Make a skirt bigger - thrifting-sewing tutorial

What? Sewing tutorial from me? Well, yes, I thought I would give it a try and we will see how it goes. :)

I really like thrift stores and I have often praised the ones in Sweden, there are lots of lovely things in the so called "loppis" shops. Unfortunately, used clothes are quite rare, and in the charity shops they are not too cheap. At least not if you still have to do some work with them so that you can wear them.
Anyway, last Saturday I managed to buy a skirt for only 10 crowns (about 1,20 Euros or 1,50 dollars). I loved the fabric and thought if I can't use it as a skirt I can always cut it up for quilting.

The skirt was way too small at the waist, but then I found a way to sort things out. And it took me about half an hour.

(Just in brackets: I love the many thrifting-recycling-refashioning blogs out there. But most of them follow the same pattern: buy something for the fabric, something that is too big for you and make it smaller. I however find it difficult to buy things that are too big for me.)

I have tried to make a pun once, when I upcycled my old cardigan, and I will repeat it again, perhaps someone will like it this time: up-cycle can mean UP a size :D. So here is how to make a skirt, that is too small for you, bigger.

The skirt needs to be long enough, and flaring out at the bottom. That means if you cut off the top part, it should still be a good length, but the new topline will be much wider.

Here is the skirt I bought:



It had a line of buttons on the front. I tried the skirt on and checked where is the point where I could button it up. It was at 18 cms from the waistline.
I don't like a skirt that buttons all the way, I have had a few uncomfortable incidents with buttons opening in critical places. So I decided to cut them off.

Then I marked 18 cms from the waistline all around the top of the skirt. Like this - there is very faint blue line starting at the 4th button. I cut off the top part along that line.





Then I cut off the buttons and sewed the front together, hiding the buttonholes. Sorry, forgot to take a picture of this phase.

Then folded over about 5 cms on the top, ironed it down, and took it to the sewing machine. Folded under about 1 cm, and sewed a line all around. I feel like I am not very good at explaining this, I hope the photos will help. I didn't pin much, just in a few places to keep the side seams together - since the part I folded down was a bit narrower than the part where I folded it down - so I had to do a bit of easing.






I left a little opening where I pulled in a piece of elastic. Then I sewed together the ends, tried the skirt on, then cut the elastic, cut off about 8 cms and sewed it again. Every time I cut elastic, I measure it around my waist, cut it a bit smaller - and it always turns out too lose.






Anyway, my skirt was almost done. I just had to sew back the buttons, only for decoration, so I decided to go lazy and only sewed back every other button :). And here is the end result:






It is still long enough to reach a bit under my knees. I am actually very proud of myself. :)

I am hoping to wear it tomorrow, will try and have a photo taken in it.



All this has just happened and I sat down to write a blog post about it quickly, but I know I promised some other updates.
Let me just boast say that I have finished my Swedish course, and got a B as a final grade which I am really happy with. But I am still so very tired from all that really intensive work.

There is some cross stitch I did but not much, and I also started quilting my first quilt, made some mistakes, and now it is waiting for some unpicking... I will be back with some photos soon.

Easter biscornu cross stitch freebie

Sorry for the misleading title, but I realised that I need to put the cross stitch freebies in the title otherwise they get lost and nobody sees them. :D This happened to my Easter eggs - the blog statistics show that much fewer people saw those than the other patterns.


But now that you are here, I can admit that first you have to suffer through my sewing and stitching pictures before you see the freebie. (Unless you scroll down :D :D) .

Some of you might remember that I bought a new sewing machine not long ago. My regular visitors might even remember that I started to learn how to sew clothes last summer - using the sewing machines in school because my old one gave up. Now I can sew whenever I want, and my own machine is so much better than the ones in school. So here is my first blouse I made with it:



I used this peasant blouse tutorial to make the pattern, but had to adjust it a bit. Maybe it was me, but when I sewed together the parts, I didn't get a nice round edge at the neckline, but at each meeting point there was a pointed edge, or a triangle protruding - so I simply had to cut those off. Also, I measured myself and then added a bit because I wanted a loose fit - and the result has become more a tent than a blouse. :P It is OK, I can wear it, and it is actually a good feeling that I have at least one piece of clothing that is not too tight or too small, as everything seems to be lately. But I think I would like to redo it if one day I have the patience to take it apart, cut the pieces smaller and then sew together again.
The fabric comes from one of my second-hand shopping sprays, I think it might have been a curtain, but I thought "peasant blouse" right away when I saw it.

Then I finished a bag that I started sewing a month or so ago, in school, whenever I had a few minutes at the end of the day, but could never do really much. It is a bag from Cath Kidston's Sew! book, the cover kit that was given with the book. I didn't have to cut anything, just sew it together. Which, of course, would have been boring so I decided to add lining, and then also added a zippered pocket to the lining. I had to take out the zipper once and sew it again, and it is still not perfect, my top-stitching could also be better, but all in all I am happy with it. I am still learning my machine and this was a perfect little project for that.






I have also started making a dress, cut out the pieces but had to stop, my back doesn't want me to sew again. :( Have to rest it for a few days.

I have done quite a lot of cross stitch, I made squares for the charity I like to help. We are making quilts for sick children and also for an orphanage. If you want to join, stitch or perhaps donate some money for the quilts, here is the Facebook group.

Some of my stitched squares:




(I just noticed that the fairy on the right misses her magic wand, need to add it quickly.)



It warms my heart to know that a child will find some happiness in them - a child who very much needs every minute of happiness.


And finally, as a reward for those who managed to stay with me through this long post: my Ester biscornu.




Find the downloadable pdf pattern here.

You will notice that I have changed the colours of the letters. I wanted to sew a nice pink button in the middle but of course, couldn't find one. So I used one without colour and sewed it on with pink decorative stitches.

Happy stitching, my friends. Wishing you all a quickly approaching spring (OK, not for those in Australia, but the rest :D :D ).

I am sewing clothes!!!

Yeah! I have done it! :D :D

I didn't know how to sew clothes. I have done a lot of adjustments, hemming and things like that, have made curtains and cushions but I have always wanted to learn how to make my own clothes.
So a few weeks ago I started. First I made myself a 3-layered skirt. It was really easy. I followed this tutorial with my own measurements, naturally.

The fabric was a thrifted sheet, the cover-type and it was so nice that it had coordinating fabric on the two sides, I didn't have to worry about whether they go well together or not :) . It is quite see-through though, so I added lining and I am really proud that it worked.





(Don't laugh at the funny way I am standing - it is because I cannot stand straight from the pain in my back. I had to hold on to the railing.)

Then I realised I needed trousers. Unfortunately my old trousers don't fit. Don't ask why, just look at the pictures. :( Making trousers pattern is not an easy thing but then I found this on the internet: how to take the pattern from an existing pair of trousers. So I went for it. Of course, I had to make the pattern a bit bigger than my existing trousers in a few places.

I have a piece of striped fabric I wanted to use but then I decided to start with a muslin and I used another thrifted sheet. It is good because when it was ready, I realised I need to modify the pattern a bit. It is a little too baggy in the front and after reading lots of descriptions, I understood that I have to make the front crotch a little shorter. So I have the pattern modified and ready, as soon as my back is better I will make my final version. But I think I can wear the muslins, too. If I wear a long t-shirt with them, you can't see the bagginess. What do you think? And I am so proud that I managed to make pockets, too!





The t-shirt is "new" as well. It was made from an existing one that was too short, and three others that were too small (two of them actually children size). It doesn't look very elegant but is so comfy. I love it.

Now the next step is to sew a blouse! I have some old patterns and I will try to find some nice fabric when I am at home in Hungary (much cheaper than here in Sweden). So watch this space!
Any advice from more experienced friends is more than welcome!