Wear It Again...Sam

Because I love to get as much wear out of my clothing, I often "refashion" pieces to update their style.

Sometimes, I even "refashion" because while the fit is perfect in one place, it's lacking in another.

Fortunately, I had a grandmother who sewed, and she taught me much of what I know today.

Here's 2 items that have a new lease on life.

First, let's start with this unworn purchase.

While camping near West Point, we visited the campus and I purchased this pull-over.

It's perfect for throwing over jeans and hanging out, BUT, the sleeves were just too long.

Even if I rolled them up, the fabric was too "slick" for them to stay that way.

I needed to shorten the sleeves so I could wear this comfortably.

This first thing I did was try it on and pin one sleeve at the point where I wanted the bottom cuff to hang on my arm.

You can see where the pin is compared to the cuff.  It was obviously for someone who has orangutan arms...especially because I don't have short arms what so ever.

I made a mark about a quarter of an inch down from the pin.  This will be my seam allowance. 

I used that cut piece as a guide for the other arm, lining it up and cutting that side off as well.

I could have just hemmed that length, BUT, I wanted to have the cuffs that were originally on the garment.

So, I cut both of them off (carefully making sure to get the correct cuffs on their respective sides), again, giving myself a quarter inch seam allowance.

Now, because I had to cut up quite a bit on the sleeve length, I had more fabric there than on the cuff.

Here's a comparison of the cuff (bottom) against the sleeve (top).  That's a good 2 inches or more around.

But not to worry, here's where some crafty pleats come in handy.

I placed right sides together inside the sleeve, matching up the seams under the arm of the garment.

I worked around both the right and left sides until I had pinned all parts of the cuff to the sleeve.

This is where you can really see how much shorter the cuff was than the sleeve.

When flattened, there is a natural fold in the sleeve to the right of my finger. 

I took that fold and lined it up with the fold of the cuff that's showing to the left of my finger, just inside the sleeve.

I matched those folds, then added a pin to keep both of the folds together.

This creates a "pinch" or wave in the remaining extra fabric of the sleeve, which allows me to create an even pleat on both sides.

I folded one pleat to the bottom as shown here, and one pleat to the top.

Here's what it looks like inside the sleeve.

Because I know that these pleats can sometimes get skewed when sewing on the machine, I pinned down the folds to keep them nice and neat.

I repeated this process to the other sleeve and got ready to run this through my machine on a straight stitch.

I ran one seam on the inside and folded the cuff out.

I then ran a "stitch in the ditch" on the outside so that the cuff laid down nicely with the sleeve.

As "stitch in the ditch" is a seam that is sewn right into a natural seam already present.  I'm pointing to it here on the sleeve and cuff.

Now, I had a shortened sleeve with a nice pleat that looked like it was always this way.

Here is my finished garment.  I like that that little bit of pleating makes it more feminine.

The next garment was this LuLaRoe Carly dress that I have had for a few years, but the hi-lo hem was so out of style and I was just not wearing it.

However, I still liked the wavy fabric, it's incredibly soft and flowy, and the black and white pattern is so easy to pair with many colors.

It's rare that I wear a dress in retirement, and this would not be one the I would reach for if I needed a dress from my closet.

But, I would still wear it if it was shortened into a top.

So, that's what I did!

I carefully folded the dress in half lengthwise, making sure that I lined up the shoulders, arms, and side seams as perfectly as I could.

Using a top that I wear often and like it's length, I carefully laid it out over the dress.

I lined up the shoulders and side fold of the top with the dress.

This creates an even guide for the length I want the top to be when hemmed.

Cutting about a half inch down from the top's hem, I drastically shortened the dress.

You could mark it, but I just eye-balled it across as I cut.

I now had the perfect length, including a bit extra for the rolled hem.

I kept that excess fabric.  You never know when it might come in handy for a future project.

I rolled the fabric over twice to make about a quarter inch hem.  Because this is a cotton knit, it "rolls" beautifully and sets into the hem quite easily.

I used a medium-wide zig-zag stitch to sew the hem closed and this refashion was done in under 15 minutes.

Now I have a "new" to me top to wear this fall season, adding a sweater if it's a bit chilly.

If you do not sew, check with your local dry cleaners.  Usually, they have an on staff seamstress who can do all of this for you for a reasonable price.

When you are wondering what to wear, and you're passing by some great garments in your closet because of poor fit or style issues, take another look at them.

Perhaps just a few adjustments you can give them new life, and "Wear them again...Sam." (no offense to Humphrey Bogart.)

It's a great rule-breaker!