Whee!  My closet just got three new additions for the low, low price of $0.

No, I didn’t shoplift.   I re-fashioned several items that had been sitting in my box of “clothes to refashion” for over a year.  Let’s hear it for stashbusting!

New visitors, here’s a quick overview of how and why I refashion:

Over 1 year ago, I decided to try and cut back on the amount of clothes I was buying.  Not only for the sake of my wallet, but because I was learning more and more about the horrible  labor conditions in so many overseas factory.   It’s hard to find affordable “fair trade” clothes.  Since I had a sewing machine, and a bunch of clothes that I never wore, I decided to turn them into clothes I would wear.   Worst case, if it was a disaster, I’d have only lost a piece of clothing that I didn’t love wearing anyway.  So far it’s worked out well.

This month’s victims: one overpriced sundress from Express in the year 2000, two too-short skirts from Old Navy last spring, and one mid-calf length J Crew skirt from a thrift store (purchased because I knew it had potential).

Here’s the first of the three projects:  the Old Navy combo.

I purchsed the two Old Navy skirts on a whim last spring.  Caught up in the low prices, I forgot to follow my no-sweatshop rule.  After wearing them around a little, I realized that they were too short for me – it felt like my butt was hanging out.  So I decided to make the most of the situation, creating one skirt from two.

After doing some measuring, I cut off the bottom 4″ of the yellow skirt.  (It wasn’t a perfectly straight cut, so I of  course trimmed it up before moving on.)

Next I had to add that yellow strip to the gray skirt.

Here’s my trick for effectively pinning fabrics in place: Use iron-on hem tape to hold the seams together before running them through the machine.  It’s a lot more stable than just pinning, and then I don’t have to worry about pulling pins out as I sew.   Below you’ll see that I used skinny hem tape – 1/4″ wide – because I was sewing over it, I didn’t need more than that.

Here’s what it looked like after the application of both hem tape and pins:

I ran that baby through the sewing machine and voila:  a longer-but-still-fun-and-flirty casual skirt.

I can wear this around town with flip-flops and a tank on weekends, and look so much more creative than if I wore shorts or jeans.  In the spring, summer, and fall, I like to sashay around in dresses and skirts.  They’re more comfy than shorts (especially the miniscule ones that all the kids are wearing now).  Heck, I even have a paint-splattered sundress that I like to wear when doing projects!

Next up?  Using remnants from the yellow skirt to turn that overpriced Express sundress into another fun skirt.

Here’s what I did:

I cut the dress in half, giving me a nice tubular but flared “skirt” to work with:

Hmm.  The skirt definitely needs a waistband.  Enter the remanant of the yellow skirt.   I cut the elastic waistband off the yellow skirt, leaving a little extra flared  fabric below the waistband.  Because that extra fabric was flared, it would create a great little ruffle beneath the waistband.  I turned up the edges of the flared fabric, using my iron and some more hem tape to seal the hem.  Then I ran  that hem through the sewing machine for added durability.

I then sewed the yellow waistband onto the green floral skirt, getting so excited about my idea that I forgot to take pictures of the process.  Then I removed the pocket from the yellow skirt, and sewed that onto the front of the new floral skirt just to add some more fun detail.  (I used the iron-on hem tape to securely position the pocket on the fabric before running it through the sewing machine.

The result?  A very fun, whimsical, and totally unique summer skirt.

Don’t you just love the ruffle detail below the waistband?

As for the final gray J. Crew skirt – all I did was cut off a few inches and hem it. This skirt is more ideal for fall and spring, and will look excellent with boots and tights in the winter months as well.  I wish I’d done it sooner!

So that’s how I got three new skirts for just 2 hours’ work.  I love my new additions to my wardrobe!

Have you ever refashioned anything?  If not, what’s stopping you?

PS:  You can still enter the 2011 Redneck Yard of the Year contest for a chance to win a $25 Home Depot gift card!

I’m going to share this project here:   The Penny Pinching Party at The Thrifty Home;  Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design;  We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado;   What’s Up Wednesdays at Sew Woodsy;  Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts.

Last winter I got this crazy huge skirt at a vintage store in Philly.  I loved the pattern, but the longer-than-floor length size of it was just too much to handle.  I mean, really, how did ladies in the 70′s wear these huge long skirts?  They must have had some badass high heel platforms.

Anyway, I love the colors and pattern and fabric, so I finally chopped it off and hemmed it into a nice knee-length skirt.  I totally forgot to get a “before” photo.

It’s still a bit crazy full, with tons of pleats, but I was so excited that I found a way to make it corporate-appropriate, or at least borderline so, by pairing it with a buttoned-up blazer. I’m just tired of wearing boring black or tan pants and a professional top to the office – and I definitely don’t want to spend any money buying newer, more trendy office clothes. There’s a little black in the skirt, so I think I can also wear it with a black top and black blazer, as long as I pair it with black hose and black boots.

My coworker pointed out that when I took off the blazer the outfit was totally ready for a night of cocktails out on the town.  In theory that’s awesome.  If only my life were so exciting . . . ha!

This is one refashioning that anyone can do.  Even if you don’t have a sewing machine, and you want to change the length of a skirt, just buy some Stitch Witchery – it’s iron-on hem tape.  Just be sure to carefully measure the length of the skirt on all sides, so that you don’t end up with it lop-sided.

Skirt – vintage.  Top, Boots, Jacket – all thrifted.  Necklace – Target.  Haircut – DIY’ed.

You can see my previous refashions here and here.

My mid-year resolution to only buy clothing produced in fair labor conditions is really paying off.  In the form of accomplished sewing projects, that is.  Not only is it saving me money (trips to the mall are O-U-T), it’s also forcing me to tackle the many potential refashioning projects I’ve been stockpiling for far too long.  First it was my $1 little black dress, and now this:

This patchwork dress is quite the relic, actually.  My mother purchased it back in the 60′s as a concert dress (she is an amazing pianist).  I’m sure it was all the rage then, but in 2010 the ankle-length patchwork skirt and long, puffy sleeves made me feel like a peasant working on a farm in 1910 Europe . . or something.  I loved the overall style, though, and thought that with a bit of a reduction in mass, the patchwork could really rock.

The patchwork design made the transformation quite easy:  I removed the bottom tier of the skirt, clipping the seams underneath the yellow banding carefully.  That way the yellow band stayed intact, providing the perfect bottom border for the shortened skirt.  I cut the puffy sleeves off at the seam where they met the bodice of the dress.  To deal with the unfinished edges of the now sleeveless armholes, I took some of the yellow banding off the (already removed) bottom tier of the skirt.

I folded the banding in half, lengthwise, so that it fit over the raw edges of the armholes.  I used an iron to set the fold, then sewed the banding around each armhole. 

I hope that made sense.  Here’s a close-up of the armholes after I applied the gold banding:

I was stoked that I was able to reuse parts of the leftover skirt.  As for the rest of the leftover fabric?  It’s being saved with other fabric scraps that I will use when I sew a totally random, hodge-podge quilt this winter.

So here we have it:  a totally free, totally fun bohemian-esque weekend dress that only cost me about an hour of my time.  The best part?  It’s versatile enough to make it through all the seasons:  I wore it this summer as-is, I’ll wear it this fall with a green corduroy blazer and cowboy boots, and I can totally rock it in the winter with a warm cardigan, some tights, and more boots. I can’t wait to rock it out with the cowboy boots this fall.   I’ve already got the date with Ryan planned in my head:  Hopping the metro to downtown DC, checking out some museums, taking a walk in Rock Creek Park, stopping for dinner somewhere fabulous, then sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial looking up at the stars.  Of course, this is what many of our dates are like. . . but I never tire of them.

Next week’s {Re}Fashion project will be a bit more intense.  I’ve deconstructed a pair of pants entirely, and hope to make them into a skirt.  Hopefully it will go better than my sewing-a-skirt-attempt in 10th grade. . . but that’s a story for another day.