I love our neighborhood for many reasons but one cool thing is that many of the families pass on outgrown children's clothing to other families in the neighborhood.  We were the recent recipients of one such swap.  Our bag of goodies for my daughter included one floral dress, a tangerine colored bolero, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and one striped shirt.  First up on the refashion list was the striped shirt.  For some reason I thought this would make the cutest little skirt and I was right.  This was a super easy and oh so fast refashion.  Just like I like em. There was nothing wrong with the top - I just wanted to change it up a bit.


I snipped off the the top portion right at the armhole opening.  It was the right amount of fabric to create a nice size waist casing.  I used 5/8" elastic.  I love that a button remained after the top chop (just wanted to say that). 

I serged the top edge and then used a small zig-zag to stitch the casing (machine setting of .5mm wide & 2.5mm long). 


My daughter rocked it to school this week.  I love the combo of the this t-shirt with this skirt.  It's a little short so leggings are required but all in all it's a keeper. 

 With spring -- well more like summer in the air I thought my daughter needed a new skirt.  I needed a quick project and right now I am into using previously loved materials.  I've always wanted to try the MODKID Yoga Skirt tutorial (it has been on my to-do list since 2010) so I thought I'd give it a whirl.  Well it is super easy and if you use a t-shirt it gets that much easier - no side seams for the skirt portion and no hemming.  The hem from the t-shirt becomes your skirt hem.   Oh yeah! You just need to connect the waistband and the skirt piece.  I didn't even measure the length, I just cut under the armholes and let the hem fall where it may.   I knew it would be long enough by eyeballing it.


 I used solid colors so a little embellishment was in order.  I didn't want to go overboard because the look I wanted was simple but pretty.  These are bits and pieces from t-shirts that have been used for other projects.


 Materials:
Skirt - Long sleeve XL T-shirt
Waistband - Knit fabric from failed project
Embellishment - Leftover t-shirt pieces from other projects
Cute Model - Darling Daughter


I think she'll get plenty of wear from this skirt.  It looks so comfy that I think I may need one.  I like it worn with her shirt tucked in so you see the bright colored waistband.  Uh oh - look at that pollen on her skirt - allergy season is about to be in full effect. I am super pleased with this project and I know I'll be making more of these. 

I had this purse back in my full-time employment days and I LOVED it.  The right size to haul my stuff, I liked the shape, and the color was different.



 After carrying it so much it got pretty beat up in a few areas so I threw in the back of the closet.  I'd find it from time to time during a closet redux but couldn't part with it.  I've thought about spray painting it or trying to distress it all over to match the worn out parts, but that seemed like WAY too much work.  Then I remembered I had some bronze glaze somewhere in the basement amongst my craft junk supplies.  In a few minutes not including drying time, I had a new bag. The bronze tint gives the whole purse a distressed look without the drama of running over it with a SUV or dragging it along concrete (those where my ideas of how to distress it).  I didn't have to inhale toxic spray paint fumes either. So here's the finished product and I really like it.  Mama's got a brand new bronze tinted bag.

Testing if my idea would work

Supplies:
Metallic Glaze (PLAID Decorators Glaze in Olde World Bronze)
Favorite Beat-up Purse
Paint brush
Kids mismatched sock

Directions:
Paint glaze on with paintbrush hopefully yours will not be separated and grossly goopy like mine.  Put sock on your hand to distribute glaze to achieve the overall look you want - I wanted more in some areas and less in others.  Let purse dry.  Rock your new bag!

 PS.  If I actually start blogging again with consistency I'll talk more about the Friday ReMix.

Risk MORE to fear LESS
FOCUSED DISCIPLINE for UNRESTRICTED living
Do LESS to Do MORE
Give MORE consume LESS
Communicate MORE with my heart and talk LESS with my mouth

Man I feel so energetic about 2011. How did you bring in the new year? I spent it at church with about 80 kids ages 5-11. It was a blast.

My oldest started 1st grade today (big sigh) - what more can I say besides time is flying. I made her dress with the matching headband so she could have a 1st day of school outfit. Hopefully I can do a photo shoot soon. I'm sleepy--the last few days have been hectic. Good night.

I'm starting my back to school sewing. School starts in a week - I know crazy early. It's still hot as blaze here so my daughter can wear her summer gear for a little while. I love to upcycle old jeans to new things. Since turning a pair of jeans into a skirt has been done a million times over - no need to provide any instructions. I added a ruffle to the bottom of the skirt using some fabric from my collection (aka stash). I also used jeans topstitching thread for the first time - it looks really good. Now I need to make a top or find a t-shirt to embellish. I love this little skirt and I hope she does too.

This week's refashion was super simple and quick. I took one of my hubby's old tees and transformed it into a A-line knit skirt with a yoked waist. I made it yesterday and wore it today. It is perfect for this hot sticky weather here in Atlanta. I originally wanted to make the MODKID yoga skirt featured on Sew Mama Sew but didn't have enough fabric. I used an old McCall's pattern to get the basic a-line shape, re-cut it to my measurements (made it hip hugging), and then made a 3" waistband (no elastic). This is my wearable muslin or my trial run of this style. When I find a pretty colored oversized tee I will make this again. I'm not really feeling this drab color and plus the t-shirt is pretty faded. It works for now as something quick to throw on. My first refashion since signing up for my 4 month Wardrobe Refashion.