Transform a T-Shirt into a Leather Yoke Tunic: My Latest T-shirt Refashion

I am so proud of my latest t-shirt refashion! I turned my husband's shirt into a leather yoked tunic!

I couldn't believe it when my husband finally let me have this shirt. Maybe he gave in after the 100th time I asked for it? I loved this t-shirt it from the minute he bought it. The bright, sparkle of the gold leaf design against the black background, the intricate detail of the eagle's wings, and the large gold outlines in the upper right corner made for a beautiful printed textile begging to be refashioned.

I knew I wanted a leather yoke for this similar to the one  made for this tunic out of a purse. But, lo and behold, I didn't have a  leather piece big enough for my yoke pattern. What I did have, was leather scraps so I sewed leather scraps together and made a large enough piece for the yoke. Here it is. I love the patchwork effect from the different types of leather. 

I kept the neck band and simply moved it slightly lower, under the yoke, creating a little peek a boo cut out. 

Lastly, I cut the hemline in asymmetrical fashion to compliment the design which was, indeed, also asymmetrical. I am so happy with the results, and have worn it several times already. It also looks really great with a black blazer or sweater. 

Easy "Cut and Paste" Dress/Jumpsuit Refashion

This was a super easy refashion, my last for the summer, and very much in line with my other jumpsuit creation. The only difference is, that in the previous design, seen here, I made the pants from scratch and bought the top. 

In this one, I used a dress given to me, and a jumpsuit I bought from a thrift shop which turned out to be too large. 

The flowery print on the dress was too overpowering for my frame and the hem was lopsided. I just didn't like how it looked on me, it also showed all my chichos (love handles). It    was made from jersey fabric and had very little structure, but I did love the top. 

The opposite was the case with the jumpsuit. The top part was too big but I loved these balloon, jeannie pants. 

Since I loved the snugness of the top, I decided to keep that part of the dress, it hugged my small torso, and I love the way that feels. This is the very reason I learned how to sew, I often felt like my body was swimming in my clothes making me feel uncomfortable. 

Heres's a close-up without the belt and with Dan hanging off my arm

Anyway, I added the top to the balloon pants to form a collage of sorts of the two outfits. 

...and with the belt, it looks even cooler! More and more, I am loving this sillouette on me, small top and giant bottom. That's actually the shape of my body and I love it. 

I also loved the little surprise in the back. 

There were, however,  some things to consider. First, was the opening of the dress big enough for me to pull over my hips? Check! It was. Would I lose the stretch of the elastic once I stitched the two? I wasn't sure. 

Normally, if you stitch two pieces of fabric together, even if it's two stretchy pieces, the stitches will not stretch unless you use elastic thread, which I had run out of, but luckily, I didn't run out of ideas!  I figured that if I cut the pant part of the jumpsuit above the elastic, I could stitch the two on the elastic and this might continue the stretch. Here's a short video I made showing this process. 

This is the first time I am working with video, so excited! but I didn't realize the audio was so low, so here is the transcription: 

"I am now attaching the top to the bottom, the underneath, of course, is the blouse portion and the black is the pants. Now, I'm stretching it so I actually get the stretch when I actually put it on." 

The only audio here is "weeeeeeeeee", lol. I stitched both pieces on top of the elastic.

It worked and I absolutely love the results. I've already worn it   several times already; to church, my museum job, and the other day, to my son's school open house. 

It really is a versatile piece and so easy to make. 

Listen, if you have clothes you don't wear anymore, chances are there still might be something about it that you love and can possibly refashion into something else. There are too many clothes that end up in land fills. Lets do something about this. Teach yourself basic sewing skills or hire someone to help you refashion your wardrobe (not me though - my plate is currently full).  Over 80% of our clothes are made over seas in Bangladesh and China and they are paying big time for the cheap clothes we buy. Recycle, refashion, it's not just a fad and although it's also about the planet, it's more about our fellow human beings. The planet doesn't need saving, we do. I plan to talk more about this in future posts, I guess it just spilled over here. 

What do you think? 

Wardrobe Refashion: Brown Dress to Kimono Wrap Top

Hi Folks! So here's another refashion; big brown dress + coral infinity scarf = kimono wrap tunic. 

 All photos were taken by my older son. 

I bought this dress at a thrift shop and knew right away it was too big and would redesign it. I was actually hoping the reconstruction would translate into another dress but I didn't have enough fabric. 

I also had this coral infinity scarf which, by itself, was fine but I decided to use it to break up the brown color and add interest to the dress. It was also long and wide enough that I could fold over the neckline and not work to hard to create clean edges. It didn't work as good as I thought it would, though. 

All in all, I liked the way it came out. The only thing I would change would be to line, or double the fabric, on the ties. The edges are not finished and this presents a problem if I don't tuck them in on the torso portion where the ties fold over.  

Front and back 

Okay, I'll take off the glasses! 

Here I am in my best cat walk face, lol. 

I actually wore it to a friend's house yesterday.  

Que piensas? What do you think?