“Disaster Dress” refashion

Before & After pics of this refashion:

My friend, Nicole ordered this cute dress and when it arrived, the sizing was WAY off! It was so small that it may fit a size 0-2. She sent it to me to see if I could do anything with it. I was afraid I would only be able to save the bottom portion of the skirt because it was that small!

Well, I removed the elastic in the waist and chopped off the top of the dress since the bust line would not fit her.

I ended up saving the entire skirt portion of the dress because I changed the top to a yoga waistband. I made this “disaster dress” (as my friend called it) into a cute maxi skirt w/a custom drapey tank to match. I can’t wait to see pics, Nicole!

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What would you like to learn?

What tutorials would you be interested in?

*Taking in or letting out trouser pants?

*Making your own patterns?

*Altering/customizing store bought patterns?

Let me know which one you are most interested in & I’d love to write a tutorial 😉

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Sewing tip: Easy peasy spaghetti straps with a serger

Ever try to make spaghetti straps? Seems doable, right? Just sew down one side of a strip of fabric that’s been folded in half lengthwise…then turn it to the right side…wait, how the heck do ya turn it?!? Sure, you can use the old safety pin trick to try and push one end through the other, but what if your strap is too thin? What if your safety pin opens half way through pushing it through?

TRY THIS! If you own a serger, making spaghetti straps just got real easy!

First, make a long chain stitch by serging with no fabric (you want this chain to be the same length as your fabric strip or longer). Pull on the chain stitch to lengthen.

Next, lay the chain stitch down the middle of your fabric strip and fold fabric in half.

Now, serge down the right portion of the fabric strip, making sure to avoid the chain stitch thread. Serge all the way down the strip and cut the end of the chain stitch.

Now, pull on the end of the original chain stitch that’s laying down the middle of your new fabric tube.

Keep pulling so that the tube slides through the other end, pulling itself right-side out.

Pull on the chain stitch until you’ve turned the entire tube right side out. And now, you have a spaghetti strap!

Sewing tip: Re-attaching an existing zipper

Ever find yourself with this problem?

I bought this pair of skinny jeans for a mere $8 since the zipper needed mending. I’m a sewer so I figured it’d be a quick fix . Well, time has gone by and I haven’t found the time to mend them until now. Luckily, I had just enough matching thread leftover from another project.

So, I pulled out my zipper foot.

. And I moved my needle to the left position…if you have a Bernina, make sure you do this or you’ll break a needle.

With any machine, I advise you to check your needle position any time you place a different foot on. I do this by manually turning the dial to make my needle move to the down position. This way you know if you need to move your needle position to the left or right (and you won’t break a needle!).

Now, I just placed the foot down on the zipper, turned my dial by hand to place my needle down and made sure it was lined up with the existing stitching.

I sewed a straight stitch down the side of the zipper. It does get a little tricky down at the bottom since it get bulky and you’ll have to smash your zipper down a bit (or maybe just zip it up!). Make sure you reinforce your stitch when you start and stop…maybe you can avoid having to mend it again!

Now, your zipper is back in place! And it’s time to rock your cute jeans again 😉

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Sewing tip: When your machine just wants to eat up your knits

I love knits! I honestly prefer sewing with knits over any other fabric. People look at me crazy when I say that. Yes, knits can take some time getting use to, but in my experience, they are also the most forgiving when it comes to fit!

When I first started sewing, I’d grab something from my closet and cut it up to refashion. Knits were my go-to since I didn’t use patterns and I could just guess my way through sizing. Now I have a better understanding of fabric and sizing and I still LOVE knits!

With that being said, I have found some knits to be finicky and at times my machine has tried to eat them! Okay, maybe she’s not trying to eat them, but she sure acts like it 🙂

I have my stretch needles in, my tension set, everything in order but some times it just won’t happen. But I discovered this magical little thing…

Well, I tried this little trick, placing tissue paper under the fabric as I sewed…even used a stretch double needle to hem a tunic and not once did my Bernina try to eat the fabric!

So, I thought why not share this little trick with all of you. I know you can buy stabilizer at the sewing store but why spend money on that when you can buy a packet of tissue paper anywhere for 99 cents?!?

Give it a try! Seriously, just lay the tissue paper under your fabric and sew through just like it’s another layer of fabric! Pull the tissue off after your finished and you have a beautiful stitch!