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Torn Blouse to Tunic Refashion

Tunic Shirt Refashion

My mom gave me this blouse to play with because her puppy had ripped the bottom of it. I had already cut off the torn part and sewed the raw edge with a scalloped stitch to match the embroidery on the top. That made the shirt too cropped for my preference, so it stayed in my refashion pile. 

In an attempt to eliminate said pile (who am I kidding, piles), I pulled it out, along with another black and white top with stretched out elastic and a black and white fabric remnant for good measure.

I decided to both lengthen it and add more room at the sides by inserting triangles of fabric. I hate wearing woven tops that are fitted, so I thought that might make it more wearable to me. Here is the end result:

I’m not sure that I’m happy with it. Looking at it now, I think I need to add something from the bottom fabric to the top to tie it all together. I may make two patch pockets and attach them at the bottom of the original shirt and overlap onto the new fabric. Maybe an applique on the back as well? Thoughts?

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Patching Denim with an Embroidery Machine

Finished sewing

I love wearing denim blue jeans, but chasing my boys and taking care of my small zoo, they get lots of wear and tear. One of the worst things is having to scrap a favorite pair because of one too many rips. I’ve repaired rips in a utilitarian way in the past. This time I thought I’d try patching denim using my embroidery machine. I haven’t done much applique, so I learned some things along the way.

This tutorial makes use of an embroidery machine and serger. You could also adapt it to use a sewing machine or applique by hand and embellishing with hand embroidery.

Items needed

  • Denim jeans or other item to repair
  • Interfacing
  • Thread in colors of choice
  • Seam ripper or similar tool
  • Scrap of fabric at least 4 in x 4 inches
  • Stabilizers: Cut away or tear away, water soluble optional
  • Floral denim patch applique design file

Step 1: Open the side seam.

Since I’m repairing a ripped knee, I needed to take out one of the side leg seams on my jeans. Using a seam ripper made this easy, but you could use small scissors, too. I left the seam intact at the hip and ankle, only removing what was necessary to lay the ripped area flat in the hoop without risking sewing it to the back. Leaving a little intact makes it easier to resew the seam at the end.

Step 2: Prepare the rip.

Iron the area around the rip so it’s smooth and flat. If there’s a lot of loose threads around the rip, trim them. I caught this rip before it frayed too badly, so no trimming was needed.

Before photo patching denim
Side seam removed and jeans ironed flat.

I wanted the embroidered area to be solid, so I applied some interfacing to the back of the rip. I used some medium weight interfacing, but any should work, since it’s job is just to hold it together while the jeans are embroidered. This is a perfect project for using whatever scraps are handy.

Interfaced rip
Back of rip with interfacing applied.

Step 3: Hooping.

For denim, tear away or cutaway stabilizer is best. I chose cutaway for the most stability. It’s stiff, but it should soften in the wash. If not, I’ll switch to tear away next time.

I tend to float projects and only hoop the stabilizer whenever possible. This project seemed like it would work better tightly anchored in the hoop. It took a few tries to center the rip in my hoop so that all edges would be covered by my design. My machine has a 4 in x 4 in embroidery field, so the rip just barely fit. Smaller tears will be easier to fit in my small hoop.

Hooped denim
First attempt. Once I put it in my machine and had it circle the embroidery field, I saw it needed re-positioning.

Step 4: Embroidering the patch.

Once it’s properly hooped, it’s time to sew. On my machine, the first color stop said “Applique Material”. I haven’t done much machine applique, but the ones I am used to usually follow the sequence: placement stitch, tack down the applique (then trim excess), sew the final applique stitching. So, confused I just put the applique fabric and a water soluble stabilizer (optional) on top of the rip and pushed start.

stitching denim patch

What my machine was telling me to do was to just hoop the applique fabric so I could remove it from the hoop and cut it neatly. The second color stop was the positioning stitch. That would be stitched on my jeans and then my neatly trimmed applique could be placed in position and the stitching completed. Since I did everything at once, my applique isn’t as tidy as it could be. I will definitely listen to my machine next time.

Finished sewing, but still has water soluble stabilizer on top.
Finished sewing.

Step 5: Remove from hoop and cut away excess stabilizer

I also steam pressed over the back of the patch to start softening the stabilizer.

Patch from the back.
Patch from the back with stabilizer trimmed.

Step 6: Sew the leg seam.

To repair the leg seam, I used a lock stitch setting on my machine. You could also sew the seam twice to reinforce it or just use really heavy thread. I then serged the raw edge. If you don’t have a serger, an overedge stitch or zig-zag stitch would also work.

Finished!

Finished patching denim
Finished patch. Next time I will use heavier thread so the embroidery shows better.

Not bad. I wish I had used heavier thread so the embroidery would show up better. Listening to my machine and cutting the applique fabric to size before I sew it on to eliminate the raw edges peeking out is another improvement for the next time I’m patching denim.

If you’d like to use this applique design, you can download the file here. You can use the design on items you make to sell as well as for personal use, but please don’t sell the design file.

Floral knee patch applique
Floral knee patch applique design image.

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Simple Striped Sundress Refashion

If you search for refashioning ideas online, you’ll find tons of amazing examples of outdated styles being turned into trendy pieces that bear little resemblance to the original. (https://refashionista.net/ is one of my favorite refashion blogs to browse for inspiration.) It’s easy to get overwhelmed with ideas, especially if you’re new to sewing. The main goal of refashioning is to take a piece that is unflattering or unwearable and turning it into something that will be worn again. Sometimes a few simple tweaks are all that is needed to accomplish that goal.

The Dress

Before

This sundress is a perfect example. In it’s original form, it was breezy and comfortable for summer, except that it required a strapless bra to be flattering. Strapless bras tend to be uncomfortable in general. When it’s August in Texas hot, they’re almost unbearable. Having to wear one took away from the comfort of this dress, leaving it regulated to the back of my closet most of the time.

The refashion Fix

In order to fix the problem, I needed to add coverage and a little support to keep the cups in place.

First, I sewed elastic into the seams under the bust. I sewed it onto the seam allowance to keep my stitches invisible from the outside.

I cut the elastic a little shorter than the length of the seam and stretched it to gather it slightly. When worn, it doesn’t look gathered, but it keeps the cups in place.

For coverage, I took the cup inserts from a soft seamless bra and hand stitched them in place. I never use them in the bras, so I have several sets sitting around. By hand stitching, I was able to keep my stitches from showing on the right side of the fabric. Rather than sew all around the cups, I strategically tacked them to keep them secure but invisible from the front.

The result

After

Those two simple tweaks only took about twenty minutes. The final result is a smoother, more flattering fit that doesn’t sacrifice comfort.

What simple refashions have you done that made a huge impact on wear-ability? I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

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Dress to Tunic Refashion

I finally got around to refashioning the green knit dress that I found at Goodwill over a year ago.

Green Knit Dress
Green knit dress

What I did to the dress

I decided to shorten it to mid-thigh and take in the top for a better fit. In order to keep the pretty stitching at the bottom, I took the excess length from the middle.

I took the top in a little at the sides, but not enough to make it too fitted. It’s hot, so loose and breezy isn’t a bad thing.

To join the two parts, I added elastic to the waist of the skirt and then reattached it to the top.

Refashioned green knit dress.

End result

Here’s the result. In retrospect, I wish I had made the elastic fit a bit tighter. Right now, it just hangs fairly straight. I may go back and redo that some other time.

As it is, it’s comfortable to wear over leggings, so perfect for hanging out at home with the kiddos.

A note for homeschoolers

I’ve been cleaning the office and getting our homeschooling supplies ready for our official start to the school year. If you’re new to homeschooling, or just looking for new ideas, I’ll post photos of our setup, as well as other homeschooling tips next week.

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Refashion a Camisole into a Tunic Tank Top

I have tons of clothes waiting for me to refashion them into something more wearable, but haven’t had much inspiration. Recently, though, I came across CreoleSha on Etsy. I love her flowy designs. Luckily, she offers classes on Teachable, so I took her free course on upcycling a sweatshirt or t-shirt into a tunic.

Refashion Camisole Tunic Tank 1
Almost forgot to take a before photo.

My refashion notes

It’s summer, so rather than use a sweatshirt, I started with a camisole tank that I didn’t wear much. I liked the color, but the fit was too loose to use for layering, and the skinny straps made it difficult to wear with a bra. By adapting the techniques in CreoleSha’s class, I turned it into a longer, flowing tank and then added a bit of cotton lace salvaged from an older refashion project to widen the straps.

The added material came from a t-shirt with a large logo on the front. I liked the color, but not the logo, so it was perfect and added some nice contrast.

Of course, pockets are always handy, so I added some patch pockets on the front.

Final result

It’s not perfect, but it’s something I’m more comfortable wearing now. The shirts were wrinkled from storage to the point that the wrinkles came back even after ironing. Luckily they smoothed out with laundering, so I don’t look like I just rolled out of bed when I wear it. More importantly, trying something a little on the artsy side and just jumping in has me ready to tackle more refashions.

A note on my dress form

Before working on this, I took the time to add some batting to my dressform, Athena. She’s a little less padded in some areas than I am, so the batting makes it easier to use her as a fit guide when I don’t want to try things on over and over. The brown t-shirt helps hold it all together and provides something to pin into.

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Easy Leggings Hack for Summer

If you or your kiddos wear leggings, you’ll love this easy leggings hack for summer. While you can use any leggings, it’s perfect for turning leggings that have worn out at the knees or ended up being a little too see-through into something usable, especially when the weather turns hot. This hack is so simple, I feel a bit silly making a post about it. It’s really one of those “Why didn’t I think of that?” things.

How to do it.

All you need is a pair of leggings you want to make shorter and some good scissors. Fold them in half so that the legs lay on top of each other. Make sure the fabric is smooth and the legs match up at the hem. Decide how much shorter you want them and cut them at that length, keeping the line parallel to the hem. My scissors cut through both legs easily, but you can always cut one and use it as a guide to cut the other.

Here’s what I cut off. I like leaving mine either just above or just below the knee.

Because knit doesn’t fray, you don’t have to hem the raw edge. When stretched, the edge will roll a tiny bit and hide the edge. You may want to seal the seam that you cut through with a little fabric glue or a few stitches. I have some I cut last summer without doing anything to the seams and they’ve held up through many wearings and washings without coming apart.

How I like to wear my shortened leggings

I like wearing dresses or skirts in the summer because Texas is hot, lol. With little kids, though, I’m constantly up and down or bending to pick things up off the floor. Cropped leggings underneath give me enough coverage to make dresses practical for everyday. Leggings under my dresses also prevents uncomfortable chafing from being a bit, um, curvy in the thighs. For this purpose, I really like using this hack for leggings that I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing without a long tunic or dress. Instead of taking up space at the back of my closet, they get used and make my other clothes more wearable.

Ways to repurpose the cut off section

The cut off sections can be repurposed, too. A really simple thing to do is make hair bands by cutting them in one inch strips parallel to the hem. Be sure to keep the seam intact so they’re a circle.

You can also make a pocket for your leggings out of the cut off section. Decide how big you want your pocket to be and add a half inch or so seam allowance to each side and the bottom. Use the existing hem as the top of your pocket to save time. Fold the seam allowance under and stitch in place on your leggings where you want the pocket. You’ll want to use a narrow zig-zag or stretch stitch to prevent the thread from breaking. A ball point needle is ideal for sewing knits, so if you have one, use it.

Leggings hack pocket
Here’s one pocket I’ve added.

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T-Shirt to Yoga Shorts Refashion

If you’re new to refashioning or sewing clothing in general, loungewear is a great place to start. It’s less intimidating because, since you’ll only be wearing it at home, it doesn’t have to be perfect. This refashion project is perfect for a beginner because you only need two t-shirts to make it, and it’s mostly straight lines or slight curves.

I originally shared this tutorial a few years ago, before Thaddeus. The weather is beginning to warm up , so it’s a great time to sew some shorts.


I went on a little Pinterest binge a couple days ago looking for ideas to help clear my refashion stash. Saturday night I decided to make a pair of yoga pants out of a t-shirt using this tutorial. I wear a size eight on average, and used an XL adult t-shirt.

Adaptations from the original refashion project

I did make a few changes to the design. First, instead of cutting the shirt down the middle, I cut it down the sides from the middle of the underarm to the hem. This also means you’ll have an inseam and no side seams. That keeps any design on the front or back intact and moves them to the hips.

For the waistband, I cut the underarm seam from the sleeves and squared them up to be two equal rectangles, leaving the hem intact. I sewed the short sides together making a big, short tube from the sleeves. I then put the tube inside the waist of the pants with the pants right side out and the right side of the tube facing the inside of the pants. The raw edge of the tube lines up with the raw edge of the pants. I serged the top together like that. This made it so when the tube is folded down to the outside, the seam is covered.

T-shirt yoga pants refashion
IMG_4452
IMG_4459
Sorry for the awkward pictures. No one was around to take the pictures and Doctor Who was about to start.

I sewed it all on my serger. The entire refashion project took less than ten minutes. I probably should have added two minutes and switched from white to black thread. Or not.

If you don’t have a serger, you can use a zig-zag stitch to prevent breakage. Many sewing machines have specialty stitches for sewing knits, too, so check your machine to see if that is an option. This DIY T-Shirt Bag Tutorial has more information on stitch selection for knits.

Final verdict

They are a little loose at the waist. If I were planning to actually do yoga or wear them in public I should probably add some elastic at the seam. Since they will probably be used mainly for watching Doctor Who while sitting on the sofa, I probably won’t bother.

I personally don’t mind the length, but you could easily make them shorter by cutting them off to the length you prefer. Knit doesn’t unravel, so you can leave the edges raw, or turn them under and hem.

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T-shirt to yoga pants refashion

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