Mens Shirt to Womens Shorts Refashion

I have a nice collection of mens shirts going right now.  I've had my sights on refashioning this crazy, calypso looking one I inherited from my children's music teacher.

Originally, I envisioned it being a skirt, but once I seam ripped the pockets off I realized that there just wasn't going to be enough usable fabric to pull that off.  I decided to go for shorts, instead.  It's been hot around here lately, so shorts are on the brain (and the bottom!)

This is a pair of my favorite shorts. 

 I love Matsimoto Shave Ice!!  I love shave ice, in general, but something about eating my first one on the North Shore of Hawaii spelled true love to me.  I haven't quite been the same since.  I have a shirt, a hat, shorts, and a sticker on my car … it really became a bit of an obsession.  One day I will get back there again.  Thankfully, we have some great hawaiian shave ice places that have popped up in our area. We have made it our Wednesday ritual to get some after music class.

Mmmmm …. shave ice …..

Oh, wait, we are talking about shorts!  I forgot …. my bad!

Back to the refashion …

I did my best to trace a pattern from my shave ice shorts.  

Here are the pattern pieces I traced:

I used this pant pattern for the waistband and assembly steps.  It seems like there are at least 3 ways to put together pants.  I have a few pant patterns I use and each one has a different approach.  I loved this patterns approach to the waistband, so I followed these directions to make the shorts.

Zip, zip, sew sew … and here they are finished!

I had to use the button holes and button strip as the hem on the bottom front of the pants.

I thought about cutting or hemming them off, but I like the little nod to its past life as a shirt.  That and they would have been shorter than I wanted them.

The back didn't have the finished hem with the button holes/buttons, so I had to find a way to cover up the raw edges without hemming.  I, thankfully, stumbled upon just the right amount of black binding in my stash and used that to line the entire hem.

Here is a little closer look at the front.  

 You can see one leg has the buttons in front

and the other leg has the button holes in front.

I'm going to leave the buttons on.  

I like them :)

And one closer look at the back.

I'm actually pretty stoked on these!  I was able to trace my own pattern off some existing shorts, incorporate the use of a pattern for construction tips, refashion a shirt into shorts, AND it actually fits PERFECT!!!  Shorts and pants are a little tricky for me.  I've had trouble getting the right fit all the way around.  A lot of times they come out too short, or too tight, or too high in the groin (yikes!).  These are just right.  I'm definitely holding onto my homemade pattern to use again.  It feels pretty versatile.  Depending on the fabric and the trim/notions used, you could make these into casual, athletic, or pajama shorts.  If you have a bigger man/shirt you wouldn't even have to worry about the bottom holes and buttons along the hem if you didn't want them.   You could use regular t-shirts.  They took very little time to make, too.  

"Who likes short shorts?"

P.S.  Why does EVERYTHING remind me of some Simpsons episode??? 

Click here to see inside my crazy mind :)

LOL!

Tropical Shorts

I am loving the tropical prints right now.  

Especially after my resent muu'muu refashion.  

My MIL sent me another vibrant tropical print she found at the thrift store.  

I decided I wanted to make some shorts this time.  There was almost enough fabric.  I had to ad-lib with the pockets a bit.

I used this McCall's pattern that I love.  It makes perfect shorts.  The pattern is a little challenging at first (and the third time!!!), but it is getting a little easier each time I use it.  The fit is fantastic on these, so it is worth the struggle.

M6320

I have used this pattern three times now.  This is the second time I have used the bottom pattern.  The first time I made it out of mens grey wool suiting fabric.  I have also used the top pattern once out of a super cute, silky, red fabric with little dogs printed on it as a birthday present for myself.  This time I used the bottom pattern again, but I changed the pockets and the waistband a bit.  The waistband is what gives me the most trouble with this pattern.

Here is how they came out:

I added a button to it because it looked so plain without it.   These are kinda fun and novelty looking to me, so they needed a big, novelty, blue button.  I didn't have enough fabric to make the pockets, so I did my best to match the front facing piece that shows most.  I used a vintage, turquoise, corduroy fabric.  

 The inside of the pocket that faces back I used an orange lining.  

They fit perfect.  So comfortable.  I love that they are a little on the high waisted side.  It's such a fun print, it makes me happy to wear it.  

I am definitely feeling the tropical floral prints.  I am going to have to be on the lookout for more prints like this.  I think they fit my beachy style perfectly.

PJ's - Presentable Jammies

I don't know about you, but my pj's are not very cute.  In fact, my pj drawer is basically a graveyard for old clothes that are too far gone to be worn in public.  The embarrassing, stained, over washed clothes that I love too much to let go, eventually make their way into my pj drawer and, basically, that is all I have in there at this point.  Nothing cute.  Nothing I want to even wear outside to take the dog out to do her duty.  It is finally time for me to do something about this.

I have lots of great fabric my mother-in-law gave me that is light weight and screams comfy, cute pj fabric.  You know how I feel about this by now … when fabric talks to me … I listen!

I decided to use a grey floral and a peach lining fabric.

I wanted to make a cute button up top, so I pulled out one of my dress patterns.

I have used this pattern once before to make my 4th of July Dress.  I figured I could use the bodice pattern and just hem the bottom to make it into a top.

For the pj pants, I pulled out this new pattern I recently got, but haven't yet used.

I really like this pattern.  I had to take a lot off the top of the pant to make them fit correctly and I omitted the pockets because I didn't have enough of the fabric to make them.  I love the way they look and fit, though, and see a lot of these in my future.

Here is the finished product:

The pants are so comfy!  The bodice might even be a little too cute for pj's.  

I love the cute little vintage buttons :)

The print is super cute on the pants, too.

Now I can I look less like a homeless person and far more presentable when I go outside in my pj's on my lazy, lounge days.  

I think I see one of these days in my very near future.  

Gotta wear in them jammies!

Whale Pillow

This is just a fun and simple refashion.

I took this old hawaiian shirt.

I drew a couple sketches of a whale.

(It looks like one of my kids drew it, though … lol)

Took a pair of old jeans.

(not pictured)

:)

Grabbed my stuffing, a needle, thread, my sewing machine and ...

Thar she blows!!!!

We now have a super cute whale pillow to match our couch and add to our beachy living room decor.  The kids love this little guy.  Bayne is always swinging it around by the tail or laying on it.  

He was pretty easy to make, too.  I actually made one with different fabric for my landlord, too.  He runs a sport fishing and whale watching business and I thought it would be a cute gift for him, since he takes such good care of us here.

I like these little guys so much I may make a few extra and list them on my Etsy page.

Good flukin' idea, right?

Ahhh …. I'm a sucker for a good whale pun. :)

T-Shirt to Tank Top Refashion

Summer is over and school is back in.  Somehow we survived it all.  Now it's time to get back to work!

    I did a quick t-shirt refashion, so I can stay a part of the Refashion Co-op blog group that I participate in.  I picked this slightly too big and stained t-shirt to work with.  I didn't get a before pic of it on, but it is just your regular shirt that was headed for the PJ drawer because of the size and stain.  It is just a little too cute for that, though, so refashion to the rescue!

You can see the stains on the arms of the t-shirt.  It was on the back of both sleeves and some of the side of the shirt, so those pieces had to go.

I took an another tank top (This was a refashion, also.  It used to be a mens t-shirt) and used it to draw my pattern, leaving some allowance for the seam.

Easy enough.  

Now I have my tank top shape.  

I serged the side seams together first and tried it on for fit.

I took the scraps from the sides of the shirt and used them to finish the armholes and neckline.  I also saved the finished hem from the bottom of the shirt to add on at the end.

I folded the strips in half and serged them first.  Then I measured them to the arm and neck hole and sewed them into a circle that is the correct size for each hole.  I pinned them to the right side of the shirt and serged around it.

I pressed the seam to the inside.  Here is a look at the first finished armhole.

I did that for the other arm and neckline.  I did basically the same thing for the bottom.  I took the existing hemline that I had cut off, created a circle that fit the measurements of the bottom of the shirt, and then serged it back on.  I pressed all of the seams toward the inside of the shirt and then sewed them down with a straight stitch to hold them in place.

Here is a blurry view:

 Now for the finished product:

Way more fitted, flattering, wearable, and cute!

Another t-shrit was saved from the dreaded PJ drawer.  

(There's no room in there anyway!!)

This was a very successful refashion rescue mission, I believe.