Worn Out T-Shirt to Halter Top

There are many tutorials out on the interwebs about turning a regular t-shirt into a halter top. It's easy and quick.

I started with this worn out tshirt that Charles was going to throw out. NOTE: THROW IT OUT? Excuse me, but I bought this for him in Hawaii when we first started dating. Has he no sense of nostalgia? I saved it from the garbage bin and put it in my "projects" box in the sewing room.

I don't remember which tutorial I followed but there are lots of them out there. It's good to use chalk to mark your cut lines. And know that once you cut, this is what the back is going to look like. Yikes.

I needed to put seam up the back to pull that together. (Yes, my dress form wears a slip, don't ask...)

The seam in the back helped make the front hang smoother as well. All set for the beach.

From maxi dress to fun summer top

I popped into a consignment shop that was new to me and discovered this dress for more than I would normally spend (about $21) but I figured I'd get a cute summer top and a skirt for it. And I could probably do something with the mammoth sleeves as well.

 The first thing I did was get rid of the sleeves, but kept the round yellow neck-line. I love round necklines. (I take terrible photos, sorry.)

 Then I stitched all around to make sure there were no raw edges from cutting.

 Next, I pinned the sides and sewed up to make it fit me better and close up the arm hole a bit. No one wants side boob.

 I could have been more careful with the next part -- where I chopped off the bottom half of the dress. In this picture, I've already cut out the bottom yellow hem, which I needed to finish off the bottom hem of my new shirt. I plan to use this piece to make a simple summer skirt.

So, I took the bottom piece and sewed it to the top. You need to put both pieces right sides together and sew it. I didn't get pics, sorry about that. But here it is inside out after I sewed it.

And here is the finished product. I actually work this to work yesterday with some black ankle-length pants and did get some compliments, so I'd say it was a success.

BEFORE AND AFTER

My First Free-Hand Embroidery Project

Back in November 2014, my husband and I spent a month in Hilton Head. While there, I picked up a small embroidery kit from the craft store. I loved it. I ordered another one from Amazon. And then a book. And then we traveled to South America and I stopped embroidering for a while. But, I'm picking it back up.

I bought a couple of grey flannel (felt?) clutch bags on sale at Joann Fabric ($5) and some fun, sparkly yarn. I figured I could make a couple of gifts for my nieces. Here's the one I managed to finish (note, this was meant to be a Christmas present, and is now a February birthday present.) Finishing projects is not my strong-suit.

 It's hard to see, but this stitch has a bit of weight to it. I first spelled her name using gray yarn using a backstitch. I then used my sparkly pink/purple yard and a tiny satin stitch to go over that, so the name is actually a bit raised off the bag. The flower is just a glued-on notion I also got on sale. It has a bit of bling which I love.

On the flip side, I was inspired by a design in my embroidery book.  If I weren't lazy, I'd get up and take a picture of the page in the book. (To the Google...scroll to bottom of this page for the idea.)

I honestly think it looks better in person. My photography and lighting skills are terrible. But you get the idea.

So - with all this stitching, the inside of the back was pretty ugly. I know that people who do embroidery and cross-stitch well probably have "back sides" that look good. I don't. I used some fusible interfacing to line the inside of the bag to cover the stitches inside the bag.

We'll slip in a gift card for some store-bought (EEK!) accessories, and there you go -- a pre-teen birthday gift!