Kid Pillow Lounger

While I'm still deciding what stash fabrics to use for my CopyCat red tweed jacket, I decided to make something for the kids. We recently renovated the basement and I found that we had inherited lots of pillows from other family members who had downsized their homes. So I decided to make one of these pillow loungers for children that I saw on Pinterest:

Source

So I refashioned one of the Winnie the Pooh bedsheets that my daughter no longer uses and make a quick lounger for her:

I know she will like it. Now I my son will probably want one too!

Plan for a Copy Cat Red tweed jacket

I search on Pinterest often for sewing and refashion inspirations. Most of the time I don't copy the inspiration exactly but just took the ideas and make my own garment with stash fabrics and notions. As I have mentioned before, my fabric stash and my pattern stash is embarrassingly enormous that I have no need to shop for fabrics/patterns for many years to come.

I found this picture on Pinterest last year and I have been obsessing about making a similar jacket:

Source: Pinterest

I love the colour (red is my favourite colour). I love the mix of fabrics. I love the easy shape of the jacket. I like that this can be made into a 3 season jacket with the right combination of fabrics. I just want to make one like this! I think I have some similar fabrics in my stash. Now I just need to find the right boxy jacket stash pattern to make this a reality! Time to dig into my fabric and pattern stash!

Men Sweater Refashion

I inherited this shrunken thrifted men's sweater from my hubby. I had always wanted to have a black v-neck sweater that loose enough for layering, something that I can wear with leggings casually, but not too loose that it looks sloppy.

This what it looked like on me before:

I used a well fitting knit top as a guide to narrow the body of the sweater as well as the sleeves. Since I wanted to be able to layer this sweater, I cut it a little wider than the knit top.

Next I tackled the very tight v-neck. I used chalk to draw where I wanted the v-neck to be. Then I used a piece of wine colour sweater knit scrap in my stash to re-establish the neckline.

And this is how it looks after the refashion:

I am happy with this easy refashion that can be done in 1 night. This is an easy to wear casual top for cooler months.  There are more stuff to be worked on in my to-be-refashioned stash. Time to fine my next project!

My failed UFO is finally completed!

I finally finished my failed UFO from 2016. I added a Bemberg lining, black grosgrain ribbons to the cuffs, the pockets and the front opening. Then I added thick black satin straps for the closure. All these came from my existing notion stash. I didn't want to spend extra money decorating this jacket.

I think I had improved it a little. I had to grit my teeth the whole time to get this finished because I still don't like the colour on me. It's too close to my skin tone. It was quite a challenge to finish this jacket. I'm planning to donate it.

From this:

To this:

I still have some of that beige wool blend fabric. Perhaps this is a good opportunity for me to try to dye the beige fabric into another colour. What do you think?

My Pattern Review is on PatternReview.com.

I have entered the UFO contest!

I have entered the Pattern Review UFO (Unfinished Object) contest! I usually don't leave a lot of UFO sewing projects. I prefer getting projects finished. However, this last April I created this horrid horrid UFO:

I was 'traumatized' by this Fail that I decided to leave it unfinished and moved on to other more satisfying projects. But this thing is still hanging in my sewing room taunting me about my Fail! :-) So I decided to use the UFO contest to motivate myself to correct this Fail and finish the jacket somehow. Hopefully this process will not be too painful and I will learn something from it. Now I need to figure out: how do I salvage this monstrosity?
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Do you have lots of sewing UFOs in your stash?

Top projects of 2016

I forgot to do a post regarding my favourite projects of 2016. There are many projects that I like but here are the top 6:

6. Girl Fleece Jacket
I made this jacket for my daughter as a x'mas gift. Unfortunately I didn't measure correctly and it was a bit tight on her torso and arms. I found this remnant purple fleece in my stash and saved the jacket from a complete fail. And thank goodness my daughter likes the change!

5. Chinese Cushions to Chinese Jacket Refashion
I was pressed for time to find a Chinese style jacket for my son's Chinese New Year party. After searching around town for 2 days in vain, I decided to turn these 2 Chinese cushions into a simple Chinese style jacket in 1 night. Just in time for his party!

4. Purple Silk Tunic to Dress Refashion
I thrifted this XL tunic a few years ago and had little idea what to do with it. Then I decided to make a dress out of it with a scrap knit band at the bottom. It's a beautiful purple that I like and it's super comfortable to wear for eating a big meal!

3. Self-drafted woven slim trousers pattern
I had long struggled to make trousers that fit nicely at the back. They always look baggy no matter what I did with the patterns. But then I had the 'a-ha' moment when I put the trousers on backwards by mistake. Now I have this nice fitting slim trouser pattern that I can use again and again!

2. White tweed Chanel-esque Jacket
I have never had a white jacket but this remnant sparkly tweed in my stash was just enough to make this little Chanel-esque Jacket. I wore it to a X'mas party and got compliments for it. It has just enough sparkle for special occasions but not too much that I can wear it on a daily basis.

1. The Red Cashmere jacket Refashion/Alteration
This is my most favourite project because I learned a new technique that can be applied to a lot of my own jackets as well as helping friends/family to alter their jackets. I have to thank Angela Wolf for this!

First Refashion of 2017! Actually a Re-Refashion

Happy New Year Everyone! Since I learned how to alter shoulder seams on jacket late last year, I couldn't wait to practice this skill again. This cotton purple jacket was thrifted and refashioned previously:

It was too loose on the back. I removed the lining stitches and deepened the centre back seam to achieve a better fitting jacket:

However, I didn't wear this jacket much after the refashion. The shoulders are still too big and the long length didn't make it easy to wear with everyday clothes. So I decided to refashion this refashioned garment.

I narrowed the shoulders using the same technique as the red wool jacket. The shoulder pad was huge! Then I shortened the hem to just below the hip. I think it's a lot more wearable now:

It's really difficult to take a good indoor picture with such a dark velvet fabric.

I am quite happy with this. I think this jacket is now more versatile for dressing up and down. I can wear a tshirt with jeans with this jacket, or I can wear a simple black dress with statement necklaces with it.

Now should I continue to refashion/alter all the not-quite-right jackets in my wardrobe?