Mid-Century Sheets into Simplicity 1099 Skirt

What most people think when they see a set of sheets at a thrift store "Eww! Who in the world would buy used sheets??"

What Kimberly and I think "Hmmm. That's a nice print I wonder if there is enough fabric to make a skirt out of?"

That's exactly what we thought, when we found this mid-century full size sheet set at our favorite thrift store. We looked at each other and I put them in the basket.

The pattern Kimberly chose (Simplicity 1099) called for 7 5/8th yards of fabric and we got it out of $1 sheet set! If that's not a Thrift Store Score I don't know what is! Haha

Sewing this skirt has shown me something about my sewing preferences. Because of our long hair I prefer using buttons instead of hook and loops for the waistband closure. I've actually started making notes on different patterns to make the waistband longer to make space for a button and buttonhole.

Shhhh...Changes were made from the pattern

- Used a button instead of hooks and loops for the waistband closure.

- Cut two inches off of the length (Still included the 5' hem)

- Self-drafted a lining! My first time doing one and it worked! :)

 From the stash: 

- Full size sheet set for skirt fabric (Bought last month)

- 2 yards White Knit for lining (Gifted from my Grandmother's stash, last month)

- Button (Gifted from my Grandmother's stash, last month)

- Thread

Happy Saturday!

-'- Jewel

Fabric busted on this project: 9 7/8 yards (9.0297 m)

Fabric busted since March 1st, 2015: 47 5/8 yards. (43.5483 m)

See Jewel's pledge and get more information on the 2015 Stashbusting Sewalong HERE

We would love to hear from you! Say a quick "hello" in the comments before you go!

Bottle Necklace Refashion {DIY}

Last year, I bought a set of best friend necklaces for about $2. 

I'm a little old for them but they were cute and cheap. Maybe, nobody would notice? 

After further inspection, I found that they were little pieces of paper held on to the bottle by transparent tape. I was able to peel the "labels" off and "ta da" We have two empty bottle necklaces!

Scroll down for one of the DIY's!

I call this "The Note In The Sand" incredibly original right?!? ;)

It was simple and I don't know why I didn't do it earlier! 

First, I put some sand (from our trips to Alabama) in the bottom of the bottle.

Next, I cut a piece off of a strip of a photo paper, tightly rolled it, and secured it with tape. 

Lastly, taking a red marker. I carefully drew a bow, put the note in and popped the lid back on. 

Done! 

A quick 'n' easy way to change the look of it,

-'- Jewel

Wearing: Moon's in a White Sky 

Pocketbook ReFashion

Supplies:

- Pocketbook

(Found mine in the $1 bin at Shopko Hometown)

- Paper of your choice.

(I used 12x12 scrapbook paper)

- Glue or Mod Podge
- Binder Clips
- Scissors
- Stamp and Ink (Optional)

Step 1. Is obviously, remove the cover. :)

Step 2. Take your book and lay on top of your paper. Trace the book on the wrong side of the paper with a pencil. Make sure to trace the back, the bind and the front. Cut out your trace.

Step 3. Line up one side of your paper with your book. Clip and flip.

Step 4. Glue on the bind.

Step 5. Put the clips on the binder and wait for glue to dry. (I waited about 30 minutes)

Step 6. Glue remaining sides of paper to outside of the book. Place clips on each corner.

Since, I only had two clips; I switched them to the other two corners after about 15-20 minutes.

Step 7. Carefully trim up edges.

Step 8. Decorate the front however you like. I used a stamp and black ink.

(The stamp is a Thrift Store Score I found in a bundle! I'll be sharing the bundle soon!)

 

I'm using it as a sewing notebook. Writing down ideas, measurements, and future sewing related projects!

-'- Jewel

An Apron For The Bride

 My cousin got married!!! Yay!

I wanted to make her something special. 

Our Grandma Carol passed away last year and I thought it would be cool to sew something out of one of her shirts.

I decided on an apron and went to work right away...

I chose a shirt that had a matching under-shirt because it meant more fabric for the apron and it worked with the colors of her kitchen.

The pattern is see & sew b5125 option A.

Have a great weekend!

-'- Jewel

Office Chair Refashion vol. 2

Yay! Samantha's office finally has another chair!

This time around we actually used spray adhesive and it works so much better then carpet tape. lol 

(If you are confused, go read "Office Chair ReFashion vol. 1" :)) 

Can you believe this was a $5 garage sale find??

I love the way they look!

Click here to see "Office Chair ReFashion vol. 1"

Happy weekend,

-'- Jewel

Photography: Jewel

Sunflower Dress from a Vintage Sheet

I made this dress back in March of 2014 for Easter. It was ready to wear the day before!

 I found the sheet at Goodwill in Austin, Texas for $5.99.

Mom and I had to put two patterns together because the skirt of the dress pattern was too full for the sheet.I used McCall's M6745 (C) for the bodice and McCall's M6706 (D) for the skirt. After making the dress, I still had a good amount of sheet left and decided to use the sheet for the bodice lining.

Hope you enjoyed this peek at this sewing project.

Happy Saturday,

-'- Jewel

Photography: Jewel & TaMera

Bland Gold to Bold Black (A Light Refashion)

We went down to Samantha and Edwin's at Thanksgiving! 

We always do some DIY/refashion projects while visiting and this was no exception.

First up: A Light Refashion

Samantha found the tutorial on Pinterest and Dad wired the light up into the tree for super easy access.

The mirror is another DIY project of Samantha's she used the same black paint as the chandelier.

It looks fabulous! 

-'- Jewel

Patterned Pattern Box

I have a lot a patterns. 

(Mostly, dress and skirt patterns. You can see some here, here and here.) 

I needed a storage solution, that didn't involve a drawer and preferably in plain sight.

After buying the latest patterns to add to my collection. (or is it addiction? ;)) 

The plastic zip-bag, I was storing the patterns in was not big enough! 

I decided to use an almond box to store them.

Which worked but made me hungry and it was a little unsightly. 

Didn't take me long to change that!

1. The box of wonderfulness
2. Lid and flaps cut off
3. Hot glue dabbed in the bottom (to help strengthen) 
4. Lid hot glued to bottom (also to help strengthen)
5. Patterned paper cut a bit longer than the height of the box
6. Paper glued to sides.
7. (Not pictured) Using the extra paper, I attached it to the side. 
It didn't quite fit but I had a strip of paper that matched and cut that into four pieces, to cover the seams.

I LOVE having them right there on my desk! 

Talk to you soon,

-:- Jewel

Bridesmaid Dress Refashion

 

TaMera found this orange bridesmaid dress at a second hand shop in Alabama. She fell in love with it, orange is her favorite color! Just a little change...

 

A timeless dress, easy to dress up or down by changing the shirt underneath! The change was simply making it into tea length dress. Kimberly did the cutting and I did the minimal hemming that had to be done.

 

Smiles,

-'- Jewel

Chair Recover

 

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we were in Texas at Edwin & Samantha's we had a great time!...and of course she had a list for us to do. ;) One of the projects was her dining room chairs...

 

 

Her Kitchen colors are red, black and cream. When Samantha purchased the dining room set from the previous owners they went with her theme; unfortunately they are stained, discoloring and starting to look kind of shabby. Time for an upgrade!

 

 

(Apparently this is what the chairs looked like before the cream?)

 

 

She chose to use red fabric because it will not show stains as well as cream and won't look really dark (like black) against her chairs. And...the material she found was marked down from $29.99 to $4.99 a yard! *Score!*

 

 

(Disclaimer to my fellow Nebraskans: The K-State shirt I found in a hotel room. So don't get upset ;) )

 

 

Yes, I did help Dad, I wasn't just posing...

 

 

Before                   Original?               After      

 

 

Samantha and Edwin loved the result! Which makes it a job well done!

 

-'- Jewel

 

'Frayed of the Jacket - Army Jacket Refashion

'Frayed of the Jacket Tutorial

Both of these jacket's we found at Kohl's 2 years or so ago. The dark green one we got for $10 and the light green jacket was on the super sale rack $2.97!! SCORE!! They mostly just hung in the closet, until now!
Enough about that. Here's the tutorial!
 

 

Lay out your jacket as smooth as you can. You can iron it if you would like but its not necessary 

 

Get your favorite pair of scissors and a pair of tweezers!

 

 

Cut about 1/2 inch or so along the edge of the sleeve. How much sleeve you leave is how long the fringe is going to be. 

 

(Over explaining: want longer fringe cut farther away from the seam...)

 

 

Something like this

 

 

Repeat on opposite side

 

 

Your jacket vest should look like this

 

 

Notice how the fabric has grooves in it; those are going to be your new best friend!

 

 

With the tweezers gently start pulling apart the fabric.

 

 

See how the fabric just seem to be unraveling that what you want!

 

 

Just keep pulling, just keep pulling, just keep pulling <--Finding Nemo reference...sort of ;)

 

 

This project will take awhile but it's easy to do! Here's a few tips that I found during the some what monotonous process...

 

 

Tip #1: Take your tweezers and make a hole about four strands away and make a hole, then gently pull the tweezers to the top

 

 

Tip #2: Switch from working on the front of the fabric and the back

 

 

Tip #3: Pull one strand at a time and just get them loose, then pull all of them away at the same time!

 

 

And once you are done on the one side...Repeat!

I have enjoyed the vests so much, wearing both many times!...Not at the same time of course ;) I'm sure you will love it as well!

If you find any tips in the unraveling process that helped you. I would love to hear them!

 

-'- Jewel