Sew Carrie Sew: Re-Fashioning!

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Re-Fashioning!

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Wow!

It's been much too long since I did a blog post. I've been in mask making mode, but now I have a bit more time to sew for myself.

I've been attending our outdoor services at my church and because of the heat, I wanted to be comfortable (don't we all). Maxi and high/low dresses work...but can still be hot.

And since I don't wear shorts, I thought a few skirts might be in order. But alas, I haven't fabric shopped since November...what could I use from my stash?

I took a look, but decided I didn't want to use my stash for casual skirts. So I chucked the whole idea!

Then...one day I accidentally wore a pair of jeans that were much too large and I had to fiddle with them for several hours! When I got home, I decided to carefully arrange my jeans so that wouldn't happen again...ever!

While doing so I discovered a few pair of denim capris that were even larger than the jeans!

That was my AHA moment! Skirts...make some really casual, fun skirts with the capris!

So...they went from this:

To this:

I'm sew happy with them!

I started by determining the length I wanted and cut it about 2 inches longer. That allowed me to shorten the front to the length I wanted and to leave the back a bit longer...since I was not actually constructing a garment and could not do a full butt adjustment! Yes, there is such a thing! LOL!

I then cut the front and back inseams open. I laid the capris flat on the table and crossed them over each leg. This took a bit of double checking where they crossed, so I wouldn't have a pucker or point at the intersection.

My next step was to sew those seams flat and cut away the excess from the inside.

Then I adjusted the side seam to fit my hips! This must be done prior to hemming the skirt!

Because the over laid seams determined the size of the splits in the front and back, I then needed to decide how to best cover them.

I thought of a piece of lace I've had for more than 20 years! I'd never decided what to do with it and was sew glad that I hadn't given it away.

When I checked, it was the perfect size for the front and back of the skirt...without making it look formal.

I used Wonder Tape to temporarily hold the lace in place, so that I could stitch it down and cut the excess away.

Note: Because of the lace attachment, I hemmed the skirt before attaching the lace.

I love how this lace works so well with the denim! Fun!

I actually followed the same process for this khaki skirt! It was larger, so the front and back pieces crossed over enough that I did not need an insert.