Refashion Month 2016

I am extremely excited to join in on the Refashion Month Blog Tour Hosted by House of Estrela. Head on over to her blog to see so many amazing examples of ways to reuse your otherwise discarded clothing. Learning how to refashion existing clothing is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint and an extremely affortable way to sew your own clothing. I always love a good refashion (although I usually call it an upcycle). I might switch to refashion though because it is a much nicer and more upscale word, worthy of custom made to measure clothing. Read on to see what I made...

For the top, I decided to upcycle a nightgown into an Essential Tank from Pattern for Pirates. I bought this pattern during their memorial day sale and wanted to test out the tank version before I try the maxi dress. The fit is great and it is super comfortable and light. 

Earlier this spring I started to plan out a capsule wardrobe using the sudoku style wardrobe I learned about through the Free Notion Blog. One of the pieces I decided to try out was a woven version of the very popular Brassie Joggers from Greenstyle Creations. My hubby had this amazing pair of woven athletic style pants from Lululemon sitting in his drawer that he hadn't worn in 5+ years. I elected to size up one from my suggested knit size and I love the results. I used the lower rise option but would likely opt for the mid rise option if I made these in woven again. If you look closely, you'll notice the lululemon logo and mp3 pocket I was able to keep on the back!

This outfit is the perfect lazy summer day outfit to head to the farmer's market or do some gardening in the yard. The best part is that other than my time it was virtually FREE since I used existing clothing and scrap pieces. I hope you like my outfit as much as I do!

Cheers! Michelle

As always, check out my instagram account for other projects

O Captain! My Captain! A new swimsuit from The Wolf and the Tree

I've been testing for Saskia Smith with The Wolf and the Tree (aff. link) for awhile now. So far, all of the patterns I've tested have been much loved staple patterns that I've been able to use again and again. This new swimsuit pattern, O Captain! My Captain! (aff. link), is no exception. There are literally too many top/bottom combinations for me to count. (Although I'm sure someone who can math well could probably figure it out.)

I pre-tested this pattern using one of my most favourite swim fabrics, a wonderful grey and white striped swim knit with mint polka dots from Marshall Fabrics in Edmonton. I've also used it for a swimsuit of my own, posted here. I love the print on this swim knit and I also love that it's not the typical bright pink princessy colours you see for toddler girls suits in the stores. This is an early version, so fit has changed a little, but the overall looks is very much the same. The top is the full length tankini with short sleeves. The bottoms are the regular rise with yoga band.

For the Official Test, I changed it up and made the colourblock bikini length with short sleeves. I found an awesome ladies swimsuit at a local thrift store which I was able to cut up and upcycle into this suit. I didn't have quite enough of the pattern/purple so I did add in some pink sleeves from a swim knit I had on hand.

I also did up another tankini length top with long sleeves in this solid hot pink swim knit. I love having the option of a long sleeve top for the sun protection (and extra warmth in cooler water). Plus the hot pink top matches great with the patterned bottoms as well as both of the swim and surf shorts I made a few weeks ago and blogged about here.

This pattern has a massive size range of 12 months all the way up to 14. My little one is only in size 2T now so I forsee MANY uses of this pattern over the next 10 or so years. Oh, and there's talk of a Ladies pattern, so I guess she'll be covered for life! Don't forget to grab your copy of O Captain! My Captain! (aff. link) while the pattern is on sale for $8.

As always, check out more of my projects on Instagram

Cheers! Michelle

Pattern Testing the Swim and Surf Shorts by Gracious Threads + Giveaway!

I have a very special place in my heart for Jessica from Gracious Threads. First, because she gave me my very first pattern testing gig for the Starfish Shorts. Second, because she lives super close to me and I love to know that people are designing patterns in my own backyard!

 ... but seriously, how cute is this little bug! She had a lot of fun playing while I snapped photos back then, but we've definitely both gotten better at photos over the last 15 months.

I decided to hit up the thrift store for fabric for this pattern test because there is no board short (microfibre) fabric to be found anywhere in Edmonton and I didn't have the time or patience to order any online. I ended up finding two different pairs of shorts to use for this test. The blue pair are a men's large and cost $3.99 and the stripes are a youth size 14 and cost $4.99.

These Swim and Surf Shorts are a size 2 for my mini 3 year old. There are two length options with this new pattern but I chose to use the shorter length. This first pair was made with the board short fabric for the main and waistband and quilting cotton made into binding.  There is instructions right in the pattern tutorial to make your own binding. I also included the optional swim bottoms with this pair. I absolutely love the colour pairing of the dark blue (my 3 year old's favourite colour at the moment) with the bright pink to make them girly!

I couldn't be happier with how this second pair of Swim and Surf Shorts turned out. I ended up having to use the stripes turned vertical for the waistband in order to have enough length for the fabric (one of the joys of upcycling) but to be honest I think it worked out great as an accent. I also painstakingly removed the binding from the original pair using my seam ripper and re-used it for this new pair. I decided not to put the swim bottoms in this one because I have a purple women's swimsuit that I will be making into a 2 piece suit for her in the next few weeks.

 ...And now for the best part, my very first giveaway. Jessica from Gracious Threads has donated a copy of this amazing pdf sewing pattern for me to give away for free! Just post a comment at the bottom of this blog post telling me who you will make these shorts for if you win the pattern and I will choose a winner using random.org on Thursday, June 23rd around 8pm MST.

Thanks for stopping by!

Read more about these shorts on the Gracious Threads Blog

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