I have been looking for a sleeveless dress with a wide bottom to balance my broad shoulders. I  found this dress and I think this will look good in me.
Does anybody knows how can I search for this pattern? I don't know how to call the folds on the skirt, I was planning to look for the pattern in Burda.

 Thanks!

I got three crochet tops as presents, I love the stitches but they all don't look right on me, one is bit loose, in others the short sleeves are baggy. I am heavy on top and these make me look square.
 I can't crochet and can't send them back to the person that gave these tops as presents.
What are some tricks to fix tops that are already finished? Any ideas?

These are 2 of tops: The lilac one has a lovely hexagonal stitch but is baggy. The orange one is a bit too tight. I have a off white one that is too baggy everywhere.
Thx!

I bought a second hand dress. It is a shift sleeveless dress, square neckline with a flat ruffle detail along it, wide straps that are round and go on top of the shoulders. The material is wool +polyester, it has a zipper at the back and lining.

I took it to the seamstress, for the usual alterations, I am an inverted triangle petite. Dress length was shortened and straps too to fit my short torso.

Now, I tried the dress again and I can see that neckline is still a bit low. I won´t take it to the seamstress again (I spend enough in a not too expensive dress!). I was tempted to give the dress away, I was a bit discouraged. I have lots of issues with the fit of dresses. But I thought I will try something before.


I thought of shortening the straps more but then the armholes will be too tight. The issue is probably that  the dress is a medium size, to fit my wide back and shoulders but I am only a cup A. So I was thinking maybe I can add more fabric to the neckline adding to the ruffle?

This are pictures of the actual dress.



Has somebody any tips or ideas how to fix this issue so it is not too noticeable?
I am adding a picture to give an idea of the dress shape. I will upload my dress pix later.

Thanks!

I have done the skirt to piyama bottoms, and I was dying to try this other recon: trousers to skirt.
I had an OASIS wide leg trousers that I bought in the charity shop because they fitted nicely, but I've never worn them. I knew I will wear a skirt made of that fabric so scissors were out. I chopped of the length, then attacked the crotch. The legs were wide enough to let me sew a straight line on both sides. I didn't need to add a triangle of fabric that I have seen on the Jeans to skirt conversions. No need to do that here. I like the results, I will be wearing it tomorrow.

I didn't remember to take a proper photo of the trousers at the start of the process but I hope you can get the idea.

Thanks for watching!

One of my friends has a baby boy and I started sewing things for him. I didn't know there were so many ways of calling a bodysuit!

So, I went to Mothercare and got a bag with 3 white bodysuits. I've seen the tie and tuxedo designs all over the web, I like them so I chose to sew those.
I hope the tuxedo bodysuit is OK, I did some basic embroidery on it. I only did a bit because I was worried that the knots behind will bother the baby.
The most difficult one to make was the tuxedo look. I use an old black t-shirt and I found it difficult to iron and make it look tidy.

Enjoy! Any comments are welcomed.

This year I am giving friends crafty presents. I am giving away Kanzashi flower brooches and headbands, that I am showing on a different post. But when looking what else I could do with fabric remnants I found this cool project from dear Martha http://www.marthastewart.com/264830/no-sew-fabric-pet-portrait

Immediately I envision the funniest portrait for a friend with a pug.

I started making a portrait with fabric and felt. When I finished I showed it to my bf, and he thought my friends will think I was an oddball as the portrait turned out a bit creepy. Well, so I changed the way I am going to present it and took it out of the frame (sorry I only got pictures of my work on the frame) and turned it into a funny Xmas card.
Now this portrait is the front of a Xmas card. I just added cardboard at the back and made a cardboard frame on the front. I think it looks funny and my friends won't think I totally lost it!
Anyway, here is my portrait. Enjoy!

I have seen a few kanzashi flowers in this forum and I love the defined crisp look of the folded fabric. I thought these could make nice Xmas pins and hair accessories.

I wanted to reuse and recycle so I used remnants of tartan-like skirts and trousers and other fabric I had laying around.  Keep in mind I am still learning! I still have to refine the symmetry on my flower petals.

Enjoy and tell me what do you think.

Hello all,

I want to revamp a soft leatherette bag, it is not shiny just smooth. It is too girly/childish/pink for me. I want to cover it all with a woolie fabric (from an old fashion jacket).
What glue do you recomend to use that will stick fabric and plastic? I plan to cut fabric pieces and sew ends so they wont unravel.

I live in Ireland, I will be able to find UK brands.

Thanks!

So, I found a polyester dress with a nice paisley design and I though I could make my pijama bottoms as easy as my 1st wearable recon, http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=359644.0. I must say I learnt a lot about sewing stretchy polyester (looks like Diolen). So many torn stitches everytime I tried the bottoms on, especially at the crotch. Anyway, it is wearable, they are tighter that I was expecting, so I will be wearing these at home too. Love the colour and design. One thing I have to learn to do it is to make a pattern on paper with my measurements. I ended with a very low rise on the bottoms and had to add a wide piece of cotton jersey at the waist. Original dress came from charity shop at 3euro and it wasn´t my style, cotton jersey came from scraps of an old black t-shirt.



Thanks for watching!

Hello all,

After lurking this forum for a while I am finally able to post a wearable/useful recon. I have done successful easy alterations, by hand and sewing machine, but this is the first recon I have done. I bought a wrap skirt (size XL) made of a lovely soft cotton fabric and made pijama bottoms. They are calf-lenght, I didnt have enough fabric. I am delighted that I could plan to place the two pockets the skirt had on the back. I had to add a triangle of fabric on the front because it was too small (I have to learn to use measurements and not only the eye.) but the design hides the imperfections well. I added elastic on the waist and kept the skirt lining.
I am planning to improve my pattern and practice more.
I am trying to show the pockets on the second photo, excuse the mess in my room on the first picture.


Thank you for watching!