Do you have any clothes hiding in your closet that you love but never wear? Why not fix them so they will become a favourite of yours again? Rather than disposing of a piece of clothing & buying something else, let’s fix them and make them last. You can also set up a clothing swap with your friends, just donate any leftovers to thrift stores. I now buy most of my clothes second hand, I’ve come across so many treasures for me, my partner and my girls, when I am looking for clothes to convert into bags.

I now love this great sweater tunic, the result of taking the scissors to a long (calf length) dress which I bought years ago by mail order. Although I liked it when it arrived, I hardly ever wear it, because the narrow bottom clings to whatever legwear I have on. I decided to cut just over a foot off, making it into a great tunic dress to wear with my jeans. Of course I left enough material to turn over & hem, so that the fabric won’t fray, and used a stretch stitch as it’s a sweater. This is the inside of the dress, to show the hem, the sewing looks a bit wobbly but the thread disappears on the  outside in a dark band of color.

The next piece of clothing to fall under my scissors was a long (calf length) black vest that I’ve had for years. It’s one of those classic pieces that should work, but somehow it never looked right when I put it on. So again I cut off about a foot of material & hemmed it up. Lo & behold I now have a great tunic I can wear over pants with a sweater or t-shirt. Now the only question is, what took me so long?

As you can see I didn’t even use a double fold  for the hem as the fabric won’t fray, and it would have looked too thick with the front facing.

Next was a dress I picked up on sale at a consignment store, I loved the soft material & the great fit, but not the length, which seemed too frumpy. So out came the scissors again, this time I only cut off about 6 inches to lighten up the dress, & make it work as a tunic over jeans & leggings.

On this dress a double fold & a quick hem was all that was needed to give me a comfy tunic , that I know will be a favourite for years to come.

Hope this helps to inspire you to try some refashioning of your own…..