Friday, October 3, 2014

Wardrobe Refashion: Hippie Jeans and a Hobo bag.

On a recent resale shopping trip, I came across this wonderfully embroidered denim shirt. I love all of the elaborate stitches and colors. This heavily embellished shirt is too much for me to wear as is. When I saw it I  immediately thought of retro hippie jeans, I knew I had to use it in a wardrobe refashion.  

I had a pair of well loved flared jeans in my stash and thought this would be a perfect canvas to redesign. Using the fabric from the sleeves, I cut large triangular insets to be sewn to the outside side seam.




I wanted to use as much of the sleeve a possible while maintaining the original hems from both. I tucked the ends under to test the placement of the insert. I pressed it under and trimmed the seam leaving a 5/8th inch seam allowance.

I then traced the insert on the jeans and cut it out.


With right sides together, I stitched the insert to the jeans paying care to pivot at the point.


I also chose to remove the back pockets of the jeans and replaced them with fabric from the back.
To unify the look, I added hand embroidery details to the fly and pocket tops.








The shirt I used was a Chico's 3 (is that a large?). After making my Supa Dupa Fly hippie jeans, I had fabric remaining. Using fabric from the front and back of the shirt, I made a simple hobo bag. I wanted an uncomplicated shape to showcase the embroidery. For that, I chose to modify the Beautiful Belle bag by Amy Butler. I made that bag earlier this year and you can read about it here.  I made this bag larger, omitted the pleating and changed the handles. I lined the bag with denim, included pockets and added a magnetic closure. For this strap, I re-purposed the belt of a suede jacket from my stash.

 The bag is a great size for a busy Mama on the go. I am very pleased with it.

I really like both of these projects. As is becoming a theme of my sewing, I enjoy making things that make me happy and smile. It is an added delight to have people I encounter, smile and share their joy.



Peace (Or not? Apparently, my fingers are pointing the wrong way and I am showing an obscene gesture. So, sorry. I have been playing in fabric dyes this week and my nails are a mess! I was only thinking of that. Oops!)
Bianca

16 comments:

  1. Hi there - love the jeans & bag - fabulous fabric in the shirt. Umm, two fingers & palm facing you is NOT a peace sign. It's the Anglo (Australian, British) equivalent of 'flipping the bird'.

    Cheers!

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  2. Never would have thought of either project, but both are so gorgeous!

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  3. What a beautiful job you did - so clever and creative! Love both the jeans and the bag.

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    1. Thanks Tomasa! I really love the jeans. I have been looking for more of those shirts in my thrifting, but no luck :).

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  4. Just fab! Absolutely fab - I can't think of anything else to say - stunning.

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  5. Nice job (and so funny about the "peace" sign--oops)! I would have passed that shirt by, even though the embroidery is great. I love that you did this. Inspiration! ;)

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    1. Thanks Lisa! I am just glad I got them done in a timely manner! I have a closet full of optimistic refashions. I am so happy to tick this off the list.

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  6. Oh my gosh - that is FANTASTIC!! I want some pants like that! You are always so creative.

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    1. Thanks, I love these jeans! I wish I had a wider range of places to travel in my week. That way, I could wear them everyday. As it stands, I would get strange looks at morning kid drop off :)

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  7. Hi Bianca! You have a magic touch. Loving the jeans and bag and the fact that you are repurposing. Can I be honest? So much of what I see repurposed is kind of ugly. Your creations are off the charts beautiful and cool.

    Hillary

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    1. :) Welcome back! Thanks so much! Re-purposing is tricky! I love that with these, I have to tell people where the fabric came from!

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