Tutorial Tuesday: Turning Fashion on its Head; Upside Down Jacket Tutorial

A while back I accidentally put one of my jackets on upside down and voila! A new idea was born. 

I noticed that by putting the bottom part at the top, a very wide collar on a cropped jacket was created. I liked the collar idea but not the cropped part so I decided I was going to reinvent this whole upside down jacket concept. 

I started out with this jacket
that I bought at a thrift store. I knew that I wanted lettering on it because I wanted people to tell that I had turned it upside down. I also wanted it to be green as I knew St. Patricks Day was approaching.

This Audubon Soccer jacket was perfect.  It was green, had lettering, and it also had snaps which could add some interest. I don't know how Coach Accardi (coach's name is in the front) would feel about my refashioning his team's jacket. Oh well. 

I started by cutting it apart; arms are cut and the bottom was cut shorter in the front than in the back.

This is still right side up. I sewed up the lining on the bottom of the top portion and did the same for the bottom.

Then I turned the top and bottom upside down where you get a wider collar on top and on the bottom, you get a triangle hemline. 

I stitched the two halves together this way. I had to create pleats on the middle lower back so the two halves could line up evenly. Can you tell that the collar is the lower back now?

This is what it looks like from the front.

This is how it looks on me

 Front and back.

For the most part, I used the snaps from the original design but I did add 2 snaps at the top and one snap on the bottom of the top part. 

I also did away with the sleeves and simply sewed the green part of the sleeves over the lining turning it into a vest. The upside down pockets are useless now!  

I really liked the way it came out. It's a great vest for transitioning into Spring. Happy early St. Patricks Day!

Update on Frida Kahlo Color Block Custom Order

Hello! Last Saturday I told you about this custom order I was working on.

Well, here it is! My client wanted it in blue and red. I really like the way it came out, very super heroish with this color combination.

What do you think?

Refashioning Something I Made Myself: Ruched Green/Blue Dress

Lately, I have been overwhelmed with lack of sleep, my Dan's fussiness, and my older son's constant complaining. I also have not been feeling well. That said, I have not completed many sewing projects. 

However, I wanted to show you some pics of a dress I made from a self-drafted pattern. I have been working on this project,  on and off, for quite a while but am not super happy with it. The ruching got away from me, it's too long, and I don't like the color anymore. Not what I had in mind.  

I do think there is hope for it somewhere. I am into refashioning, so this time, it will be from something I made myself! I am thinking of either cutting it and making it a tunic or making a high waisted skirt from the bottom half. I might cut the sleeves off too.  

You can tell from my expression that I don't love it, lol. 

Do you have any ideas for refashioning this?

Tuesday Tutorial: Boy Pants from Sweatshirt Sleeves

Rarely, do I sew for my boys. I know, I know, how aweful! I just find male clothing, well, a bit boring. However, my mind was changed when I worked with a really cool male client last year who wasn't afraid to think outside the box in terms of style and really appreciated my design aesthetic. Anyway, I digress, I'll write about that in another post. 

All this to say that for this Tuesday tutorial, I transform sweatshirt sleeves into boy sweat pants! Remember when I made my sweatshirt jumpsuit? I had a couple of sleeves left over and this is what I came up with; a really easy, fun, fast tute:

 I used a pair of Dan's pj pants to outline the shape of the pants. Four piecs make up a pair of pants, two front pieces and two back pieces. Each sleeve will make up a front and a back piece. 

I wanted to sew as little as possible, using the natural shape of the sleeves and the seams already sewn. I cut along the white lines making the shape of the pants.

This is what it looked like after I cut along the white line on each sleeve.

With right sides together, pin the center seam and then sew.

Now you can either fold and add an elastic or attach a waist band.

When I compared them to Dan's current PJ pants, I realized they were too short for me to add an elastic so I pulled out a waistband from another sweatshirt project, 

measured, cut and attached (sewed) it to the pants. I used the waist measurement from the PJ pants. This added a bit more length to them.  

There you have it: boy sweatshirt pants from two sleeves! They were still a bit too short but not as much as they would have been had I folded the waist down and added an elastic like I originally planned. Next time I will use sleeves from a 3X sweatshirt. 

Yes, Dan loves to play with cables! It's one of his little quirks

My model stayed put long enough for me to take a picture of him in his new sweatpants!

I hope you liked this refashion. I particularly enjoyed this one  because I finally made something for my boy. Now I have to make something for the other one to avoid any sibling rivalry!



Custom Order and Tuesday Tutorial coming soon

So sorry I have not posted since Monday! It's been super busy at home. My oldest was home all last week with the flu and then both boys were home this week Monday and Tuesday for winter break. So, I have not had time to take photos or sew. 

I did get a little time, this week, to start on a custom order for this Frida top.  I am making it in red and blue instead of brown and blue.  Can't wait to see the finished product. 

I also had a little time to work on my Tuesday tutorial which I really hope will indeed be available this Tuesday. 

Stay tuned!

Sew and Tell: Sweatshirt Jumpsuit

I continue my obsession with jumpsuits. I made this one from three sweatshirts.

I, again, apologize for the quality of the pics. They came out too light for my taste. I will continue to try to remedy this.

The top is made from one sweatshirt

The top part of the pants are made from two sweatshirts. The bottom part of the pants are made from the sleeves of one of the sweatshirts. All that was left over from the three sweatshirts were the three waist and neck bands and two pairs of sleeves. I am sure I'll find something to make with them!

                    

Here I am doing my best catwalk, lol. 

I am ready for my close up!

As always, I would love your feedback! 



Everyday is Black History Month at Nelesc Designs: BILLIE HOLIDAY

Available at Nelesc Designs for $22.00

Here's another installment of "Everyday is Black History Month at Nelesc Designs." Today I give you Billie Holiday.

Jazz vocalist Billie Holiday was born April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a true artist of her day and rose as a social phenomenon in the 1950s. Her soulful, unique singing voice and her ability to boldly turn any material that she confronted into her own music made her a superstar of her time. Today, Holiday is remembered for her masterpieces, creativity and vivacity, as many of Holiday's songs are as well known today as they were decades ago. Holiday's poignant voice is still considered to be one of the greatest jazz voices of all time. (Biography.com and Wikipedia.com)

Ms. Holiday is such an inspiration to me and I love this image of her inspired by Jazz photographer William P. Gottlieb's 1947 image. 

Here, she is just belting it out, like's she's singing for her life. Her expression is an emotional mixture of strength and pain. This is quite understandable as she died an untimely death at the age of 44, losing her battle with substance abuse. Her humanity is captivating and I imagine that singing, for her, was cathartic, healing, an expressive mixture of both pain and pleasure. 

I love to sing, and for me, as well as for many others, singing has become both joyous and a battle cry. I sing with my kids and it's joyous and fun and sometimes I sing out of frustration, a tuneful scream, if you will.

Another view of Billie Holiday t-shirt at Nelesc Designs

Life is a mixture of both joy and pain and we all need a "go to" playlist to reflect on those times. I know I have one. Going to download some Billie Holiday songs now. 

Happy Black History Month!