MAGAM Mad May Projects Completed!

I was really busy for the first two thirds of the month of May.  How life can get in the way of my sewing adventure! So a week ago I started panicking about the project for Mad May theme for Make A Garment A Month. I didn't have any ideas for anything 'mad' sewing projects. So I decided to just look into my to-be-refashioned pile and see what inspirations I could fine. I found 2 items: 1) A beautifully embroidered linen kameez that I thrifted quite a few years ago when I was pregnant with my 2nd child; 2) a pair of black mom jeans from my mom and some jean remnants left over from other projects.

First up, the linen kameez. It was too long and too loose in the body but the short sleeves were very tight on my arms. It has incredible gold embroidery and beading and I wanted to make a simple pullover dress.

 

I treated this kameez as the other ones I have refashioned before. With my trusty seam ripper, I took off the sleeves and added a bust darts from the sleeves to the chest area. I did this by putting on the kameez and pinning the darts according to my body shape. I then sewed the side split seams together to make a dress. I cut off the dress at the knee and then hemmed it into a dress that hit just above my knee. 

I wore this dress yesterday and it was really breezy even though it was humid and 31 Celsius! I am really pleased with it so far!

The next refashioning projects were for my children's teachers. Yes the end of the school year is almost upon us and I needed to start making Teachers Appreciation Gifts. I like making refashioned or upcycled bags for teachers as end of year gifts. Denim remnants are perfect for this purpose.

The first bag I made is from my mom's black jeans. 

Almost all the materials for this bag were from salvaged/thrifted sources. I used both the back pockets for my mom's jeans, thrifted zippers, a salvaged strap from and old laptop bag, and remnant orange poplin scraps. 

I made 2 identical bags and sewed them together to make a good size cross-shoulder bag.

I also made another smaller cross-shoulder bag from other denim remnants in my stash. This one is also made with old jeans and a thrifted zipper.

I'm happy with all these 3 projects in a week's time. They are not really of the 'Mad May' theme but I'm pretty happy with the outcome!