Tag Archives: refashioning

outfit: first day of spring

We had two whole days of sunshine here in Bergen, and the unofficial, but highly followed, rule here in rainy Bergen in these cases is to drop everything, and soak up as much of the sun as possible.

So after my bikeride back from work, I switched shoes and jacket, and went on a combined photoshoot/grocery-run/sun-seeking walk to the shopping center down the street.

I wasn’t trying to coordinate, but after switching from a bike-jacket to my spring-like short trenchcoat, and nude heels instead of black shoes, I decided my grey, khaki, and curry colored outfit felt really appropriate for the lovely spring weather we were having. That usually warrants an impromptu photoshoot!

Even my tote-bag matches!

The skirt is a recent refashion from a pair of pants, and it’s been getting a lot of wear – a definite new staple in my wardrobe. I made the cowl over the winter, and it’s been in heavy rotation too. I think I’m a complete cowl convert! The jacket and shirt are thrifted, and the heels are from Payless and finally getting some use after I bought them right before a three-month roadtrip were heels weren’t deemed worthy of room in the very tightly packed car-trunk.

So, spring – want to stick around? Please do!

Fix it Friday: chair gets cozied up

This weeks fixing is not a garment. That’s ok, right? I bought this chair years ago, and it became my first re-upholstering project as I covered the kind of dingy yellow cotton with a luscious  silk. I thought (and still think) that the dark wood looked lovely with the saturated royal blue, but our apartment kind of looks like 1001 nights camping out with vintage/modern Scandinavian things right now, and I’m working on making it more nordic. Also, the fabric was starting to tear. No worries, the silk will be repurposed as bias binding!

Also, taking pictures in the winter is hard with the lack of daylight in the hours I’m at home doing crafty things. We decided (well, I decided, but John took the pictures (thanks!), so – “we”) to put the chair in the spotlight and take some interrogation style pictures. You have to make your own entertainment sometimes!

I saw this chair on pinterest a while ago, and I thought pairing knits with things you sit on seemed like a fantastic idea. A randomly gifted scarf came to the rescue, and now the chair is all cozied up.

The beauty of a small project like this, is that I can change out the seat fabric whenever I want. All I need is a half yard of fabric and a little time! I might not want to keep it like this forever, but for right now, I think it’s cute.

Fix it Friday: pants to mini-skirt

Sherry of pattern~scissors~cloth had a “Fix-it-Friday” last week, and I love the idea! I definitely also have a pile of things that needs some fixing and refashioning, and seeing other people tackling their pile in a semi-organized way is a great inspiration to tackle my own!

Mmm, my Bayview Street Cardigan is back in action!

I don’t have any before pictures of these cropped, slightly wide-legged pants before they became a skirt. I rediscovered them while visiting my parents over Christmas, and while I’ve always loved the pinstripes and the soft fabric of the pants, I really wasn’t loving the pants anymore. I bought the pants on a trip to Dublin with my dear friend, so I’m sure the memories I’d attached to the pair made it hard to toss them out!

All the cars driving around was making me a bit nervous – look at my fist  clenched up in a ball!

It was a pretty easy refahion; I unpicked the inseams, and up to the bottom of the fly on the front, and the widest part of my hips on the back. I tried really hard to get a straight line down from those points – but the fly is set in on a curve, so there is some odd stuff going on in the front. It’s not super-noticable, and I’ve decided I’m happy. I mimicked the faux flat-felled seams that was already going on, which is just the seam allowance folded to one side and top-stitched ¼” apart. You can kind of make it out in the close-up above.

It’s a bit on the narrow side, and if I had more patience and/or time I would have put in a vent in the back, so I could stride along uninhibited! Nitpicking aside, I’m super-happy with having a mini-skirt I’ve used several times this week from something I never wore. I’m looking forward to tweaking and tackling more cast-offs from my wardrobe!