Hello Readers. Someone asked me to make them a bag for their yoga mat, to make it easy to carry it to exercise class. They asked for a few pockets for water and their phone. I was inspired and I got to work.  This project was guided by what I saw on Sewspire. You can find them on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. The videos on YouTube are very informative. I found this fabric in my sewing stash. It seemed sturdy enough for a bag. It was cute too. These 2 pieces would be the outer and inner layers of the bag.  I would need straps, this ribbon seemed like a good choice and it ..read more

 Hello Readers. I like thrifting but sometimes the clothes I like don't fit. I started sewing about 30 years ago so I could alter my own clothes and make them fit. This post is an example of an easy alteration that anyone could do. Before and after. I found this sweater and this shirt at different thrift stores but they went together so well. Pink is perfect for spring, and the sweater is perfect for a chilly spring day. The problem is that the shirt was so big, it made lumps under the sweater. I wanted to wear the shirt under the sweater so I would need to alter the shirt.  I u ..read more

 Hello readers. When I saw this colorful shirt I thought it was so fun. The colors seemed to complement this striped dress so well. I love pattern mixing, I wanted to wear them together. But the plaid shirt was so big, it really needed a little help. Before and after.  I saw this long flowy shirt and loved the look of this piece.   I knew I needed to draw the shirt in at the waist and give it a little shape. I needed elastic. I used 1/4 inch elastic.    I added the elastic to the inside of the shirt. It makes a huge difference in the shape of the shirt/jacket. I ..read more

 Hello Readers. I sew often and that means I need to iron quite a bit. My ironing board was in terrible shape but it wasn't difficult to make a new cover.Read on and I will show you. A fresh new cover might make ironing less of a chore. This poor sad ironing board. I love to sew but I am clumsy and forgetful. I have burned and scorched my ironing board so many times. It looks awful. Let's make a new prettier cover. I found a piece of cotton fabric that was strong and sturdy and that was a little bigger than my ironing board. I removed the burnt fabric cover from my ironing board and u ..read more

 Hello Readers. I like to sew and sometimes it is the smallest projects that are the most important. This is Gordon. He is a rescue dog with a ruff past. (Ruff... Get it? I love puns.) We love him and want him to be comfortable.  Gordon AKA "Gordy" We don't know the details of Gordon's early years. He is missing a tooth and part of an ear. He also has a scar on his side from being hit by a car. Usually these things do not bother him. But when the weather changes his scar seems to itch and he tries to scratch it. Then it gets irritated and sometimes starts bleeding. We could put a ..read more

 Hello Readers. I Like joggers but these were not comfortable. Could I remove the elastic and make these joggers into a more simple classic style? Let's try it. Before and after. I liked these light weight joggers. The denim was thin and perfect for warm weather. But the ankles were a bit tight. Could I remove the elastic at the ankles?    I could see the stitches. I thought I could pick them out and have loose ankles.  I used my seam ripper and ripped out stitch after stitch.    The ankle elastic piece came off the pant leg. It was a separate piece that h ..read more

 Hello Readers. I had a hodge-podge of picture frames that I wanted to use on one wall. I wanted them to coordinate and look intentionally put together. But they were all very different and did not match each other at all. I was not going to go out and buy all new frames, I knew I could make this work.  I made this look like a planned collection of pictures in frames. Let me show you what I did.  Here are the picture frames. There were brown wood frames, a gold frame, a silver frame and one picture with no frame at all. I picked one color to tie them together. Gold was the co ..read more

 Hello Readers. I don't like to waste fabric or fabric scraps. I try find a way to use them. I made shorts from a pair of wide leg pants and thought the legs looked wide enough to use for a skirt. Let me show you. Before and after. I used the top of these linen pants to make a nice pair of shorts for summer. But the legs were long enough and wide enough to make something else.  I had already cut the legs off. I was going to make a skirt from that nice linen.  I cut the fronts and backs of the pant legs apart.  That gave me 4 pieces of linen.  I wanted to sew ..read more

 Hello Readers. I have had these linen pants for a long time and they have been waiting to be refashioned for a long time. I already had a pair of beige linen pants. I did not need 2 pairs. Let's make something else.  Warm weather is coming. Let's make shorts. These pants were made of very nice linen. I liked the wide legs but these were really wide and long on me. And they had something I hate.  There was a horrible nylon lining. Nylon makes me itchy and it is hot in warm weather. The linen fabric is great in heat but if you add a nylon layer, it ruins it for me. A lining ..read more

 Hello Readers. I found this sweater while thrifting and of course I brought it home. But I did not realize the neck was SO tight. It really had to be changed. I couldn't stand it.   Before and after. I just couldn't take it. I was being attacked. The neckline was going to strangle me.  I needed to open up that neckline. I thought I could put in a short zipper and it would be much more comfortable with the neck open.  I cut the sweater and used the zipper as a guide for my cut.  To attach the zipper I needed to sew it to the sweater right side to right si ..read more