The Renegade Seamstress

DIY T Shirt Dress

Posted on June 24, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

A Summer of No Pants.

I love this idea.

Not sure I could pull it off but, I’d like to honor this movement with a refashioned t- shirt dress.

I started with this thrift store shirt which I had already taken in to fit before I took the picture.

Oops. But believe me, it was huge.

I love the neckline and of course the stripes.

I bought a yard of black knit fabric for the bottom of the dress. Cut it to size being sure to leave room for gathering, seams and a hem.

Then, on your shirt, measure and cut where you’d like the skirt of the dress to start. Be sure to leave a quarter inch for the seam.

Next wrap a piece of elastic to desired tightness under your bust and cut to size leaving a half inch for a seam.

Now stretch this elastic out to full stretch to measure how big you want your casing pieces. Cut two pieces of the black knit that are twice the width of your elastic. I used 3/4 inch elastic so my casing pieces were 1 1/2 inches wide.

Sew 1/4 inch seams at the end of each casing piece.

Sew your skirt piece together at the side then mark the sides and the middle of the front and the back. Also mark the sides and the middle of the front and back of your shirt.

Now, gather the top of the skirt using the highest tension and the longest stitch on your machine. Leave nice long threads at the ends so your gathering won’t slip out when easing the fullness to fit onto casing pieces.

Sandwich the gathered skirt between the two casing pieces, ease to match sides and middles, pin and sew.

This is where it gets a little tricky. Right sides together, sew bottom of shirt to the top of the front casing piece only.

When you turn it right side out it will look finished.

Then turn the dress inside out, fold up the inside casing piece, pin and sew along the top edge to form the casing for the elastic. Leave an inch or so open to thread the elastic.

Use a safety pin to thread elastic through the casing.

Measure the length of your dress and hem.

This dress really needed a belt.

So I checked out the belt section in the thrift store and found some perfect refashioning opportunities.

I started with this buckle I had saved from a previous project.

I removed the buckle from this pink elastic belt.

And combined the two for a great new look.

The great thing about black and white, you can accent with almost any color.

I think yellow would be a nice accent color, too. Maybe that will be my next refashion project…. a yellow belt.

I used this same technique when making this outfit last December.

You might also like:

Posted in DIY, Reconstructed clothing, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorial, Upcycled clothes | Tagged clothing, recycling, tee shirt | 50 Comments

DIY Nautical Shirt with Fabric Paint

Posted on June 16, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

So what does a DIY girl such as myself do when they are feeling nautical?

Refashion of course!

Start with a thrift store t shirt.

First, alter your shirt to fit if need be.

(You can find a resizing tutorial here.)

Then for stability and a flat painting surface, slip cut to fit cardboard inside shirt and sleeves.

On the front and back of the shirt and sleeves, draw a line every inch using a fabric marking pen and clear ruler.

Use a small brush to paint your lines.

I used Tulip brand Soft Fabric Paint in Marine Blue. I did water it down a bit. One and a half ounces of the paint did the trick.

Choose a few wooden buttons for the shoulders.

I was lucky enough to get a visit from the Button Fairy a few months ago.

I found three buttons I like and sewed them on one shoulder.

And now I’m ready to launch!!.

I could have bought this shirt at Saint James for $130.00

But instead, thanks to Justine at Sew Country Chick I was inspired to make my own for $1.50.

Priceless! Thanks Justine!!

Some more refashion tutorials you might like:

Posted in Crafting, DIY, fabric, Reconstructed clothing, recycling, Refashion, Refashioning, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorial, Upcycled clothes, upcycling | Tagged nautical, Refashion | 46 Comments

DIY Bleach Pen T Shirt Design

Posted on June 14, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

I seem to have an endless supply of thrift store t shirts hanging around just begging for a refashion.

So today I tried a new technique.

Bleach pen drawing.

And it worked!!!

If your t shirt is too large, first take it in like this:

Now you’re ready for the fun part:

Let the bleach sit on the shirt until it has bleached as much as you’d like then rinse it with cold water.

Wash and dry as usual in the washing machine.

For less than fifty cents, I’ve got a new summer shirt!

You might also like:

Posted in Crafting, DIY, Reconstructed clothing, recycling, Refashion, Refashioning, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorial, Upcycled clothes, upcycling | Tagged bleach pen drawing, Refashion, yellow and white t shirt | 89 Comments

Eastern Oregon Livestock Show 2012

Posted on June 10, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

Americana at it’s finest!

Right here in my little town.

The Eastern Oregon Livestock Show.

Complete with a parade, cowboy dance, carnival, rodeo, horse races, 4H & FFA livestock show and auction.

Volunteers work year round to make this event a success.

I can hear the rodeo announcer from my front porch. He just announced that our community so far spent $305,000 supporting the 4H and FFA kids by buying their livestock.

This is the fifth year Cooper has raised, shown, and sold a pig.

Seriously Maddie, Princess!?!!?! 🙂

I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to live in a place where the community supports and encourages our young people in this way.

If you’re ever in Oregon in the first week of June, step back in time and come on over to the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show.

You’d love it!

Posted in boys, farm life, life, Photography, pigs, rodeo, stockshow | Tagged Americana, Eastern Oregon Livestock Show, history, pigs, rodeo, small town life, travel | 18 Comments

DIY Summer Totebag

Posted on June 3, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

A few years ago, before blogging, I downloaded a tote bag pattern.

For awhile I had that pattern memorized. My sewing machine was smoking as I made bags for practically everyone I knew.

Today, I made yet another bag.

Perhaps my favorite one yet.

Oh wait, I think I say that every time I make a new one. 🙂

You might also like:

Posted in Crafting, DIY, fabric, gifts, Photography, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorial | Tagged crafts, DIY tote bag, fabric bag, tote bag | 69 Comments

Making New Memories

Posted on May 28, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

Posted in boys, family, fishing, friends, life, Photography | Tagged Memorial Day, memories, powder river, travel, vacation | 35 Comments

DIY Summer Maxi Skirt Refashion Tutorial

Posted on May 25, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

I’ve been seeing summer maxi dresses and skirts everywhere!

And I had just the thrift store dress to refashion into one. It was so unflattering in every way except I loved the color and the print.

So I got ruthless with the scissors, first cutting off the top and extra fabric from the sides.

Next, sew new side seams.

Then, using the fabric cut from the sides, make a new waist band.

With right sides together pin and sew new waistband.

Make a small casing in the top of the waistband.

Thread drawstring through casing, tie to fit and off you go looking good for any summer event.

You might also like:

Oops how did THAT get in there? 🙂

Posted in Crafting, DIY, fabric, Photography, Reconstructed clothing, recycling, Refashioning, Sewing, Thrifting, Tutorial, Upcycled clothes, upcycling | Tagged DIY maxi skirt, skirt refashion | 144 Comments

The Crack of Dawn

Posted on May 19, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

I wake up early.

I mean REALLY early……..

4:45 am each day, even on weekends.

I have the perfect house for an early riser such as myself. The entire east side is covered with huge windows giving me a panoramic view of each sunrise over the Eagle Cap Wilderness.

At times, breathtaking.

The promise of a new day.

The crack of dawn…..

Enter….. stage left…….Cooper…….

How many mornings did we sit in the living room as the sun would peek over the mountains and my husband, with his slow Oregon drawl, would smugly say to him,

“Listen, Coop…… did you hear that?”

Cooper would then earnestly cock his head to one side straining to hear something….

“It’s the Crack ‘a Dawn”, Steve would slowly and triumphantly declare, as if he’d just told the world’s most hilarious joke.

With a concerned frown, Cooper would look at us and then stare out the window.

After a while, his concerned frown would then change to a smile, he’d shake his head and skip off to once again catch bullfrogs, snakes, or crawdads in the creek.

This went on for years….

Until one day, as a teenager, Cooper admitted that each time my husband would say that, he’d look for a dinosaur.

A DINOSAUR????!?

Now we earnestly cocked our heads to one side straining to understand why on earth he looked for a dinosaur when Steve told him it was the “Crack ‘a Dawn”.

He just smugly looked at us and declared he was looking for a…

you know…….

a Crakadon……..

I’ll never look at a sunrise the same again. 🙂

Have a beautiful morning!

Beth

Posted in boys, family, Photography, writing | Tagged boys, bullfrogs, dinosaurs, eagle cap wilderness, hilarious joke, nature, outdoors, short stories | 49 Comments

DIY Simple Skirt Refashion

Posted on May 11, 2012 by The Renegade Seamstress

Paper bag waist skirts.

Super cute!

Super easy!

I started with this dress from the last bag sale at my local thrift store. When you divide all the things I stuffed into the bag for two dollars, this dress most likely cost around a quarter.

The dress did no favors for my shape. But I loved the tribal looking motif on the bottom.

It unknowingly became my next victim.

So before you could say, “Costco Jumper”,

I leaped into action.

First cutting away the skirt from the bodice.

I wanted to keep the existing hem, so I measured and cut from the top. I measured how long I wanted the skirt then added three and a quarter inches for the paper bag waist.

I also cut away about twenty four inches from the sides of the skirt. There was sooooo much material there. Much more fullness than even MY hips need to feel comfortable.

I next made a quarter inch hem in the top.

I then folded over another three inches at the top and sewed another hem.

Set the elastic next to the stitching and measure how far from the top to sew the next stitching line to create a casing for the elastic.

Use a safety pin to guide the elastic through the casing.

Just a note about this pink elastic:

Yep, you guessed it, it started out as a twenty five cent belt from the thrift store. When I saw this I knew I’d never wear it as a belt but it was a perfect piece of elastic for some day. Well, today was the day! I took off the interlocking butterflies (which actually have some possibilities for a future project, just not sure what yet) and since the elastic is hidden within the casing, the pink isn’t an issue.

Before I sewed the side seam, I adjusted the elastic within the casing and tried it on to see if the fullness was appropriate.

Then last, but certainly not least, I sewed up the side seam, put on some seriously fun shoes, and I’m now ready for a date with that ruggedly handsome husband of mine….Now where is he?