Dress to Cardigan refashion completed

I finished the refashion and now have a great button front cardigan with split cuff detail.

You may remember the original dress

First of all I measured the centre front and marked with a sliver of soap, and then cut up  the centre front with shears.

Next I cut the collar off, leaving the original seam for stability.

I then smoothed the line from the centre front cut into the neckline cut using the french curve and replicated to the other side.

I didn't finish the cut edges at this point, but I did lay it carefully to one side and not handle it.

Next I took the collar and cut it into strips. I sewed 3 strips together to make the front band.

I applied very lightweight interfacing to the front band area, leaving the neck area of the band stretchy to go around the neckline.

Next I made buttonholes in one side of the front band (carefully checking placement against a RTW cardigan), applied fray check and allowed to dry. I then cut them open with a buttonhole chisel.

Then I sewed the front band onto the cardigan with a straight stitch, and zigzagged the seam together. (I thought serging would be too bulky). I then pressed the band and left it on the dummy.

The next day the area where the front band joined the front was still very wiggly where the zigzag stitching had stretched things out. It looked quite bad I thought, so I hovered the steam iron above the seam (on the wrong side) and pressed a bit more and eventually got a fairly flat front.

I then marked the button positions and sewed them on by hand with a tapestry needle so as not to split the fibres. As a happy coincidence I had some buttons exactly the right colour which had been saved from a button front skirt suit I made in the late 1990s! (Though I slightly question the wisdom of keeping buttons for 20 years but hey ho).

I then made some cuffs with a split from the remainder of the collar pieces, added a button to each and sewed to the end of the sleeves.

It turned out to be quite a lot of work but I'm fairly pleased with the outcome.

Dress to Cardigan refashion plans

 There's a contest - The Sewing Place's Refashion and Repurpose Competition 2020 - which caught my interest. 

This is a Ben De Lisi for Principles sweater dress I bought on the sale rack at Debenhams a few years ago. Its a blue and black marl but reads as navy.

I've never actually worn it (I've tried it on plenty and tried to style it). I think the two main issues are the sleeves are only 3/4 length so I would have a warm body but cold wrists and more importantly I have hot flashes so would want to be able to take it off if I overheated which is rather impractical for a dress.

So I have several options I've been thinking about.

1 - shorten the length to make a top (ie turn the sweater dress into a sweater). Leave the neckline as is. Use the fabric cut off the bottom to make cuffs to make the sleeves full length. I would then wear it as a sweater/jumper and if I got too hot, could take it off and be wearing a top underneath. This would be fairly easy but not very exciting for the contest.

2a - cut it up the front to make a cardigan, keep the length but repurpose the fabric from the cowl to make front bands and cuffs. To make it different to my other navy/blue cardigans I could add buttons to the front so I could close it. This would be a lot more work and might need to use another fabric for the bands and cuffs if the cowl pieces don't work

2b - same as 2a but planning from the start to use another fabric for the bands and cuffs. Turn the cowl section into a cowl scarf which can be worn with it if wanted.

I think 2b is my favourite, I'm envisioning black bands and cuffs and antiqued silver buttons.

What do you think?

14 made out of the Navy Nineteen

 Fourteen made!

I've added the blue cardigan, blue knit trousers and plain blue tee shirt into the collection which now looks like this.

It looks to need more tops, maybe an accessory (snood?) and possibly also a refashion.

Blue Knit Trousers

 Blue Knit Trousers

These knit trousers are made from the same fabric as the blue tee shirt and another 'new' pattern! (The pattern is from stash but I've not used it before).

Here I used the trousers from the Simplicity 4697 wardrobe pattern though I made some alterations.

On the front I cut the crotch depth slightly deeper but reduced the crotch height at centre front tapering back to the original at the side. On the back I extended the crotch depth and scooped the curve for a low seat. I also increased the crotch height at the centre back tapering back to the original at the side.

Once I had done all of this (my normal trouser alterations) the original waistband approach of stitching the elastic directly to the top of the trousers and folding over was going to be tricky with the shaping I had brought in. The fabric was also very prone to rolling and flimsy on the edges, so I added a separate casing for the elastic which I stitched to the top of the trousers,

I did a deep stitched hem on the coverhem machine.

With the matching top this is a lounging outfit/PJs for sure.

Blue long sleeved t shirt

Blue long sleeved t shirt

This is made from a blue 100% cotton knit from my stash. It has no elastane and poor recovery. I seem to have bought quite a lot of it.

For this t shirt I decided to try a new pattern, I laid a purchased tee on the pattern and then cut up a size, but next time I will probably size down as its too large all over. The sleeve is from Simplicity 8375 and the body from Simplicity 8376. High round necklines don't work well for me so I scooped the front neckline down a little, but otherwise sewed as is.

This isn't (yet) a new basic for me so I'll need to tweak the fit before I start hacking!

Blue Cardigan with lace pockets

 Blue Cardigan with lace pockets

This cardigan is adapted from the "Kinder" cardigan pattern in Wendy Wards Sewing with Knits book.

I used the mid length but also added a bottom band. I tapered the sleeves a bit and added a cuff. And I made a belt. To keep the belt in place there are small elastic loops in the side seams. When I constructed the pockets I laid some wide stretch lace along the top.

The other versions I've made of this cardigan sometimes feel a bit cold due to the width of the sleeves at the wrist and lack of front closure, so the belt and cuffs are an attempt to mitigate that in this version.

I have loads of the stretch lace left, but couldn't quite imagine where it could be used. I suppose it could have been used on the shoulders or for faux breast pockets to balance the volume of the lower body a bit.

Navy morphs into denim blue

 Much as I love the dark navy I decided to make a few pieces in a slightly lighter shade, more a classic denim blue.

These will probably be tops in plain blue, blue with a white stripe and a print/burnout, plus another cardigan (Fabric permitting).

I'm also hoping to add a little more red to liven up the blue a bit.

I'm still working from home, and will be until at the earliest early November. We don't use video calling though so I really can wear whatever I want to. This generally is a top/shirt, with trousers and a cardigan.

Navy Nineteen - 3 tops and a cardigan

 I have continued with my navy based collection by adding some knit tops and a ponte cardigan.

The tops are all New Look 6735 with full bicep and round tummy alterations, and the neckline less scooped than the original.

The navy cardigan is from Wendy Wards sewing with knits book. I cut this and some trousers from several scraps left from other projects, hence the cuffs!

I have now made 11 pieces in my Navy collection, and it looks like this, Red seems to be the secondary colour here, though not planned, so could work with my red cardigan from SWAP.

Navy Nineteen Piece Collection - next 3 pieces

 Here are the next three pieces of the navy nineteen

Stretch denim trousers with belt loops, and a different shape to the top of the pockets.

A different stretch denim used for shorts, these have the standard pocket shape but have been cut off at the knee.

And a pair in a mystery stretch woven (sort of like a bengaline with a jacquard pattern). Only a remnant of fabric so used ponte for the pockets. I've lightened the photo as these are dark navy so you can see the texture - a sort of crinkled elongated houndstooth.

I have some dark navy ponte trousers and a ponte cardigan with pockets cut out as the next two pieces, but then I think I need some tops.

Here are the first seven pieces of the nineteen, with blue shapes standing in for the not yet made pieces.

Navy Nineteen piece Collection - first 4 pieces

Navy Nineteen piece collection  - mostly because of the alliteration, but also for the challenge.

I like Navy blue a lot and find it can work in all seasons in different styles and fabrics.

I must wear my navy pieces a lot as earlier ones have worn out!

More Navy pieces would be welcome in my wardrobe but fairly boring on the blog.

So far this year I've already made a few navy items:-

Navy floral trousers

Navy floral jacket

Navy blue plain trousers

Navy blue midi culottes.

Since then I made some denim shorts and some denim trousers (are they jeans?) which I've not posted yet.

I'm almost done on some navy jacquard bengaline trousers, and I've cut out some navy ponte trousers and a navy ponte cardigan.

Once those are finished I'll have Nine Navy items. But I definitely need some more tops.

Various trousers/pants and a trial top

After the pink cardigan and top I made some pleat front full length trousers in a brown pinstripe fabric, I also made some cropped trousers from a different pattern from the scraps.

I also made some bengaline Bermuda shorts in a dark olive green and some fun ivory and brown print trousers.

I also made a knit top from an old pattern modified (extra length/width) which came out too large, so that will need cutting down and resewing. I used two different brown based scraps for this and it always was an experiment.

So first up here's the ones which use my altered version of New Look 6216 as a starting point.

Full length in a print cotton mix.

Cropped and widened in a pinstripe

Long shorts in dark green bengaline

The brown pinstripe used for my reworked version of Butterick 6947

And finally an attempt to rework New Look 6430 by making it longer and wider and adding a neckband. I overdid this and its far too big. 

So need to find the discipline to cut it apart and remake it!

Think Pink at The Sewing Place.

The Sewing Place has a Think Pink contest in July.

The Sewing Place - Think Pink

The cardigan is the Style Arc Nina.

I made some changes on my last version which worked well so this time I incorporated them into the tissue.

(Alterations  - dropped the waistline at the back round to the front. by about 1.5" at the back and .5" at the front. The waistline sits in a better place on me now. Also altered the direction of the neckband so its cut with max stretch going along the length, easier to ease and gives  great visual vertical line down the front.)

I used four different sewing machine for this (perhaps overkill!). The main seams are sewn on a standard sewing machine and then overlocked for a clean finish.
The outer edges of the collar/peplum are finished with a rolled hem done on the other overlocker and the sleeve hem is done on the coverstitch.

The Nina takes quite a lot of fabric so there was not a lot left, just enough to squeeze out a little cap sleeve tee. No real pattern used here, it is basically a slightly shaped rectangle with a neckband applied.

Here they are together as a little twinset with a necklace, could be worn with any dark trouser.

Wearing a SWAP 2020 outfit

Wearing a SWAP 2020 outfit

Red cardigan, silk tee and black bengaline trousers.

(Excuse the lockdown hair, haircut happening in my garden on Friday)

SWAP 2020 Collection

Here's my final picks from the pieces I sewed in the red and black theme.
I have 4 tops, 3 trousers, 3 layers and 1 coat which can be worn over everything.

Top row (left to right)
Quilted zip front jacket from Prima magazine Feb 2010

Floral print blouse from March 2020 Prima Magazine

New Look 6420 - Silk and jersey dolman sleeve top

Prima Magazine May 2020 Blouse

Style Arc Molly in grey knit

Bottom Row
Black jacquard knit cardigan from Wendy Ward's book 'Sewing with Knits'

Red cardigan from Wendy Ward's book 'Sewing with Knits'

Butterick 3947 pinstriped wool mix trousers

Black bengaline trousers New Look 6216

Tartan trousers with contrast side stripe and waistband New Look 6216.

Far Right
Simplicity 8467 coat with hood (lengthened)

I also made a few extras which I've not included officially in the SWAP but are in the same colourway.

Musical notes blouse from March 2020 Prima Magazine
Style Arc Marni jacket from scraps (won the scraps contest on The Sewing Place)
Viscose and jersey T top New Look 6216
Dark grey bengaline trousers New Look 6216

And of course last year's jacket from McCall’s 7694

So a 16 piece collection in all.
I've had a lot of fun with it!