eternal magpie

Today I made a t-shirt:

Unfortunately, I sewed the ruffle on inside out. *rolls eyes*

So I had to take it off, turn it the right way round, and sew it on again.

That’s better.
(The water spots are from the iron.)

(I forgot the “before” picture, but I’m sure you all know what a t-shirt looks like.)

I also made my favouritest dress in the whole wide universe.

It couldn’t possibly be any more ’70s if it tried really hard.
It’s made from a pair of Magic Roundabout curtains, which I bought from . I think the curtains are probably as old as me.

As soon as I’ve bought and sewn in the zip, you can expect to see me wearing this at all times.

Just a quick experiment on an Easter Sunday afternoon…

While Paul was playing Star Wars Lego on the X-Box, I chopped up his old Terrorvision t-shirt and turned it into this…

Before and After:

More Afters:

(the back print // off-the-shoulder // print on the sleeves)

It’s based on the raglan tunic dresses that I made on Wednesday and Thursday. I wanted to see whether I could make the pattern work as a t-shirt with an elasticated neck, and the answer appears to be yes!

This will only really work with generously-sized long-sleeved t-shirts though, otherwise there won’t be enough fabric. Therefore my next plan is to translate the raglan sleeve into a fitted style, which I can make up from smaller t-shirts.

I have loads of t-shirts waiting to be chopped up, so I’m hoping to make quite a few of these tops to take to the Art Market next weekend.

I had my first experience of acupuncture this morning, which was quite exciting!

I didn’t feel up to doing anything complicated this afternoon, so I decided to reconstruct a t-shirt.

Front & Back: Before

Front & Back: After

Details: Side ruching and gathered sleeves

As per usual, I did this in the most complicated way humanly possible. Rather than simply stitching up the sides of the t-shirt to make it smaller, I cut the sleeves off, separated the front and back, made a pattern and effectively started from scratch.

The last thing I need to do is buy some green sequins, and sew them over a couple of tiny holes in the fabric. This is going to be a problem with using recycled t-shirts – the fabric only has a finite lifespan, and sometimes there are going to be little holes. Still, a little piece of interfacing and a few sequins should fix that nicely.

I’m really pleased with how it’s come out.

On Sunday I switched to part-time hours at Waterstones, so today was my first day of being able to get back in the shed and do some sewing!

This dress is one which I started at the beginning of December. I added the skirt this afternoon, and finished off the edges. I’m not best pleased with the binding on the neck and sleeves, but I really like the floaty lettuce-hemmed skirt.

I haven’t actually tried this on yet (can you sense the danger?), but in my head it fits perfectly, looks lovely, and I’ll be wearing it to work on Thursday. Probably with a long sleeved t-shirt and a pair of leggings underneath. (Note to self: buy leggings in the sales.)

This little offering was my first attempt at t-shirt surgery. I bought a fun little book last week, so I thought I’d start right at the beginning with this t-shirt.

As you can see, I’ve chopped the sleeves off, and turned them into a polo neck.

I am trying to force my pernickety side to come to terms with the fact that the edges of the cut-off sleeves are left raw, but I might have to set about them with the overlocker. I’ll see how it goes.

It was very quick to do, and I have plans for lots more. Paul has kindly donated lots of large t-shirts to the cause, so I can hopefully make things in a good variety of sizes.

The Problem:

What to do with a superfluous 4XL men’s t-shirt, which was left over from a regular customer who’s long since dieted out of it…

The Solution:

(Click for larger)

It doesn’t do that funny wrinkly thing above the bust when there are actual arms inside it. Honest.

It sits about four to five inches above my knees, which makes it decent for work in the summer. Possibly also in the winter, with thick tights or leggings underneath, given that those things are fashionable at the moment!

I have a large number of t-shirts sitting in the attic, and an awful lot of spare fabric. I think I might make a few of these. 🙂

The price of these will depend partly on what they’re made from. Anything which uses more than one t-shirt (eg sizes over 60″ bust/hips, or anything in more than one colour) will be more expensive. I can also change necklines, add trimmmings… all sorts of things. You’ll see examples as I make more.

The price for a completely plain one like this will be £20.

Once again, I’m afraid these aren’t available to order just yet. 🙁
I can’t work full-time and keep up with everything, so I’m just making a few bits for myself at the moment.