MAKE DO AND MEND - old clothes - altering, upcycling, re-sizing, customising etc

Evil_Olive

That's brilliant Rose!
What an excellent idea!
And well done on the patternless-ness - bet that was scary?

I have a load of old towels, all in the same colour, given to me by a relative from a holiday home she used to rent out but has now sold.
They don't go with my bathroom at all but are really good quality commercial grade ones and, as I can't bear waste, I thought I was condemned to mismatching towels in my bathroom for the next 10 years.

I am short of a warm winter dressing gown though and will be pinching your idea - consider it stolen!
Thanks!
X

theoretica

Seems a good place to ask - I want to turn an old cashmere sweater into leg and arm warmers for a lanky 2 year old. But he isn't mine or convenient to measure. Could anyone suggest sensible lengths and diameters?

lindens

Evil_Olive wrote: »

That's brilliant Rose!
What an excellent idea!
And well done on the patternless-ness - bet that was scary?

I have a load of old towels, all in the same colour, given to me by a relative from a holiday home she used to rent out but has now sold.
They don't go with my bathroom at all but are really good quality commercial grade ones and, as I can't bear waste, I thought I was condemned to mismatching towels in my bathroom for the next 10 years.

I am short of a warm winter dressing gown though and will be pinching your idea - consider it stolen!
Thanks!
X

dont forget you can dye your towells either by hand or in the machine, either to match your colour scheme or for a dressing gown of your choice

Teg-Rem

watching with interest as can't afford new clothes but have plenty of old ones, though my machine also doesn't have an overlocker so this makes things more awkward to re-fashion, my machine is a very old singer of 40 years with only the zig zag stitch that may do, any ideas??
have lots of old jump[ers etc that I would like to e-fashion and T shirts.

Evil_Olive

Hi Lindens, Sadly, the towels I was given are dark purple, and all my bathroom bits are lime green and I do quite fancy a dark purple dressing gown.
But I do have a few old white towels that I could dye to match my others - Dylon 'Amazon Green' looks to be a suitable shade - I will look into whether the price of the dye is worth the benefit - thanks.

Teg-Rem, I know how you feel, I got my current 1980s machine, with a few extra fancy stitches on it, second hand about 6 years ago but before that I was using a 1961 Frister & Rossman with only running and zigzag on it. (it was my mum's 21st birthday present )
I still use it a lot because it's far more robust than more modern machines - great for denim and I've even stitched leather belts on it

The only fabrics you really need a stretch, or overlocker type stitch for are those with a lot of stretch like lycra, or thin jerseys/loose knits.

You could try using a narrow zigzag on the jumpers/T-Shirts although that may make the seams pucker. With T-Shirts, I got great results on my old machine with plain running stitch by stretching the fabric slightly (not too much!) as I fed it under the presser foot, just to give the seam a bit of 'give'

Hope this helps x

Evil_Olive

theoretica,
I don't have kids and wouldn't have a clue.
You seem to indicate that the two year old is not of average height, so standard measurements probably wouldn't help?

Can you get his mum to take measurements and pass on to you?

Wouldn't have thought that exact accuracy of fit was overly crucial for leg/arm warmers as they are stretchy and, if a bit too long, still look OK with a bit of scrunching up?

Is there anyone here with a fairly average two year old who can supply some typical measurements as a starting point........?

Floss

Evil_Olive wrote: »

Hi Lindens, Sadly, the towels I was given are dark purple, and all my bathroom bits are lime green...

Could you add a few dark purple bits to bring that colour in, then you can use them? Your new dressing gown would be a good start, and you could make a few face-flannels too

littlepinkbiscuits

Purple and green is a great colour combo!

Evil_Olive

Floss wrote: »

Could you add a few dark purple bits to bring that colour in, then you can use them? Your new dressing gown would be a good start, and you could make a few face-flannels too

littlepinkbiscuits wrote: »

Purple and green is a great colour combo!

It is....., isn't it....., especially lime green.....,
Well worth considering - won't show the dirt either
I will make the dressing gown and then see what's left (gonna make it floor length - my flat is bleddy cold in the winter)

busiscoming2

I've decided to have a go at making a dress using a pattern. I ordered one from sewdirect.com which arrived today and I've just seen it has Petite written on it. Will this matter? I am only about 5'4", will it just be the dress length that I'll need to allow extra for?