Sources:

Above

• Skirt – chopped by me from thirfted dress
• Blouse – Gap
• Shoes – Kenneth Cole Reaction

Below

• Skirt – swapped dress chopped by me
• Tank – J Crew
• Belt – Old Navy
• Necklace – gift from A2
• Shoes – Banana Republic

Endnotes:

I hope you don’t mind, but I decided to squeeze in one more post before my Top Ten/Goodbye post.  I wanted to fit this in because it answered some of the questions you all asked and because I’m kind of proud of my very minimal (but improving) DIY clothing skills (DIY house skills are another story).

As many of you noticed, I have chopped many a dresses into skirts. I’ve also worn a few dresses as skirts by layering a top over them.  So, how do I decided to chop something vs. leave it as a dress but layer over it?  Well I won’t chop it if I can see myself wearing it as a dress, even if that means always with a cardigan over it.  If the proportions of the garment as a dress work for me, I leave it as a dress.  Most of the dresses I have chopped into skirts had proportions that just didn’t work right for me. In the case of my full blue skirt and my white and black floral skirt, as dresses they had empire waists and were a little too short on me.  Chopping off the tops allowed me to lower the waist line and the hemline with minimal effort. In the case of my powder-blue midi skirt, it was an over-all unflattering fit with a smocked top and a skinny halter top, so I just chopped the very top off and use the smocking as anew fold-over waist band.  For the skirt above, I thrifted the dress very cheaply and while I thought it would work as a dress, I didn’t love the silhouette one I wore it out. So, I chopped the top off and left the elastic waist which now sits a bit lower (at my natural waist). 

With each of these, I simply took out a pair of scissors and chopped just above the original waist line.  The seem or elastic has then served as my we waist line, which sits where I want it to.  I left the tops unsewn – in part because I knew I would always wear a belt with the and in part because I had no idea how to even start finishing off the edges.I think this solution is a perfect one, and I’ll likely keep chopping old dresses or newly thrifted ones to make them work better in my wardrobe.

However, simply chopping and belting won’t work for every garment, so it was time to give the sewing machine a whirl!

I received  sewing machine for Christmas this past year (very much inspired by E. and all the other crafty blogers out there).  E. generously gave me a tutorial and even started me on my own tank-dress with pockets.  But then life got busy and we haven’t finished our lessons or my tank-dress. So, I decided I needed to just experimiment.  With the help of A2 I’ve started playing around and even managed to make baby e. (E.’s son) and little gift for his birthday. It was time to try the oh so intimidating clothing sew!  I grabbed a black sun dress from a clothing swap even though it was about 3 sizes too big for me not a style I could see myself wearing – it had potential.  This free item that I definitely wasn’t wearing as is, seemed like the perfect candidate for an experiment. I decided to turn it into a full black skirt.  I started by chopping off the top, but that left me with a skirt that was very a-line, didn’t fit my waist, and was several inches too long.  It had to be sewn!  So, I pulled out my limited sewing supplies (notice I used a permenent marker instead of a fabric pen/chalk) and measured an existing full skirt to figure out my length.  Since the bottom had a nice hem on it and the top needed to be changed in some way anyway, I took the length off by chopping more from the top.  This of course left me with an even bigger waist.

But, this also meant I could make the skirt fuller.  So, I turned to E.’s tank-dress tutorial again and loosely followed her directions for gathering the skir and attaching a tank to it. Since I didn’t want this to be a a tank dress, I used an old tank that I don’t wear and choped it’s bottom off.  I used the bottom hem of the tank as the top of my new stretchy waistband

Not the best sewing job, but good practice.  And, let’s be honest, I’m still always going to wear a belt with it!

I hope this has encouraged you to take a few risks and pull out you scissors one in awhile when that dress just isn’t working anymore!

One of the great things about the internet and the blossoming of the blogosphere is the amount of information and inspiration that is now at our fingertips. We, in our little corner of the web, have over the years hopefully sparked some ideas for your own do-it-yourself projects. None of us are expert sewers or crafters, but we’ve still dabbled in creating or reimagining garments, crafting storage solutions, and making a few extra pretty things along the way. Beyond concrete DIY projects, we’ve also tried to be self-conscious about showing you our thought processes for more amorphous projects like “What do you pack for a research year abroad?” or “What do you wear to an academic conference?” Here we’ve compiled some of our personal favorites and hope you still find them as useful as we do!

Do It Yourself

E. shows you how she made a tank dress — with pockets! and turns a maxi halter dress into a knee-length dress with draped kimono sleeves

E.’s guide to re-fashioning existing garments

DIY Embellished Ts

E. embellishes a cardigan with applique and A. sews on some rosettes for a change

S. elasticizes the bottom of a shirt for maternity wear and E. shows us how to “skinny” your jeans

DIY: The Wedding Collection

How to make a simple jewelry hanger and How to make tissue paper flowers

Weekend Workshops

How to re-purpose your jewelry

On the Road Again: Packing for Anything

Finding Wardrobe Inspiration

Capsule Wardrobe Roundup

Click here for a full listing of our How Tos and here for additional DIYs and look here for more Weekend Workshops!

Sources:

Top – Liz Lange Maternity for Target, via consignment store
Jean skirt – Liz Lange Maternity for Target, via consignment store
Cardi – very old H&M
Brooch – vintage, via consignment store
Tights – TJMaxx
Yellow shoes – Gianni Bini
Scarf – Vintage Threadz on Etsy

Endnotes:

This skirt and top are two more finds from my maternity shopping spree with E. The best part of going maternity clothes shopping with E.? She has such a great eye for the potential in items. I found this teal top and instantly liked its color and drapeyness, but once on, the drapeyness was a little too much and it felt a little long and frumpy…

But E. suggested two ways in which this could be quickly and easily remedied. One way would be to add ruching to the sides of the fabric (see a simple tutorial here), gathering it with that puckered effect symptomatic of many a maternity shirt. I loved that solution for keeping the top structured while allowing for extra belly fabric, but didn’t think that my remedial sewing skills could produce it. So I went with the second – and easier option – which was to add an elastic band along the bottom seam bringing the fabric in that way.

This was a very quick and effortless project that only cost me a couple of dollars in elastic and a few minutes in DIY time. I used a seam ripper to cut an opening into that bottom seam and ran the elastic all the way through. Once I had the elastic in, I tried the top on to see how wide I needed my elastic to be to fit comfortably around my hips. I pinned the ends in place with a safety pin while I had the shirt still on, then sewed them together, cut the excess elastic off, and stitched the shirt seam back up. And voila! The new and improved version…

For comparison purposes, here is the top once more with the ‘Before’ and ‘After pictures…

I much prefer this more nipped in and tailored version, as it hugs the belly while still being loose and comfortable but without looking shapeless and frumpy. It’s such a minor change but still one that makes such a difference. Thanks, E., for a great idea! Being able to see the potential in items makes shopping for a maternity wardrobe (or any wardrobe) much easier, especially when scouring thrift stores and consignment shops. The selection may not always be as great as in a retail store but the pricer are much better and the possibilities after altering something to suit your shape and aesthetic make the find all the more rewarding, don’t you think?  S.

Sources:

• Shirt: Target
• Sweater: thrifted
• Skirt: Banana Republic
• Ribbon Belt: by me!
• Stockings: Calvin Klein via Filene’s Basement
• Shoes: Tahari via DSW

Endnotes:
Belts were my gateway drug into the world of style. I so envied the sleek/stylish/fun/creative belts that the other Chics wore, that I finally drank the Kool-Aid and got some for myself… and I’ve never looked back. I have pink belts, custom made belts, wide belts, skinny belts, obi belts, stretchy belts, scarf belts, metallic belts, and belts that are literally made out of metal. I have worn belts to define my waist, turn a dress into a skirt, and add color to an outfit, and I keep looking for new inspirations for using my growing collection. Needless to say, I love belts and today’s is no exception. In fact my entire outfit is based off of the colors in the belt. Pink, pale blue, gold and cream are picked up in my shirt, sweater, and shoes – unfortunately I did have to wear sheer stockings today because my brain couldn’t figure out a pair of tights that would work – Do you have some suggestions!?

I dug this fantastic vintage ribbon out of a box of sewing equipage that was my grandmother’s and have been meaning to do something with it for a while now. It is so fabulous with the bright pinks and greens, subtle blue, tiny gold detailing and stuffed (yes, with real batting!) damask flowers and butterflies that I knew I wanted it to mostly stand on its own, and making it into a belt was as easy as 1-2-3!

Click “more” for the DIY of How to Make A Ribbon Belt with Button Closure

Ok, seriously, this is super simple, and again, I’m sure someone else has done a tutorial about this as well, as I’m certainly not inventing the wheel with this one. Also, for a no-sew ribbon belt look at A.’s post here.

Materials:

• Wide Ribbon – check out thrift stores or vintage shops for old ribbon or swing by your local fabric or craft store to see what they have. A great solid color could work too if no patterned ones are jumping out at you. The trick is to get ribbon that is stiff enough on its own that it will not end up curling into a tube around your waist. It needs to lie flat even when pulled a little at the ends.
• Skinny Ribbon
• Measuring Tape
• Scissors
• Needle and Thread
• 1 large-ish button

Step 1:
Measure around your waist – make sure you are measuring right where you want to wear the belt because at least in this version it’s not adjustable. (I’d love to hear how people have made this type of belt adjustable too! Again, my brain is struggling right now.)

Step 2:
Measure the wide ribbon and cut 3-inches shorter than your waist measurement, but with enough ends to fold over and sew down to make a clean edge.

Step 3:
Measure out the skinny ribbon to complete the full waist measurement – one end needs to make a loop and the other is a doubled over piece that has the button sewn onto the end. Make sure that your button is big enough to catch in the loop and that your loop is folded in such a way as to hold the button facing out rather than flipping it down (you’ll see what I mean when you try)

And that’s it! Enjoy your home-made ribbon belt!

I (L.) used to keep all my jewelry in a drawer or jewelry box, but I found that I would cycle between a few pieces that would live on my dresser and I’d never get to the other things that were stashed away. I decided to combat “out of sight, out of mind” by making this jewelry organizer that would allow my jewelry to hang in plain sight. I took the idea of those ribbon bulletin boards that were popular a few years ago (I definitely don’t pretend to have thought this up myself!) and put some leftover fabric and ribbon to use. True to my assumption I have been wearing a much wider range of necklaces ever since!

Tools:

• Bulletin Board
• Fabric
• Ribbon
• Pushpins
• Stapler or Staple gun

I made this in about 30 minutes and the first one I made I didn’t even use a staple gun because a regular stapler was doing the job just fine.

DIY Jewelry Hanger – Tools, originally uploaded by academichic.

Step 1:
Cut the fabric so that there is a 2-in or 3-in overhang so that the material wraps around to the back of the board. Position the fabric and use pushpins to anchor. You might also want to cut out the corners to make smoother folds.

DIY Jewelry Hanger – Step 1, originally uploaded by academichic.

Step 2: Staple fabric into place on back of board. Make sure to pull the fabric tight.

DIY Jewelry Hanger – Step 2, originally uploaded by academichic.

Step 3: Cut various lengths of ribbon and position on the board. Anchor with pushpins and secure to back with staples.

DIY Jewelry Hanger – Step 3, originally uploaded by academichic.

Steps 4 and 5: Weave in ribbons in other direction. Pin in place. Staple in back.

Step 6: Place pushpins (or cup-hooks) in 3-in intervals to make a diamond pattern.

DIY Jewelry Hanger – Step 6, originally uploaded by academichic.

Step 7: Admire your handiwork! Hang necklaces on pushpins and you can also stick brooches along the top edge.

DIY Jewelry Hanger – Complete!, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Cape – F21
• Mustard yellow top – free from swap
• Jean skirt – Urban Outfitters
• Striped tights – Anthropologie
• Boots – Dillards
• Faux vintage locket – thrifted

Endnotes:

First of, thank you all for your many wonderful comments on my last two posts! It’s been so nice to not just get the many maternity style tips from you, but also the candid and thoughtful comments on what it’s been like to balance pregnancy, motherhood, and academia (or a professional life in general) for many of you. I’m really grateful for this space where I can continue to reflect on these topics in the coming months and where I know I can rely on a community of intelligent and strong-minded readers to engage in discussion with me about these things. So thank you!

On to the outfit: I decided to make this jean skirt last a little longer by employing the elastic band trick to loosen the waistline. I tried this trick with jeans but I really don’t like the feeling of my zipper being down. It’s not as bad with this skirt though, since the distance to the next lowest button isn’t too large…

And to make sure that I could safely raise my hands while pointing to the overhead screen in class without flashing my students my belly and gaping skirt waist, I layered this longer sweater cape over a long sleeved tee. I then played off the mustard yellow and navy color combo of the tops with the addition of navy and yellow striped tights and gold based jewelry.

We’ll see how much longer I can pull off this skirt this way. I have added a denim pencil skirt to my maternity wish list but am having trouble locating one I like so far. Maybe I can get really crafty, find a regular one at a thrift store, and convert it to a maternity item myself à la this tutorial submitted by reader Sarah. Also note that Sarah used a bella band rather than a t-shirt to make the waist panel on her jeans – what a clever idea!

Please keep sending those maternity clothes DIYs and tutorials my way, I plan on putting them all together into a bibliography to share on the site with you. Thank you! -S.

My friend L. emailed me one day with this link, asking if I was up for trying this simple T-shirt refurbishing project. Since she was offering her crafting expertise and sewing machine, I could not refuse. I struggled a bit with the initial instructions, so I decided to document this DIY project in every minute detail to help other novices (like me) be able to do this even without the help of an expert seamstress. (Thanks, L!)

Materials Needed:

• Old t-shirt (we thrifted these discarded German Army shirts for under 3 Euros each)
• Elastic (approx. 1.5 meters per shirt)
• Scissors
• Sewing Machine (preferred)

Instructions:

After you’ve chosen your t-shirt to deconstruct, begin by measuring the circumference of your chest (watch L. demonstrate…)

Cut the elastic to size so that it will fit around your chest snuggly (this will hold up your top, so a snugger fit is preferred.)

The bottom hem will now be your new top hemline, running across your chest. Using a seam cutter, tear a hole large enough to run the elastic through it. (Tip: choose a spot on the side of the shirt that will likely be hidden under your arm when worn, rather than in the front or back).

After you’ve run the elastic completely through the seam, bring the two ends together and try the shirt on. You may find that you have to pull the elastic tighter still before sewing the ends together. Once you’ve determined the perfect fit, sew the elastic ends together and hand-sew the cut in the seam shut.

Now your shirt will look like this…

Flip the shirt upside down and begin working on what will become your bottom seam and pockets. Pinning the neckline together helps keep the shirt from shifting as you cut across the neckline to widen the opening and make it your new waistline…

Next, flip the sleeves in and upward on the shirt, positioning them as the pockets they will become. Use pins to fasten them in place so that they remain in the desired position while you work on the bottom seam…

Turn the shirt inside out so that you can secure the bottom seam in place with pins…

Turn about an inch of the seam upward and pin into place, so that you can sew a new seam along the bottom of your top. Before you sew it in place, I suggest trying it on once more with the pockets and seams pinned into place to make sure that you have cut an opening that is large enough to fit comfortably around your hips and that the pockets are well positioned for how you would like them to look. Once you’re satisfied with how it looks, sew that bottom seam into place (you will also be sewing the sleeves/pockets into their new position along that hemline as well). . .

At this point, you will have tried on your shirt several time and will have moved and re-shifted your pins more times than you can remember, so it’s only fair to go ahead and pour yourself a margarita. Yes, that is a legitimate step in this shirt-reconstruction project.

This next step is optional. If you want to creating ruching along the top of your new pockets, then measure and cut a piece of elastic that is slightly shorter than the circumference of top of your pockets and follow the same steps you took in running the elastic through the seams the first time around (as described above).

Once you’ve rushed the tops of your new pockets, secure the pockets to the top by sewing along each side of the pocket like so…

Congratulations! Your shirt is complete. At this point, you can leave it as is or add any embellishments, adornments, or other such details. L. and I decided to add a couple of abstract floral decals to the top, so we used a bit of scrap fabric she had from her sewing left-overs and cut out a few floral embellishments…

I added one little decal to the pocket and one to the top right side of my new shirt. I attached them by hand-stiching all along the border of my decal to secure it to the shirt. Another alternative would be using a no-sew adhesive tape to attach your embellishments, as E. did with these flower decals on her cardigan.

And you’re done! While this project took a bit of time the first time I around, I wanted to share these instructions with you because I think it is a relatively easy project that even a novice like me can try. And it takes a plain old shirt from your wardrobe (or thrift store) and completely changes it up.  The resulting shirt is still a blank canvas – add ribbon, lace trim, floral embellishments, buttons, or even straps to it.

For my next one, I would like to try using a graphic t-shirt that could take on a fun abstract result when flipped upside down, or a solid colored tee, adding some lace trim and ribbon straps that  could tie into a bow on top of the shoulders.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful and have fun reconstructing your own old t-shirts! S.

And since I celebrated my height yesterday for Dress Your Best week, it seems appropriate to post a sewing project prompted by my need for a longer-than-in-stores dress.

Supplies:

• a tank top
• 2 yards or so of patterned fabric
• scraps of a coordinating fabric for pockets
• matching thread
• disappearing fabric pen or chalk

Steps:

1.  Measurements. Take your measurements for the skirt portion. Measure your natural waist. Stand in front of the mirror and measure your desired length. To make our math easy, let’s say that my waist is 30 inches and my desired length is 22 inches, plus 1 inch for seam allowances and hemming. (Okay, actually it should be more like 1.5 inches, but I was willing to sacrifice a quarter inch.)
2.  Then, put on the tank top you’ll be using. Standing in front of the mirror, use a disappearing fabric pen to mark the smallest part of your waist or wherever you want your skirt to begin.

3.  Measure and cut your patterned fabric. You’ll need two identical pieces 30 inches x 23 inches.

4.  Pocket time! Freshly Picked has a handy pocket pattern, or you can simply fold a piece of fabric in half and draw around your hand, leaving about a half inch allowance all the way around.

Pin and cut out a pair. You’ll need four total pocket pieces.

5.  Take your pieces of skirt fabric (30×23″), measure three inches from the top edge, and pin a pocket piece to each side, right sides together.

6.  Use a 1/4″ seam to stitch the pocket to the skirt piece. Repeat for all four pieces.

7.  Press the pocket pieces open.

8.  Pin the skirt pieces together, right sides facing each other. Sew a 1/2″ seam along the edge, going around the pocket.

9.  Turn the skirt right side out, press your seams flat, and marvel at your pocket-making prowess.

10.  Hemming. Turn and press your bottom hem 1/4″, then turn up 1/2″, press, and stitch. Nice and clean.

11.  Tank top time. Remember that mark you made on your tank top? Pin the layers of the tank together to keep things in place. Extend the initial mark across your tank top and (deep breaths) cut. A few tips: measure up from the hem of the tank to your mark, then duplicate that measurement along the width of the tank top, measuring from the bottom. Connect the dots and cut on the line. Also, when I do this again, I’ll probably cut a quarter inch above my initial measured line, to accommodate the stretching/sagging that will occur with the added weight of the skirt.

12.  Gathering the skirt. Set a long stitch length on your machine and stitch a 1/4″ seam around the top edge of the skirt. Gently pull the end threads to gather. Carefully spread the gathers evenly around the skirt waist until the width of the skirt waist is the same as the width of your cut tank top.

13. Putting it all together. Here is where things get a little tricky. You need to pin the skirt and tank together, right sides facing each other. I matched up the side seams of the skirt with the side seams of the tank and pinned those first. Then, I evenly pinned the rest of the skirt together to the tank, trying to avoid puckering. You can pull or ease out the skirt gathers as necessary.

14.  Stitch the tank and skirt together using a 1/2″ seam. You’ll be sewing just outside of the 1/4″ gathering stitch. Be careful not to stray, otherwise your gathering seam will be visible in the final product.

15. Ta da! Flip everything right side out and try it on!

A note of warning. My tank definitely stretched some during sewing, meaning that it doesn’t hug the narrowest part of my like it used to. I, of course, just used a stretchy belt to solve the issue (a sash would also do the trick) and that usefully covered any awkward puckering too.

If you’re worried about being able to get the whole contraption on easily — given the whole knit + woven situation — I’d bet that you could actually sew in a wide elastic waistband to join the woven skirt with the knit tank, adjusting measurements accordingly. Basically, follow the skirt tutorials I linked to above that have a wide elastic waistband and then attach your tank to the elastic waist rather than the skirt itself. You’ll have a strip of visible black or white elastic, of course, but you can either enjoy the colorblocking or cover it with a wide belt.

I can imagine so many fun variations on this. A striped tank with a floral skirt. A graphic print tank with a solid skirt. An analogous color combination of tank and skirt. An embellished tank with an attached skirt. None of my old tank tops are safe! And, yes, I just may go raid the sheets and table cloth section of my local Goodwill to build up a skirt fabric stash.

Sources:

• Grey Cardigan – H &M, embellished by me
• Purple Tank – Gap
• Denim Skirt – Gap
• Boots – Banana Republic, via ebay

I’ve had this grey cardigan for years.  For a while it was a staple in my wardrobe (making almost as frequent appearances as my beige cardi does now) but eventually, I just stopped wearing it much.  I got bored with it, but I couldn’t bring myself to toss it in the donation pile.  When E. decided to do a cardi-embellishing project, this seemed the perfect item to breath new life in to.

Despite the fact that E’s sewing and crafting abilities are far superior, I took on a slightly more difficulty DIY…but, trust me, if I can pull it off, so can you.

To make these little flowers you will need:

• Scrap Fabric (I used a purple jersey)
• Thread in to match your fabric
• Scissors
• A Needle
• A few pins

Cut  your fabric into 1-1 1/2 inch wide strips, 4-6 inches long (I used a variety of sizes). Fold the fabric strip in half and pin it to keep it folded.

Then do a running-stitch across the bottom (where the folded ends meet).

Pull the thread on one end to gather the fabric together. Use your fingers to adjust the gathering and shape the fabric into flowers.

You can either make a few stitches to keep the fabric in this shape, or tack the flowers directly to the cardigan, shaping a bit as you go.  I played around with the placement of the flowers for a while, but eventually settled on a keeping them on one side of the neck line.  I still have some fabric left over, so I can always add a few more flowers later.

I know have the DIY embellishment bug and I’m excited to go through my drawers looking for tired pieces just begging for a few ruffles or a corsage of purple jersey!

7 March 2010 – Embellished Cardigan DIY, originally uploaded by academichic.

Sources:

• Embellished cardi: Target + Amy Butler fabric + a little DIY
• Navy top: Target
• Denim pencil skirt: Banana Republic Factory
• Gray knee socks: mom’s from college
• Boots: Steve Madden Iriss

End Notes:

I adopted this little green cropped cardigan from one of my sisters-in-law, but shortly thereafter it developed a little hole in the shoulder. Rather than throwing it away, I thought that it would serve as the perfect base for trying my hand at cardigan-embellishing. I started with this Blushing Bouquet cardigan from Anthropologie as my general inspiration:

A few simple steps:

1.  Select a fabric with a strong print. Iron on a length of fusible web to the back of your fabric.

2.  Cut out the pattern you want to applique. I tried to get a variety of sizes of flowers and leaves from my fabric.

3.  Lay out the cut-outs on your cardigan. I wanted mine to go all the way around the neck, so I couldn’t lay everything out at the same time. Instead, I selected a few flowers as anchor points and ironed those into place.

4.  Keep ironing the cut-outs onto your cardigan until you have the desired look. And… ta da!

A Few Notes: Any time you adhere a woven fabric to a knit, you lose the stretch of the knit. So, if you need your cardi to keep that stretch — particularly around the bust, for example — then refrain from appliqueing embellishments there. Also, be sure to follow the directions on whatever brand of fusible web you purchase for best results. And finally, I think this is going to be a handwashed laundry item from here on it. But I think it’s worth it.

If academia doesn’t work out, maybe I’ll just become a full-time cardigan embellisher. I know that, given time and supplies, I could very well make something like this or this or this. And look how many fabulous — and often surprisingly easy! — ways there are to fancy up your cardigan using ribbon or just scraps of fabric!

• Lace bits!
• Wee little bird appliques!
• JCrew look-a-like ruffled cardigan!
• (Archival Allure tries out two options herself.)
• Über-ruffles!

As always, we’d love to see what you’ve come up with yourself!