Refashion: Make your own boyfriend {jeans}...

(originally published March 24, 2010)

It's been SUCh a long time since I've done a refashion. I so needed this.

And really, this is the only way to get exactly what you want, both in a boyfriend, and the jeans. I've been wanting to do this for months, but you can probably guess, I've been uncontrollably lazy lately.

Power through.

I also have an unbelievably difficult time finding jeans that fit me. It has to do with hips, thighs, a bubble butt and a small waist. I am very thankful for the small waist, but it is responsible for a gap of at least 5 inches in most pants I try on. Waaaaaaay too much information, you're thinking. And you're right.

I love all the boyfriend jeans they are showing lately, so I dug into my stash of Levi's 577 that I haven't been wearing much of lately, and decided to sacrifice a pair. The nice thing about this project is that you can do anything you want. I saw a pair of patchwork boyfriend jeans recently, that I loved, and of course, did not fit me, so that was my inspiration.

I gathered together some fabric that mixed up well and my jeans. I decided I wanted them cropped with a rolled hem. After trying them on, and deciding where I wanted them, I hacked the bottom off of both legs and then turned up the hem about a 1/2 inch twice, steamed them good, and pinned.

Then I sewed the hem down, using a contrasting thread in red, just for fun.

Not shown: I then rolled them up 2-1/2 inches, steamed them good again, and sewed about a 1 inch space on the inner & outer seams, so they would [hopefully] stay in place (I'm sure they will need to be pressed after washing to stay flat).

I cut the fabric, freehand, in various uneven squares and a long rectangle, added some Stitch Witchery to the back [to give it some stability - you can skip this, or use whatever you have], and played with the placement of the patches. Then, ironed them in place.

I like little unexpected touches, so on the back of one leg, a few inches above the cuff, I decided to embroider a little bird from my Sublime Stitching pattern stash. My embroidery skills are quite rusty, but I'm into imperfection.

Then, to help the patches POP more, I added some whip-stitching around my patches, which will also help them adhere better since I didn't sew them on. Notice the imperfections :)

Strut your new boyfriend...


This was seriously easy - anybody can do it. Another easy idea is to just crop an old pair of jeans, hem them and then sew on a doily. It's simple and cute.

I think so at least...

The story of the reworked, thrifted, denim skirt.

(originally published October 31, 2007)

I can't remember which I found first, the crochet doily's, or the skirt. But remember, this was my recent thrift trip in San Diego a few weeks ago. I had dropped Scott off at work in Rancho Bernardo, and with my handy printout from The Thrift Shopper, spent the day hitting almost every thrift in Rancho Bernardo, Poway & Escondido.

I found the skirt at The Salvation Army in Poway - it's made by Halogen (a Nordstrom brand) and it only cost $3.50. The doily's were found at another thrift in two batches - one for $1.00 and the other was $1.25.

After a good soak in Retro Clean (and a good wash for the skirt), I decided to sew the doily's onto the skirt in some random pattern. The doily's are in various sizes, and some are white, while some are ecru. This didn't matter to me; in fact, for me, it added to the charm.

I used embroidery floss to sew them onto the skirt, mainly because it was heavy, and also because the color blended in - and knowing the kind of hand sewer I am, I knew this would work.

I only used a hoop on a couple of them because they were a little floppy and wouldn't stay flat. As you can also see, some of them were broken in areas. I just continued the line with embroidery. You can't tell...

unless you look very carefully.

It was a good project for me last week, while I was too worried about the fires to concentrate on anything else. And it was almost fitting that this project originated in the very area that we were all so worried about.

Candy was worried too. Sweet girl.

This was a super easy refashion project, anyone could do it! You don't have to use vintage doily's either - I think Michael's and Joann's both carry bulk doily's of different sizes. How funky cute would this be if I had dyed them up before sewing them on? (oooohhh, another project?!) I think the possibilities are endless.

When I finished the skirt, I brainstormed the entire outfit (because I'm wacked like that). I decided to refashion another boring cardigan, just not as drastically (who has time for these things?!). I took a brown Lands' End cardigan, and just changed out the boring grey buttons to some bright white vintage mother-of-pearl buttons I had. Simple Simon.

And the shoes. Oh, the shoes. I've been lusting after a pair of brown Mary Janes for a couple of months. I originally saw these, and while I loved the style, was not sure about the red. So I went with these. As soon as I saw them in person, I realized what a grave mistake I had made. They were almost as boring as the Lands' End cardigan - pre-refashion. It was this photo that turned me around. I *heart* Zappos. Free overnight delivery soothes the instant gratification soul. {do you see the whipstitch detail????!!!!}

My life is complete.

Happy Halloween! Damn...he has a meeting. :( Oh well - I'm still going out to lunch!
I'm hoping to meet my mister for lunch later!