Easy Bunny Decoration

It has been a long, long time since I have posted anything  and well no time like the present. I have avoided my sewing room for the better part of a year and because of that it had became cluttered and disorganized. I would feel anxiousness when I would walk in not knowing where to start. Something that brought me so much joy and an outlet for my creativity became an overwhelming chore.. so I stopped. So in January of this year in the spirit of a New Year I started organizing and decluttering so I could start sewing again. I had no idea at the time that I would be finding myself needing a creative outlet more than ever.  This last week I have gone into my sewing room everyday and spent a little bit of time working on sewing something. I started with easy things trying to rebuild my motivation. I was looking for some inspiration for some Spring/Easter decorations and saw one for a cute stuffed bunny to hang on the front of your door. I was kind of nervous to post something because it has been so long, but I wanted to share it. I know a lot of parents are scrambling to find things to do with their kids since they are home, and I thought this could be a fun easy project to teach kids to sew.

The first thing I did was create my template. I  used the lid of an oatmeal container to trace the bottom part of the bunny. I then used a smaller circle to draw the head. I held to pens together so I could add in the seam allowance and traced around the two circles. I then free hand drew the rabbit ears. I cut everything out and taped the ears to the body and I had my bunny shape.

I then put the bunny template on my fabric which was the back of a  men’s button up shirt that had been in my scrap fabric bin forever. I liked the blue and yellow contrast of shirt, it felt very springy to me. I traced out two bunny shapes and then cut them out. Then I placed the two right sides together and pinned. I used a straight stitch with a little over 1/4 seam allowance. The trick to being able to sew the curved edges it to make sure the needle is in your fabric, lift the presser foot, and then turn the fabric in the direction you need it to go. Then you put the presser foot back down again. I made sure to go slow at this part since I was a little rusty and wanted to make sure I got the ears right. I left the bottom open so that I could turn it inside out with the right edges now on the outside. before I turned it inside out I trimmed away some of the excess fabric after I stitched it.

I used a ruler to push out the round bits of the bunny and then I ironed the new seams. I never throw away sewing scraps, I can usually find a way to repurpose them. In fact everything I used for this rabbit was from my sewing stash. When you sew a lot there is usually bits of tiny left over scraps and various lengths of thread, so I usually keep a little strawberry basket by my sewing machine to collect those bits. I used what was in there first as the stuffing for my rabbit, then I took little bits of fabric that I keep to finish it off. I then folded in the opening to hide the raw edges and hand stitched it closed.

I made his little tail with a scrap of upholstery fabric, it had three layers and one of them was a fluffy cottony bit that was perfect as a tail. I cut it out into a circle and hot glued it on. I also took a blue and yellow cross stitch yarn to make a bow and then hot glued that one too. To be able to hang it, I took the same blue and hot glued the ends to the back so I can hang it on my door. This project took me a little over an hour, though I probably could have finished it quicker. I hope you enjoyed my little project and hopefully I will have more to add soon.

 

 

Simple Sunday: Dye Job

This week’s simple Sunday is really really simple. I wasn’t going to share it, but it’s an easy cheap fix that I don’t think a lot of people think of. One of the number one things I see when I go thrifting is faded black clothing. Black fades really easily and once that dark hue is gone people will ditch it faster than their New Years resolutions. I try to hold onto my clothing as long as possible, especially if it’s something I really enjoy and wear a lot.

A couple of my favorite black clothing have started to become really faded. Instead of replacing them I thought I would just refresh them with a little black dye. So I threw them in my washer with a quarter of a bottle of black dye and turned it on like I was doing a normal load of laundry.

Once it was done I ran it through another rinse cycle and threw it in the dryer. My items were considerably darker and get to stay in my closet for another day.

I help mom

I hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year. See you in 2019!

Simple Sunday is back

A lot of my refashions are pretty simple and I debate sharing them, but I want to show how sometimes a little change can make a huge difference. This is why I had started the simple Sunday series when I first started my blog. I just kind of stoped writing a lot, but I’m going to try and make it a weekly post again.

Today’s simple Sunday is this 80’s librarian blouse that I have had forever. I loved the neckline, but it was just a whole lot of shirt  on me.

The easiest fix would be those sleeves so I shortened them. My original plan was to just turn the raw edge over twice and be done with it……but it was not working out. I don’t know if it was my machine, the slippery fabric, or me but it was not working out. So I hacked the sleeves with my pinking sheets so the edges would not fray. I turned the raw edge over once on the wrong side of the sleeve and sewed it leaving a gap so I could add some elastic.

Hack job

I hand sewed the two pieces of elastic together and then closed the gap. The elastic gave the sleeves a bellowy look and hid the fact that this fabric puckers when I hemmed it.

My new kitten Swarley

Love me a good ol’ hand-me down dress

This dress was gifted to me from my aunt who knew I could do something with it. I love love when people give me things that have been in the back of their closet forever. It’s my favorite thing to get something, revamp it and then see their reactions to what I did with it. You got something in your closet just hanging out, pass it my way.

I almost thought of dyeing this dress, but when I tried it on I loved the color on me. It just needed some updating……..or in my case downdating 🤔 since I of course gave this a vintage spin.

Every. Single. Time

I’m not gonna lie folks this is such an easy one I almost feel like it’s a lie calling it a refashion. So here is what I did, I cut the shirt at my waist line and separated the crocheted lace from what I cut.

I surged the raw edges on the new cropped top and the crocheted part. I turned the surged edge over once on the top and was done with my new seam.

Surging the edge

The last thing I did was hand sew the lace around the collar of the top. That’s it. That is all I did. I tucked the top into the skirt and paired it with a vintage suede belt and a matching pair of suede shoes.

I love love love this one and have actually worn it several times already. The rayon fabric is so soft and comfy, and I love how it’s got a 50’s wiggle dress vibe.

I’m going to try and write more, we just recently moved so it took me awhile to get my new sewing room set up. I’ve got a few projects in the works, so there will be more posts to come.

Elf not on the shelf skirt 2.0

Last Christmas I made this skirt out of this super cute green and polka-dot fabric. It was my first attempt of making my own circle skirt pattern. I liked how it came out, it was just hard to find tops to wear with it; so it sat in my closet for months.

I still had plenty of fabric left and decided to pull it out and turn this skirt into a dress. The first thing that I did was pull out the scraps, iron them, and try to figure out how I was going to construct the random pieces into a top.

I decided to start with the back of the bodice, I did some math to see how many inches I needed for the two rectangles I was going to cut out. I laid them right sides together and sewed a basting stitch, which is a really lose stitch that holds fabric together temporarily. This is where my new zipper is going to go.

Next I took the remnants from the circle skirt that looked like a half circle. This was going to be the front of the dress.  I did a little more math and cut out how much I needed. I then stitched the front and the back together to create the side seam

Before I connected the bodice to the skirt I added two darts in the front to make the top fitted. I removed the old waist band from the skirt and cut a couple inches off of it, because I made it too wide the first time. I also needed to shorten it, because I’ve lost some weight since I first made it and needed to adjust the size. I  unstitched the back seam to make it easier to connect the two pieces, I pinned it all around and then used a top stitch to connect it at the waist band.

I wanted to mirror the white trim on the skirt so I took the same trim and used it on the top of the dress to finish the raw edge.

I forgot to take pictures of this part, but I put in a basting stitch near the top of the dress and pulled the end pieces to make the top ruffle up a bit. Once I got it in a position that I liked, I put a top stitch in to secure it. To make the straps I cut out two big rectangles folded them right sides together and sewed it down. I then turned it inside out and had two wide tubes that I sewed down to make straps.

I wore my dress to go check out a California historical site that is close to us. The Forestiere underground gardens in Fresno was built in the early 1900’s. I wasn’t able to get too many pictures,  but here are a couple from that day. I couldn’t really share pictures of the garden because they ask that you don’t use them on certain platforms.

 

I felt very summery 1940’s in this dress, and has become one of my favorites. If you enjoyed reading this, please click the follow button so you can  know the next time I post. You can also follow me on Instagram @victorygardenrescue.

 

Picnic Top

I’ve been wanting to do an easy summery styled refashion lately. To me there is nothing more summery than light blue gingham. Idk it just makes me think of picnic blankets and the out doors. All I had was this boxy top though. It had beautiful embroidery at the bottom and on the sleeves that scalloped off.

Welcome to my shirt

The first thing I did was chop a lot of bits off. I cut off the sleeves, the collar, and the bottom of the embroidery.

At this point I realized that I should have left the shoulders and just take the collar off. To make it work, I was going to have to make the bottom the top, which would also crop it. Now that the bottom was on top I had to take it in a lot, but because the bottom part was rounded from the sleeves I had to take more in from the top than the bottom.

I can’t draw straight lines

Now that I got the top fitted, I put it on my dress form and draped the embroidery part over the shoulders.

I wanted to put elastic on it so I could wear it down on my shoulders or covering my shoulders if I wanted to wear it for work. To do this I sewed the raw edge, and then turned it over once. I straight stitched it down but left an opening on both ends so I can feed elastic through it.

Then I flipped the ends over and hand stitched them closed. The material at that point was pretty thick, so I couldn’t run it through my machine.

I top stitched the ruffle to the back of the top so I could wear it to work and not worry about it showing my back. I used two safety pins to gage how far I wanted to sew to.

There was a little gap where the two ends of the flap met and you could see the elastic. I hand sewed them together, and that was it.

My new top was all business on the top…

I call this my Ariel skirt

And party on the sides….

I got caught taking a selfie

Definitely more summery now.

Inspirational Gown

Back in May I decided to get out of my comfort zone and sign up for a Pin-Up contest. One of the things that I really admired about this contest is that the contestants were not just judged by their outward apperance, but by an inspirational story behind their outfit. The theme was women empowerment, and the moment that I read the rules of the contest I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  Graduating with my masters degree is probably one of the proudest moments of my life. It pushed me in ways I had never been pushed before, and I gave it effort that I had never given anything before. Don’t get me wrong I had so many moments of doubt; that I wasn’t smart enough, or that I wasn’t as knowledgable as others in my class. Thankfully I had wonderful loving people in my life to believe in me, until I could believe in myself. My graduation ceremony was the eptiome of delayed gratification. I finally could see the end in sight and celebrate my accomplishment. My inspirational outfit was going to be made out of my graduation gown.

I started by cutting the back of my gown out, this was going to be the skirt of my new dress. The theme for the car show and contest was tiki, so I wanted the siloutte of my dress to have the wrap dress look to it. Where the skirt of the dress almost has a tulip look to it. To achieve that I rounded the bottom of the rectangle I cut out, and tried to attach it together on the side to give it that wrap look.

Full gown

just the back

Because the back of the gown had a yolk, I lost a few inches that I needed for it to fit my waist. I cut out a badely shaped pentagon, and sewed it on the side to cover up  a little more.

Dont worry I evened it up….eventually

I used my masters cape that had my university’s colors in it to add color to my otherwise simple black dress. I wanted to emphasize the swoop of the skirt, so I sewed a blue and white rectangle to the bottom of the dress in a way that let it kind of…..swoop. I know real discriptive, but I don’t know how else to explain it lol.

To make the top, I cut open my cape until it made almost a triangle design and then I seperated it from the blue felt part of my cape. I folded over the excess part into the inside of the top to give myself more coverage, because the material was thin. I stitched it down with a curve, so it gave it intersting style lines. I also added darts in the bust area to fit a little better.

Next I cut out a long 3 in. wide rectangle to use as the waistband. I pined it along the waist of the skirt and then folded the raw edges over so that they will be on the inside of the dress.

I top stitched the waist band to the bottome of the top so everything was hidden on the inside.

My dress was almost done; all I had left was to add the zipper, which I hand stiched in, turn over the raw edges of the top of the dress, and add straps. I also cut out another blue rectangle to add to the front of the dress so it would mimic the bottom part, and I was ready for the competion. I actually made the top 10 and got to go on to the next round where I got to explain the inspiration behind my dress.

Contestant #3

 

Explaining my dress

I had so much fun and got to meet a lot of beautiful inspiring ladies in the process. I didn’t place, but I still had a great time.

If you like my blog please support it by signing up to receive my posts by email. You can do this by clicking the follow button.

You can also follow me on instagram @victorygardenrescue

Thanks for reading!

Charlie Harper Shirt Dress

I’ve had this shirt since last summer. I loved the stitching in the front, it looked like something Charlie Sheen’s character in two in a half men would wear. I knew some how I wanted to turn it into a dress. Since the shirt was a 3xl I had plenty of fabric to do that.

The first thing that I did was cut out the collar and unpick the shoulder part of the shirt. This gave me room to be able to button it around my chest and turn it into a dress. Next I fitted it on myself and took it in to make new side seams and then cut off the excess. I had already cut the sleeves off in this picture.

I then used my pinking shears to cut the raw edge on the neckline. This keeps the fabric from fraying. Then I folded it over once and stitched it down.

Next I took one of the excess sides that I had cut out from my dress and cut it in half so I had two even straps. I finished the side raw edges with a thin dark blue bias tape.

After this point I kind of took a three week break from working on it and forgot to take more pictures of what I did next. I took the old collar and cut it in half and added it to the front. I’ve done this multiple times with outfits and I’m still not tired of it lol.

I stitched the collar down so it would stay and I attached the straps so they crossed in the back. I wish I had made the dress a tad more fitted, but I was afraid of getting the dress too tight and it pulling on the buttons. I did add one snap button so that my dress would not gape open at the bust. I had one button who did not want to follow orders and kept undoing itself.

I wore my dress out to the farmers market with some friends.

Thank you for following along……till next time.

My Blog Turns One!

Wow I can’t believe I started my blog a year ago. Here’s some stats on how I’ve done over the year. I have written 31 posts, had 1,351 views, and 1,009 visitors.  This blog really helped keep me sane during my stressful last year of school. Having a creative outlet really helped me, and gave me something to look forward to when I was sick and tired of working on my thesis.

The past two months have been crazy busy for me. I finished my thesis, graduated, finished my internship, had my graduation party, and got engaged!! So I havent really had time to sew; and don’t have anything finished to write about. I decided it would be fun to go down memory lane  on my blog and share my top 5 favorite things I have sewen in the past year, and my top least favorites. We’ll get the worst of them over with first. Let the cringing begin.

#5 My first refashion on this blog 

I debated about putting this one on my top least favorite, because it was my first refashion and it holds a special place in my heart. Plus I still love the pattern and think it’s perfect for a romper, but the construction of it. I mean I sewed a flippen square in the crotch for crying out loud! Knowing what I know now about sewing I just look at what I did and think all wrong. This outfit is proof to the people who tell me “I could never sew, I’m not good at it”. Neither was I people, but that’s part of the fun to me. Each time I sew something I gain a little more technique and learn more.

#4 Shirt That is Better as a Skirt

This one really isn’t that bad, but it maks the list because it wasn’t a good fabric to buy. I didn’t realize till I was making it that it was kind of faded and worn. Plus I really do not like the way I created it, because there was a lot of fabric in the waist part that I should have tried to remove. I think I wore it twice, and probably won’t wear it again.

#3 Fourth of July Yacht Outfit

 

This one made the list because it had fit issues. The pants were made for an older clientele, and even though I took out the old elastic and put in new elastic these pants would not stay around my hips. I dislike this one so much that I actually deleted that post.

#2Dirty 30 Romper 

I was actually so proud of this when I first made it. At the time, this was one of the most creative things that I had made. I basically made this from a pair of pants, and a very stained work shirt. Once I started getting better at sewing I quickly realized that the fit of this was just awful. It was my first time trying to make a sweetheart bodice, and it could have used a lining on the inside to give it more structure. This one definietly gets an A+ for effort though.

Now what you’ve all been waiting for, my number one pick for top 5 least favorite…….

#1 Elf Not On The Shelf

Why Stephanie…. Why? I hate the way I styled this, I hate the way I look, I just don’t know why. I was so eager to post this, because it was my first time that I had made my own skirt pattern. I like the skirt, but I hate everything else I put with it. I think I just rushed putting it together so I could do a post. I literally look like a female elf….. who wants to look like an elf?

Even though I have poked fun at myself for these 5 outfits, I feel no embarresment. I am all about portrying a real version of yourself, all of these outfits show my skillset at the time. This year has been a growing process, and I couldnt be where I’m at now technically if I didn’t make these. Don’t ever be afraid to start something because you won’t be perfect at it right away. To quote my favorite teacher….” Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy”. -Miss Frizzle

This list as you can imagine was alittle harder to put together. I really like a lot of the things that I’ve made, and actually wear some things regularly…..ok on to my favorites..

#5 Rock Lobster Window Valence 

This one makes the list, because I just thoroughly enjoyed making it. For what ever reason cutting out the pattern for what I make is one of my favorite parts. So taking the time to figure out how to cut this into pieces to be able to sew it together was weirdly satisfying. Plus I love this fabric, and I love knowing I took a scrap that most people would throw away, and now its hanging up in my kitchean. Plus I’m a sucker for red and black.

#4 Totally Tubular Sleeping Bag Dress

This one makes the list because in a former life this dress was a sleeping bag. I mean it’s ugly as sin and I’ll most likely only wear it for another 80’s party, but it turned out being perfect for this night. I got a lot of compliments on it, and I really had to try new techniques to try to save this outfit, becasue I cut the top out to small.

#3Easter Sunday Best

This dress is the most technical thing I have made to date. I made this dress from scratch and I patterned the entire thing.  I had this fabric for a really long time, and I thought it would look great as an Easter dress. It’s probably one of the best things I’ve made, but its not mistake free though. The frilly top needed to be taken in a smidge more on the sides.

#2 Classic West Concert Day One: Tequila Sunrise Play Suit 

I loved this one, I still love this one. Men’s button up shirts are still one of my favorite things to work with. They have the best fabrics and patterns. I plan on making this type of play suit again, because I just love the silhouette of it. Plus play suits just scream vintage summer time to me.

Drum roll please………………..

#1Saint Patrick’s Day

I love this dress, I felt like I was a magical Disney villian…..but in a good way, because who doesn’t want to be a little bit of a Disney villian. It was fun and lets be honest no one should wear that dress as is…..no one. This dress is the epitome of why I do this, rescue ugly clothes that will sit forver in a thrift store until it gets sent to the landfill.  Instead of buying something new, I created something that I loved.

Thank you to everyone who over the past year have told me how much they enjoy reading my blog. When I first started this a year ago, I didn’t think anyone would read it or would even really care. It’s scary putting youself out there, and thankfully I know a lot of positive kind people. So thanks again everyone and on to year two!

List in the comments below what your favorites from the past year have been.

Don’t forget to click follow if you would like my blog delivered to your email.

You can also follow me on instagram: @victorygardenrescue

 

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day everybody, I’m celebrating by sharing with you guys my favorite way of reducing, reusing, and recycling: refashioning. My latest refashion was given to me by my friend, and it was one of her mother’s dresses.

I’d like to title this pose, Shh no talking in the library!![/caption]

There were lots to love about this dress. I loved the fullness to the bottom of the skirt, the polka dots, and white flowers. I started by cutting out the shoulder pads, and this weird mesh layer that was on the inside of the bodice of the dress.

Net top

Then I separated the top from the skirt. I also cut across the top to separate the white floral design from the polka dots. I wanted to bring the length of the skirt up so I cut some off from the top, so I could keep the original hem of the dress. Actually doesn’t look that bad seperated

Next I started working on my new bodice. I actually turned it around, so now the bottom is the top, and the arm holes are pointing towards my waist. There was an opening in the side were the arm holes used to be, so I cut off the extra fabric so it was even with the remaining seams on the side.

Through trial and error I’ve learned that I need to make the torso of my dress a little shorter, because my natural waistline is high. So I am essentially making a crop top right now. I also took it in on the sides so it would fit. I’ve also learned through trial and error it’s easier to make darts in a top before it’s attached to the skirt.

Future darts

Darts help to give a garment more shape and definition. This one only needed two under bust darts. So I pinched the excess fabric, estimated how much I needed to take in, and then drew two equal size triangles for the darts. Then you fold the fabric in half so you have a line on each side, and then sew up the line, then you have a dart.

I wanted to keep some that white flower detail in the front, so I took a triangle section of it and I attached it kind of funky. I have no idea why I did it this way, or if this is even a correct way of doing it, but hey where all learning right? Bare with me as I try and explain this, I turned my top inside out and put the, for all intensive purposes we’re just gonna call it a bib, right side of the bib touching the wrong side of the bodice fabric. Then I sewed it together along the top.

Then I turned the bodice right side round again. Now the bib is on the inside, I pulled it out over the top, so now the bib is on the outside of the dress. Just picture a bib, and you’ll understand what it looks like lol. The reasoning behind this, was so now the raw edges are hidden and I don’t have to worry about surging then.

see no raw edges

I hope you guys are still with me, we’re almost done. I made sleeves from the old sleeve. I cut off the old hem while they were folded, and then connected them so I had a long strap for my dress. I attached them, and attached the skirt to the bodice. I also surged all of my raw edges, and then finished working on the bib.

Best Christmas present ever

I ironed all the edges under on the bib, because I was going to top stitch it down. I pinned everything and then stitched.

Top stitching it down

I finished the dress off with some buttons that were left over from my Saint Patrick’s day dress, and then I was done. I wore the dress to my grandma’s celebration of life.

As I was getting ready I started thinking about life and death and how everyone who comes into contact in our lives were brought for a reason. Good or bad their presence helped shape who we were, who we are, and who we will become. Even if they are no longer with us, they are still apart of us because they intrinsically helped shape us. I want to dedicate this post to three women who are no longer with us, but who will always be with me.

In memory of:

Colleene Farmen

I like to think that I got my sense of humor from you. She could tell a joke and a story like it was her job. You were the matriarch of a pretty kick ass family, and we all have a little piece of you with us.

Renee Mata

I’ll miss hearing you call me Mija with that big beautiful smile. You were so selflessly kind, and I promise I’ll take care of your Larrys for you.

Deb Stimpson

You have kind of become my accidental muse for this blog. We met later in your life, and if it wasn’t for you I probably wouldn’t have the friendship that I do with your daughter Nicole.

On that note, I’m going to end this very long post because now I need a tissue. I appreciate all of you who read this blog and enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.