Fall Sweater Upcycle

Fall is in the air! Time for leaf peeping, apple picking, and pumpkin patches. I can hardly believe the summer is over but it's kind of fun to break out the sweaters and boots.

This week I decided to whip up a fall version of my sweater jacket. This knit oatmeal pullover was simply cut up the middle front, a soft suede skirt was cut up for the bottom ruffle, and lace was added for that original one-of-a-kind look. 

I almost always like to add a pocket to my tops for a cell phone and or other small items so that I can be "hands free" when out and about. This pocket is simple a densely crocheted doily. Sew three sides and leave the top open, easy-peasy. 

View from the back.

Have a Great Halloween and stay warm! --The Elevated Bag Lady

Refashioned Infinity Scarf to Kimono

Before

This pretty infinity scarf was found at the thrift store for a couple of dollars. Any scarf with enough fabric will work for this refashion. I find it easiest to find a scarf in a width that is pleasing for the length of my kimono. It can be longer or shorter, depending upon your taste. Lengthening or shortening a scarf/kimono can be done with trims or additional fabrics, but I found that keeping it simple gave me a nice clean kimono shape.

Since this scarf had only one seam I cut that off and then hemmed the edges, which then became the center front.

Next I cut the arm holes. I made mine 10 inches deep. You can cut more or less if you like, but this worked well for me. Next you will fold the right sides together so that the front seams are in the middle and the arm slits are on the sides. Then sew across the top edge to create the shoulders. Finally, hem the arm hole edges.

This project took less than an hour to complete, and I was taking photos!

Voila!

Finished kimono jacket, a very light cover up for warm days.

Morning Glories and Lilacs, Men's Shirt Refashion

Check out those Morning glories in the background

 This week I pulled another men's shirt from that "fill a bag for $5" stash that I'd scored several months ago at the local thrift store. I also had picked up a batik style beach wrap for $1.00 at a garage sale. It was in the same color family as the shirt and I liked the combo.

First I cut the sleeves and collar from the shirt.  The sleeves were sewn to the front, cuffs up, below the bust line. The beach wrap was cut to fit and sewn to the back along with a pretty embroidered piece cut from a damaged table runner.

Are these lilacs?

I used a tight zigzag to applique the embroidered piece to the shirt.

Finally hemming the bottom of the sleeves and adding some lace trim to finish off the raw edges in front.

I wore this top this weekend to an auction (one of my favorite summer activities!) and managed to spill coffee down the front. So now it's totally broken in!

Happy Sewing!  --The Elevated Bag Lady

Roses and Polka Dots

This week's upcycled fashion is a loosely structured long top combining a knit top and a tiered skirt. The cropped knit top was in my closet and I had worn it many times over other longer tops for a layered look.

I decided to give it new life by adding two tiers from the bottom of a thrift store skirt. It's always kind of  nice to be able to skip some of the detailing tasks by using something already gathered, hemmed and trimmed--as this skirt was.

Since I am hardly ever without my cell phone I added a pocket to the front.

Voila! Finished!

Auction Bricks into garden shed floor

It's summertime in Wisconsin and I've been busy going to auctions, one of my favorite activities. SW and I had discussed buying pavers to cover the dirt floor in the garden shed (which is rapidly developing into a "she-shed".) It was a great idea, but it wasn't until I bought an auction lot of old bricks that I was able to come up with a plan.

The bricks had been collected by someone (thank you someone!) from various places. They were different colors and ages, some quite old. My favorites were the yellow bricks, but there was a limited number of those. Eventually I decided to use the yellow bricks to form a "sun" motif.

Here is a photo of the bricks after we loaded them into our pickup truck and hauled them home. Although the bricks only cost us $15.00 we were a little concerned that the heavy load would break a spring in the truck! It was really riding low to the ground. But we got lucky . . . and home, no harm done. These bricks were piled up in back of a barnyard, so we first loaded them up for transport then unloaded them into our garage. That's two times moved, and then a third time to the garden from the garage. An average brick weighs six pounds. So when I say we moved a ton of bricks, I'm really not exaggerating!

A ton of bricks!

Moving that ton of bricks on a very hot day!

SW and I are not professional bricklayers but we learned some things by going to Pinterest where you can get good ideas and then link to step-by-step instructions for DIY.  We were quite pleased with the finished product and will enjoy sitting in the garden even more than we did before.

Take Care! --The Elevated Bag Lady

Upcycled Farm Cart

Summertime, and the living is easy . . .

It's been a glorious summer in Southern Wisconsin and all that hard work planting the garden is paying off.

My beautiful veggies, more than I can eat! So why not fix up a little cart to give away the excess?

SW and I put our brains and talent together to turn a garage sale find into our very own farm cart. 

Combining an old lawn cart, salvaged wood, and corrugated metal (for roof), along with a little paint and some stencils, we had fun making this cart uniquely ours. A rotating turnstile of trays on the left and a box off to the right for storing bags or other items, and we're all set!

Before

Ok, back to the garden! Stay cool! See you later--Elevated Bag Lady

Vest Refashion with Applique

I picked up this vest at the thrift store recently.

There are several things about it that I really like:

1. Fits great!
2. Sturdy 100% cotton
3. Has interesting details like those grommets, snaps, pockets and collar.

There are a couple of things I don't like about it:

1. Those rhinestone palm trees on the lower back!
2. It's boring!

Um, No.

I decided to spice up this vest with a vintage remnant that was gifted to me by some vintage relatives (sorry, that was a weak joke at the expense of the relatives) who've spent time in Africa. This piece is too small to do much with, but the color and pattern are so pretty. Those flower and birds in blue and yellow look almost Scandinavian, but that interesting circular pattern is definitely African or even Aboriginal in design. For a vest that hints of safari, I think this will do nicely!

It is probable that you do not have vintage African fabric in your fabric stash. No worries! You can use any large print, like maybe Aunt Mabel's tablecloth with the giraffes? Haha. If the fabric you would like to use is too fragile you can purchase an iron on interface to give it support.

When doing applique you want to make sure that your fabric doesn't shift around. On this refashion both fabrics were sturdy enough to stay where placed when pinned (pins are your friends). When I was able to fold down the edge I did a straight stitch. When I was sewing a raw edge I chose a zigzag.  And to shake it up a little I made sure the front wasn't symmetrical, but if that's your thing, by all means . . .go for it!

I'm looking forward to wearing this with jeans or a denim skirt.

Stay cool and have fun,

The Elevated Bag Lady

Upcycled Men's Shirts, and an Auction Adventure

There is almost nothing more fun than an auction in the summer. I had a blast this last weekend attending one. The weather was just perfect for a June day in Wisconsin, and I ended up bringing home boxes and boxes of books which I am having fun sorting through. I wish I had completed this men's shirt upcycle before the auction so I could wear it there,  but it's done now!

I've combined three men's shirts in the same color family, along with an old T-shirt from my own closet. I did NOT cut up all of SW's shirts for this (!) but I was lucky enough to hit the thrift shop on a day when they had "fill a bag for $5". So I loaded up on men's shirts in various sizes with colors that pleased me. It was a terrific bargain. The back of this top is made from sleeves of the shirts, something I borrowed from a post on Pinterest. The front is a layered look which includes buttons and pieces from the shirts. There is a surprising amount of fabric in a men's shirt, especially the XXL ones, so there is plenty of fabric to use in other projects if I choose.

To make the top super fun I added a shirt pocket and this vintage clothing label which I picked up along with a box of others at an antique store about ten years ago. Rescuing them from obscurity, is how I think about it (although sitting in my supply bin for ten years did not bring them out of their exile very quickly, haha).

Suzy Perette was not a real person. This is a 1950's clothing label from a manufacturer that copied Parisian designs for cocktail dresses. I do not cut labels from vintage clothing, but since someone else did, I thought I'd use it. Now if anyone asks about Suzy Perette I can tell them all about it.

Here's one of the books I got at auction.

Guess I should start reading up on this. Haha.

Stay cool out there, and try shaking things up with an upcycled fashion of your own. It's fun and easy! --The Elevated Bag Lady

Guest Refashions Dress into Sassy one-of-a-kind Top!

Happy Memorial Day to Everyone

Special thanks to those who have served and continue to serve in the Armed Forces. 

You are appreciated.

I was excited to have a visit from my sister over the weekend, and what a surprise when I saw her first refashion which was inspired, of course, by Elevated Bag Lady creations which she is subjected to every time she sees me. (haha)  My Sister has only rudimentary sewing skills, so if she can do this . . . so can you! She said I could say that.

Jode, Sister of the Elevated Bag Lady

I think this one-of-a-kind creation looks GREAT on her, don't you? She bought this first as a dress, $1.50 from a thrift store. She cut off the length on the bottom and on the sleeves and sewed lace that she had crocheted herself some time ago.

Back

Lace edging

I am totally impressed with her first clothing upcycle/refashion and can't wait to see what she does next!

Thanks Sis!

Apple Cardigan

It's a rainy day on the farm, a perfect day to make something in my closet more exciting. This thrift store white cardigan was a little boring.  On the positive side, it had flared 3/4 length sleeves and a nice cut. It cost me $1.50.

I pawed through my scraps and added ruffles from some garage sale curtains (bottom back) and an old skirt (front). Some less than perfect lace pieces dressed up the sleeves (not matching!) and the top back.

My last decision was to add the bright apple square on the back, which I picked up at a flea market--old drapery fabric. It's Spring in Wisconsin and all my apple trees are blossoming. I planted an orchard last year and am excited to see what I get this year. The apples on this sweater make me smile. 

 Back of  Sweater

Front of Sweater

Cutting off the buttons on the front allowed me to custom shape and round the edges.

Mismatched sleeves keep it fun.

Looking forward to wearing this sweater with jeans before the weather heats up.