Refashion – Zip Back T-shirt with Tutorial

Today I have a very easy, fun and satisfying DIY refashion to share with you. If you've ever inserted a zipper, this will be a breeze for you. Yesterday, in my DIY Outfit post I shared my inspiration for this top as well as sewing patterns and fabric to make it all yourself. If you don't feel like starting from scratch, you can grab a striped t-shirt from your closet or the local thrift store. Read on for all the how-to details.

Winter Wardrobe – No. 4 Leggings

Hi friends! I'm really excited to share my new DIY leggings with you today. These are number 4 on my list of Winter sewing plans. I've been wanting to sew leggings for a while now. I've seen so many great versions out there in the blogosphere. Plus, I spend many a weekend lounging in leggings. They're so comfy. It's an irresistible DIY. So irresistible in fact that upon finishing one pair I immediately made a second!

DIY Lace Inset Tee

Yesterday I shared the inspiration and a brief how-to for making this lace inset tee. The design is inspired by the Lace Divide Tee from Anthropologie. I do realize that it's not an exact copy of the rtw but it's pretty close and very easy to make. To be more exact it would need a dip hem and lace hemming the front of the tee as well. Totally doable, I just wanted to fast track this project. I love how this turned out. It would be really easy to take an existing t-shirt and add godets of lace to the back or sides or even to the shoulders.

Summer Sewing #7 – Red Striped Dress

Next up in my Summer Sewing adventure is the last item on the list – the red striped dress. This casual dress is great for summer. Plus, it was so easy to make. I'm sure I'll be wearing this all summer long and probably even making a few more.

DIY Striped T-shirt (Self Drafted Pattern)

 

Quick, easy and highly wearable? That's my favorite thing to make. And that's what this shirt is. I made my own pattern for this basic T-shirt and used a large fabric scrap to whip it up over the weekend. This week I'm sharing inspiration for how to mix stripes with florals so of course I couldn't resist making something myself.

Striped Kimono Sleeve Top - McCall's M6566

How fun are these stripes? This is another kimono sleeve top from McCalls pattern M6566. This top is View D. It's perfectly suited for stripes. This was a little more complicated to make than View B but still fairly easy. See my version of View B here. Again the walking foot and the serger were my best friends in making this. 

You don't think it looks too jailbird do you? ;) I got this fabric in downtown LA a while ago intending to use it for a project from one of the drape drape books. I really wanted to use it in a pattern that would show off the stripes and this was perfect.

Kimono Sleeve Sweatshirt Top - McCall's M6566

I wanted to make a simple kimono sleeve top and McCall's M6566 view B fit the bill perfectly. See my guide to the elements of a kimono sleeve versus a dolman sleeve. The fabric is a gray sweatshirt fabric I had leftover from another project.

The bits I had remaining were enough to cut all the pieces yet one back pieces had to be cut from the wrong side. So, to make it look more intentional, I made the pocket with the wrong side showing and cuffed the sleeves to show the wrong side as well. The one other change I made was to slightly round the front hem up.