Friday 19 July 2013

Refashion Friday: Spotty Jersey Dress to Maternity T-shirt


I promise I am not moaning in the slightest, but the weather in the UK has been HOT for the last couple of weeks! Last week I realised that I didn't have anything with short sleeves to wear to preggers yoga. Oh, if only I could sew.... hahaha!!!!! So anyway, I made the T-shirt pictured above.  


I picked up the large navy spotty jersey dress in a charity a month or so back. In fact, I didn't buy it when I first saw it. I later realised I was a dumb arse and went back the next day, and thankfully it was still there. When visiting charity shops I've recently started to make a bee-line for the larger sized dresses as my first port of call. This dress is the perfect example of just how much sewable fabric you can get for your money. After washing and unpicking it I found I had sufficient fabric for a gathered-side maternity T-shirt will ample left for either a pair of undies or a baby garment of some description. Not bad for £4.50, plus the fabric quality is really lovely. 


Anyways, this T-shirt is based on the basic self-drafted T-shirt pattern I made my striped long sleeve T-shirt from (but with a slightly higher neckline and short sleeves) and adapted using my gathered-side maternity top technique (tutorial can be found here). Because the front T-shirt pattern piece gets extended, the pattern piece ended up being a bit too long to cut in one from skirt section of this dress, so  I cut it in two pieces, creating a seam across the front yoke area. I then disguised the seam with a length of red ric rac that I had in my stash which I think adds a nice little pop of colour as well. That's the thing with refashioning/remaking existing garments, you are often forced to be a bit more creative with your cutting than if you started from a flat piece of 'pure' fabric! Most of my sewing projects these days use fabric from my stash. But I occasionally I like to source some 'new-to-me' secondhand fabric or existing garment to start with. As my current stash becomes smaller, I imagine that increasingly I'll be looking to larger sized charity shop garments such as this for my sewing projects. 


So what about you? Have you had any recent refashioning/remaking successes? Any refashioning plans for the weekend? 

19 comments:

johanna@projects by me said...

The top looks great! And your "bump" is so cute!

Working on finding good things in the charity shops, but here everything is so expensive... :(

Sewing by Shirley said...

What a great idea! It looks so nice on you!

Hana said...

Very cute top! And your baby bump is sooo cute.
Have a wonderful weekend for you, Zoe. I am trying to finish a men's shirt and looking for inspirations for summer wardrobe.

Judith said...

Goodness, Rubs is growing quickly! Love the top, but sadly I don't have a great eye for refashioning like you...J

Claire said...

Love the top, it looks perfect for this heat. I'll be sharing my first refashion on my blog this weekend!

Unknown said...

That really is a great refashion. I must learn to sew properly!

Saskia said...

The top looks really nice! I'm actually wearing my first refashion today: I made a sleeveless shirtdress out of a work shirt my husband threw out. The collar and cuffs had frayed but the rest of it was still in good nick, so I nabbed it! It was lots of fun to make. And I have to thank you for it, your refashion posts and tips definitely spurred me on to try this!

Tamsin said...

What a fab top! I really feel for you in this heat - I was pregnant with my eldest in the summer of 2000, which was pretty hot. I remember sitting with my feet in cold water to cool the rest of me down! She is about to become a teenager - Argh!!!!
I refashioned a dress recently, but haven't posted about it yet. It was a lovely maxi dress that I bought from Jigsaw in about 1996/7. I haven't worn it for years but loved the material,so finally got round to doing something with it when I needed a dress for a funeral. I made it much shorter and changed the neck, but as it is wool crepe it is much too hot to wear at the moment!

Jenny said...

The red trim is the perfect touch! Very nice top.

Flossie Jamieson said...

I have just made some fabulous (if I say so myself) culottes from an old maternity dress, so you and I are kind of heading in the opposite direction! And you have just reminded me that I haven't done a trawl of the local charity shops recently for good material, so that is now on my to do list for tomorrow. Great t shirt - and I hope you are coping okay in the heat!

sonia said...

Cute top! And I also like red touch as blue, white, and red are so classic. I remember when I was pregnant I mostly wore normal clothes in a size up. Maternity clothes are so expensive!

Adrienne said...

Oh this top is adorable. Almost as adorable as the person wearing it right now...you must be the cutest pregnant lady I've ever seen.

Kate said...

I LOVE IT Zoe! You are adorable!!! I hope you someday digitize your tee-shirt and batwing patterns!

Margo said...

Such an adorable top! I love the pop of red. Also, that's a great idea about searching through the large dresses. I'll have to do that next time I go thrift shopping!

Unknown said...

Love love love! Great fabric!
Px

Jill said...

Question, how does the ric-rac affect the stretch across the t-shirt? Or is it stretchy, too?
Love the shirt, btw, even better that it's from a thrifty find!

velosews said...

The two pregnancies that I'm anticipating is yours and my niece.
You look great.

Alessa said...

I've only recently realized that charity shop t-shirts make excellent contrast fabric, if you're looking for that-colour-that-matches-the-main-fabric-really-well. :D And my newest refashion is a cute navy polka dot halter neck dress, made from a German size 48 tunic. :D

Cucicucicoo: Eco Crafting & Sewing said...

That's such a cute shirt! Love it! :) Lisa

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