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Crafty Thread - what are you working on at the moment?

I'd like to ask the sewers here for some pointers on making something new out of old dresses.

I've got a few linen shift dresses that are a bit too small or a bit worn in places or I've just become bored of. I have this notion that I'd like to try to make a simple jacket or something out of them.

Does anyone have wisdom they'd like to share on how to approach this? What the pitfalls might be? Just general things to take into consideration before starting.

I'd be very grateful for your thoughts.
Jackets generally tend to not be very simple, what with collars, lining, buttons, zips etc.

Have a look at Matchy Matchy Sewing Club patterns, which are basically designed to make use of pieces of linen or other fabrics. The collage gather top is a winner in particular.

There's a good recent blog post here too.

Depending on the size of your fabric pieces, you need to look for patterns without huge sections, or be prepared to make them up from multiple pieces.
 
There's also something called a nature dress which is a bit of a sewing trend, but is annoyingly difficult to google. But this sort of thing. This is probably quite complicated but I don't know.

a-moody-rainbow-linen-nature-dress-with-pockets-third-dress-v0-7ukgyctzmplb1.jpg
 
Thank you RubyToogood .
I think I could make that top and I like that nature dress idea very much.

When I say jacket, I mean something like this which I think should be relatively easy...


View attachment 429042
Yes, I did think of something like that. I have a similar pattern I've made several times and it is dead simple (although I'm not going to recommend that particular pattern because you have to add seam allowances yourself).
 
I'd like to ask the sewers here for some pointers on making something new out of old dresses.

I've got a few linen shift dresses that are a bit too small or a bit worn in places or I've just become bored of. I have this notion that I'd like to try to make a simple jacket or something out of them.

Does anyone have wisdom they'd like to share on how to approach this? What the pitfalls might be? Just general things to take into consideration before starting.

I'd be very grateful for your thoughts.
1718443553101.png
I recently picked up this as I've decided I need to get out of scruffy cardigans - McCalls 7132. I haven't made clothes for quite a while as I've gone down an upholstery rabbit hole. But pattern prices are ridiculous these days.
 
View attachment 429043
I recently picked up this as I've decided I need to get out of scruffy cardigans - McCalls 7132. I haven't made clothes for quite a while as I've gone down an upholstery rabbit hole. But pattern prices are ridiculous these days.
Yeah that's the kind of thing I think I could do. Thank you.

Right! I'm going to raid the wardrobe and see how many frocks I've got to use.

I'm annoyed at myself for throwing out a navy one a couple of weeks ago. The fabric had gone beyond repair around the armholes but the rest of it was fine. Oh well. I've only just had the idea.
 
I've got all the pattern pieces cut out but now....and it's a huge BUT....the bleeding dresses I want to cut up have seams and pockets and darts and top stitching all over the place and I'm struggling to find pieces big enough to make it work.

I could try to patch pieces together. I have 2 more dresses I could cut up. But I'm not sure how to do that. I'm not sure I have the skill. AND I don't want it to end up looking like a clown dress 😕
 
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I think it's going to end up as the front and back panels in dark green at the top and the lighter green at the bottom. I'm hoping to get the sleeves out of one of the greens.

Then I'm going to sew vertical stripes of the pink and yellow to make up the side panels.

Just need to figure out how to connect some of these larger green pieces as the skirt that it's taken from is on the bias....

Christ. What have I done! 😆

20240623_171253.jpg

It's gonna be full clown 🤡
 
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I think it's going to end up as the front and back panels in dark green at the top and the lighter green at the bottom. I'm hoping to get the sleeves out of one of the greens.

Then I'm going to sew vertical stripes of the pink and yellow to make up the side panels.

Just need to figure out how to connect some of these larger green pieces as the skirt that it's taken from is on the bias....

Christ. What have I done! 😆

View attachment 430332

It's gonna be full clown 🤡
It's going to be full on upcycled chic!
 
O, I am doing one of those for my daughter(inovec)...but with some extra slip stitch texture. And long sleeves. Still indulging in Noro love (spent a horrific amount on Ito (8 balls) and had 10 balls of some ancient Kama so I will have done 3 jumpers and a Nightshift (ravelry) and prolly enough left for summat for the grandson . 13 year old grand-daughter scoffs in horror at the idea of hand knitted anything...but she'll come round when she sees her mum's.
 
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O, I am doing one of those for my daughter(inovec)...but with some extra slip stitch texture. And long sleeves. Still indulging in Noro love (spent a horrific amount on Ito (8 balls) and had 10 balls of some ancient Kama so I will have done 3 jumpers and a Nightshift (ravelry) and prolly enough left for summat for the grandson . 13 year old grand-daughter scoffs in horror at the idea of hand knitted anything...but she'll come round when she sees her mum's.
It’s a very satisfying knit and not difficult. I think I’ve finally conquered short rows.
 
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