cute though) and I'll show them over the next few days.

A little note about the fabric. All the printed cotton is from Monaluna, an organic fabric company. This fabric is stunning. I had been searching for pretty, colorful and fun organic prints and didn't find what I was looking for until this collection.

Now the details:

From the top of waistband to bottom of last tier, 15.5".
Pocket 3.5 x 4.5"
Length of waistband 18.5"
Back ties, 31" long, each.

Now available on etsy!