Week Five Refashions

Week five of my pledge and I have to admit that temptation has been setting in. A few 'I have nothing to wear moments' and I find myself surfing the online stores of high street shops that helpfully send me weekly e-mails filled with tempting offers and new stock of nude tones and foral dresses. I also find that my currents tights obsession extends to socks. The things I would do for a frilly pair of of socks...

Um... Anyway this weeks refashions.

I've never really liked this top. I can't understand why I bought it or never gave it away. I don't get the whole short sleeves on a jumper concept and that cowl neck does not work for me. Cowl necks have never worked for me. Seriously what was I thinking?

Perhaps deep down I knew that it had potential. I cut it right down the front and then added satin bias binding to stop the edges unraveling and for a bit of interest (and because they didn't have plain black in stock). So now it is a short sleeved black cardigan/gilet type thing. Probably still not the most wearable item in my wardrobe but it is an improvement.

It can be pinned closed using some of my vast collection of brooches.

Cardigan Refashioned by Me, originally it might have been Dorothy Perkins I think

Brooch Charity Shop

T-Shirt New Look

Jeggings Dorothy Perkins

Shoes New Look

This second refashion was more of an experiment. I don't think I'll wear it but I will definitely try out the idea with a different fabric.

I'd wanted to try out this gilet that Yoshimi posted on burdastyle and her blog, yoshimi the flying squirrel, for ages. It is just a length of material with a hole cut in the middle. So when I accepted that an old woolen dress no longer deserved space in my wardrobe I decided to use the fabric to make one.

Gilet Made by Me, fabric from a Miss Selfridge dress
T-Shirt New Look
Jeggings Dorothy Perkins
Boots Jane Shilton

I didn't have as much fabric as the original dimensions call for. Mine is about 150cm in length and 45cm wide. The hole of my arms is 30cm in diameter leaving 5cm at the neck and 10cm at the back. When I make it again I should like to use a piece of fabric with greater width so that i can have more fabric at the neck and the back more like the original. The main reason I am unlikely to wear it though is something that can't really be seen on the photos. I needed to finish the cut out arm hole somehow as the fabric was streching too much and starting to fray. There was no way my machine was going to sew this knit so I trid hand sewing a hem around the edge of the hole but I really couldn't get it neat so I gave up a went for a deliberately messy blanket stitch. It gives it a very 'handmade' look that I personally don't like. Next time I make this I will make it in a fabric that I know my machine can sew.

Thats all the refashioning for this week. I need to get a move on if I want to make a significant dent in my stash before my pledge is up.

And for what is it worth this is my two cents on the recent news that Wardrobe Refashion will be charging a subscription fee in near future. I afraid that like so many others I will not be using the site after the fee is introduced. The concept and so much of the site is inspiring to me (though not always that useful as I don't have children and am younger than the majority of readers) and I would like to thank Nikki for all the hard work that she has put into the site and for showcasing the benefits of refashioning. I don't want it seem like I am criticising her personally as I am sure she has put a great deal of work into the site and can understand why she feels it can no longer continue in its current formet. I can see myself taking a similar pledge in the future but in my own way. I won't be paying when they are so many similar sites that are free or mostly free; burdastyle, cut out + keep, threadbanger and of course so many of the blogs out there. Yes I expect a lot of the content on the internet to be free but that's because it is. That is the reality of the free market folks.