Break time!

Not a long one but I have a few projects going that are multi-step and therefore more time-consuming. I'm also finishing up the last book in my Emerald Seer series so I've been mighty busy. In the interim, look back over my projects, check out my etsy store and Pinterest boards, or comment on things you'd like to see me do!

Men's dress shirts to Steampunk-inspired skirt!

This is my favorite piece and I am not even 100% done with it! I wanted to put it up for Men's Dress Shirt Week, but I have a lot of embellishing left to do. This is just the bare bones of the skirt but I have only used men's dress shirts so far so I felt it was the perfect ending to this week.

Just a few of the details:


I added grommets to the back so the closure will lacing like this.

I also did a lot of tucking and gathering to give off the layered/bustled look.

I am going to add a lot more by way of embellishing but the base was made from three men's dress shirts (one is the green/white stripe and then I used two plain white ones.

Men's dress shirt to Children's apron

My kids love to bake with me.  It's something we do together often, actually.  That means we have several aprons in our house and I am always looking for cheap ways to make new ones since the kids are so rough on them.  So, when I started out on this Men's dress shirt upcycle I found a way to get two aprons out of the sleeves.  Smashing!  Of course, I had to raid some scraps for the waistband and I pulled pockets off the men's shirts and I am seriously thinking of embroidering or adding appliques to these to dress them up a bit, but the basic is just the sleeve of a men's dress shirt.

Men's dress shirt to Little Girl's Tutu

I've seen a lot of versions of little girl's tutus and I really think they are fun so here is one version though I hope to do more out of different fabrics in the coming months!

I started with the scraps from two white dress shirts and the checkered shirt I used yesterday.  I cut the scraps into strips and used part of one of the collars for the waistband.  It was really easy from there.  Since the collar already had a button and buttonhole it was perfect.  All I had to do was stitch the strips, one layer at a time, onto the collar.  It took less than fifteen minutes!

Men's Dress Shirt to Women's Dress

Day 3 of the Men's Dress Shirt Re-purpose Week here at Kharmic Chaos and I opted for a Women's dress.  Now, there are A LOT of options for this, but with the cute little checker pattern I just kept seeing a western inspired dress.  So that's what I did!

This is the shirt I started with and the initial cut I made.  I used most of this shirt for the dress so there are just a few scraps left to use for another project (maybe a bag to go with it?)  Anyway, I created this so that the buttons are in the back and gathered the entire "lower waist."  Then I attached a band of my trusty eyelet scrap (because I love it!!).  I apologize for not taking more pictures but this went so fast I sort of forgot!

So, once I had the lower waist and the waistband together (I didn't gather the eyelet at all), I added a button and button hole to the eyelet band so nothing would be amiss in the back.  Then, on to the top.  Since this shirt was pretty big on me, I lopped the arms and collar off leaving a boatneck styled neckline.  I enhanced this even more by doing a small gather at the shoulders.  Then, I attached the "bodice" to the waistline.  This dress does have an empire waist as a result.

Next, I added the sleeves.  To do this, I cut the sleeves at the half-way point to use the lower half of the sleeves only.  This made super cute short sleeves as you will see.  I still had to gather the upper portion of each sleeve to fit the armholes but the effect is really cute.  And, with the natural cuff now being the end of the sleeve it can be worn two ways, either down and button closed for a snug fit or unbuttoned and flipped up.  

Finally, I added a little eyelet pocket and finished the neckline.  It is SUPER cute all together:

And, here it is on:

This dress is for sale in my Etsy store!

Wine cozies & more from Men's Dress Shirt

These were easy and FUN.  There is no end to how I can make these up and I already have a ton of ideas so I am sure you will be seen more as the weeks wear on.  Anyway, I started with this shirt:

Since I have had a few questions about the shirt I used, this particular one is a Men's XL from Express but I got it from the thrift store for around $3.  It did have some damage around the collar as I noted before but other than that, pretty much a steal.  So, as noted before, I made these cuts:

For the wine cozies I just used the lower half of each sleeve (to make two cozies).  I stitched the bottom part closed leaving the cuff for the top of the cozy as you will see on the finished projects.   That's it.  I just stitched the bottom and then dressed them up.  Easy peasy.

I love the neck tie personally.....I have an old one from my Dad and used the end of it for this one.

This is one cozy done with ribbon in two different styles.  I think it could be cute with just the ribbon but again, I really like the neck tie.

Incidentally, there were some decent sized pieces left from the sleeves so I opted to throw a little something extra together using some more scraps of white eyelet and white ribbon....

I stitched closed one end of each sleeve section.  Wrong sides together, I stitched the two sections together, one inside the other and finished it off with white eyelet and white ribbon.  Then I added in a square on each side to hold magnets for the closure.  The last thing I tacked on was the white ribbon handle.  Voila!  Super cute little bag!

Girls' Sundress from Mens Dress Shirt

My daughter is VERY upset that I am selling this one on Etsy, but she really doesn't need anymore clothes, least of all more dresses.  *sigh*  I do intend to make more of these as this one turned out really cute!

I started out with this:

I made these cuts:

The sleeves I set aside for other projects.  The collar actually had a few tears and stains (I don't want to know where they came from, vampire?) so I discarded that portion.  I turned under a portion of the top (front and back) to make a casing for the elastic pieces I used:

Then I added the elastic and stitched it in place at both ends:

I raided my scrap fabrics for some white eyelet and created two cute straps and a small rosette.

It was that easy!  I did take in both sides a teeny bit under the arm so that it would fit a bit better but here is the finished product: