Upcycling my favourite ( worn out) tracksuits

I am very pleased with this outfit.

Quite a few weeks ago I realised sweatshirt shorts sets were in. I actually bought some  RTW ones for someone else in my family and then totally seperately decided its time I replaced my own favourite glitter tracksuits for new ones because they were pretty much worn out. They work for summer though so I decided why not upcycle them into shorts sets. I have two sets of these glitter tracksuits. This is just the one set I upcycled. At least so far anyway!

I made some new Lekala track pants a few weeks ago and then eventually got round to sewing two new sweatshirts - more on them when I get round to wearing them. Right now its far too hot for warm clothing so I have yet to wear either of them. 

So, my original intention was to send my old tracksuits to a charity shop/ thrift shop. So to recycle them. 

But, and this is a big but, my glitter tracksuiting fabric is not the usual cotton polyester mix of most sweatshirting. Its ( allegedly because I never had a lab test it) cotton, lycra and lame. I believe the lame bit because at the airport I was stopped because my entire body showed up as metal!

But I never put the cotton bit to the test before. Now of course if you use procian dyes on polyester/ cotton the effect is very pale if it does anything at all but on cotton it should come out bright. I love a bit of tie dye and also not only are sweatshirt shorts sets in but so is tie dye. Not that I actually follow fashion usually, but when you like it, you like it, so I am going to be on trend this summer!

So it seems, yes, the suppliers tell the truth because this fabric dyes really well so it is ( probably) cotton.

Well how can anyone with an interest in arts and crafts and/or sewing, resist such a challenge?

I chopped the trousers into shorts then soda ashed the top and bottom in buckets and then did the tie dye and this is how they turned out.

 

I had to soda ash the two parts of the set in 2 buckets due to the size and to ensure they were well soaked. Sweatshirting is a bulky fabric.

 I do not have a container big enough to use as a dye bath yet but I am looking out for something larger because this is certainly a great way to update old clothing. And bearing in mind the set I updated is so worn its no longer any good for winter, but its great for summer. Well a UK summer. In another country ( such as Spain, France or somewhere warmer) it would probably be good too, but you may only wear the top in an evening or in the rain but even then a good way to get extra wear from an old suit.

So this is not a warm outfit anymore but I do love the set. I love the style of hoody and the "shorts" are great. 

My only dilemma is should I leave the hem of the shorts raw and let them fray? 

Really I cut my shorts quite long but might leave as crops anyway. I quite like this length.

I have another grey glitter tracksuit I can still play with thats in a similar state to this one so I think perhaps I will turn the other one into shorter shorts but wear that one as grey glitter for now because I know from previous experience its very easy to go over board on tie dye and then you have nothing to wear that is not tie dyed. 

That may sound fun, but life is easier when you have some boring plain stuff to mix in with your tie dye. I suppose if you live at festivals then everything tie dyed might work, but not in my life as it is right now. A small amount like this set though to mix in with my other clothes will be brilliant for this summer and maybe next autumn I will actually recycle these. I know really I should do. 

I have this rule that for everything new I make I am meant to dispose of something old. Right now its not quite working!

 But then, morally, we should all use our clothing as long as possible and not put the strain on our planet with early disposal when there is still wear left, so upcycling something for another season has to be the way to go if you can make it work. On this occassion, yes, I am going to make this work for me and its turned out so fun! 

Just as an after thought, if you were after a free sweatshirt and shorts pattern I had a nice one land in my inbox recently and its free from here: https://www.moodfabrics.com/blog/category/free-sewing-patterns/

Have a lovely week and thanks for visiting,

Bracken

Grey basic T-shirt dress

 

I have been going for lots of grey fabric over the last couple of years. Not sure why really. It is good for work clothes but I find myself drawn towards grey a lot even when in shops looking at RTW clothing. I liked grey in my teenage years too so it has happened to me before. But I keep telling myself grey is soooo boring! 

How can this be?

Do I really want to make grey clothing?

Well I do want to make clothes I want to wear and that I can feel confident wearing and thatI put on and go out in and do not feel self concious in so I suppose if I am honest yes I do like wearing grey. And that is that. 

Does it make me boring? 

Well maybe. Though I like to think there is more to me than how I look. 

This T shirt dress is not really shown at its best because I wore a cropped top under it, which I never realised until writing this post, you can see. Ah well never mind. I will get better photos at some point because I reckon I am likely to wear this a lot. In fact Iintend to make more in some other fabrics. 

Unfortunately as you can see we are about to repair our patio hence the bag of cenent in the back ground which I forgot to move. So all in all not the most artistic blog post I have ever written. Some of the slabs rock when you walk on them so best we repair it sooner rather than after one of the familly hurts themself.

Sometimes I really do not feel comfortable in bright trendy prints. I love them but I want to feel comfortable and what I can handle wearing really does depend on my mood. So yes there is a place in my wardrobe for lots of staples of grey. 

The thing about grey clothig is besides it goes with absolutely everything,  but also it definietly gives me the confidence to go places and do things and not feel conspicuous and even the most extrovert people need to blend in sometimes. Not that I am particularly extrovert but I am also not so shy either.

This is a nice ribbed lycra fabric with viscose and cotton so its soft as shold stay in shape. Its a grey marl:

 

I made the pattern before but as the pattern sleeve shows as a top so not as a dress because this is a hack of this top pattern:

This was actually make number 6 of my original 100 garments. I never intended to carry on blogging after I got to the 100 because it seemed like loads when I started to blog but once I got there I carried on blogging because I enjoy it. No idea just how many garments I have made now. I lost count years ago!

 

The last week other than this Tshirt dress I have not made much. I managed to locate some new patterns I want to make and download a few and have traced a couple as well but this is my only make so far.  The thing with sewing is you canot just sew. You have to find a pattern and prep it and wash the fabric to preshrink, buy thread to sew it up, buy zips etc etc. So it seems I go through periods where I make ( sew) loads but then I have these "breaks" where I am prepping for my next make.

 

Have a great Mayday and hope to see you here again soon,

Take care

Bracken

Rash guard

 

 

Summer is hopefully on its way. I swim both in the sea and in a pool ( which is often not warm!) so I decided its time to finally get round to replacing my old rash guard which I made years ago. When I made the first one it was on a whim because I bought a new book on how to make active wear but I never actually expected to wear that one out. As it turns out its now all stretched and pilly from wear. Well on the good side I  have actually made use of it. It was not time and fabric wasted. Its been worn weekly for yonks.

So I made a new one anyway out of scuba. The first one is made from swimwear fabric so is quite thin. I decided to go all out and see how this pattern works with scuba. Its now been worn twice for swimming and works wonderfully as well as being warmer than my old one.Because I had only 1m of this fabric I had to piece one sleeve but it does not seem to matter. It looks fine and works. No one seems to notice the arm seam and its a "design feature" I quite like. I did worry I had stretched the seam too much. I never actually stretched it but the machine stretched the fabric as I top stitched it with a twin needle. It seems to wear ok and is now flatter than on these photos having been worn in water the last 2 weeks.

The pattern is the one I made from the Make Your Own Activewear book by Melissa Feyr. I used my original pattern tracing but made a smaller seam allowance on the front and it fits better than the first one did. The fabric has been in my stash years and I have no idea where I bought it from. 

 

Have a great week and thanks for visiting. 

See you soon,

Bracken

Magic mushroom dress

 

 

 

Well I say "magic mushrooms" but really they are Fly Agarics I think. Or cartoons of anyway. The classic faery mushrooms. I just could not resist the fabric. So I chose a pointy hoodied pixie dress which has turned out lovely and I enjoyed wearing twice so far.

 

I have a small amount left after this so will make childrens trousers or shorts I think from that. Its a french terry fabric ( oekotex) and I just love it, but having bought the fabric I decided I would need a TNT pattern to make something from it so I do not wreck the fabric but also so that I feel happy wearing this print.

Its the perfect fabric for spring and will work when it warms up a bit with ankle socks and trainers as well. Right now its strictly winter weight leggings I am wearing it with under a coat but its April now so it should start to warm up. May is usually hot in the UK. Or the end of May is hot anyway. Mayday is usually cold ad rainy, so hopefully I can store my leggings away soon and go bare legged. We will see.

I toyed with having raw hems on this one but in the end played it safe and hemmed this dress as the previous ones.  

And at last I feel like I am actually making things and not just thinking of making things.  If I could make what I think about, well I would make so much more than I really manage to do.

Thanks for popping by and I hope to see you again soon.

Have a great week,

Bracken

Glittery Lekala Sports Trousers - 2 pairs.

 
 I decided to replace my old grey glittery sweatshirts and trousers. 

 

I have two tracksuits sets of hoody tops and trousers each in glittery grey sweatshirting.  I made them years ago and they are pretty much worn out now, so when I saw a bolt of 12m of grey glittery sweatshirting for sale I bought one and so far I have made two pairs of the Lekala sports trousers to replace my old ones. I intend to also make the hoodies again, then recycle the old worn ones. 

12m is far more than I had previously so I am not yet sure what I will do with the rest but I intend to use at least 6m this summer. Its just too big a piece of fabric to keep in storage for much longer than I need to so best I wear it and get it out of my stash.

These trousers are not at all an original make ( and I made a camo pair the other week)  and this is a pattern I have used so many times now I have lost count of the number of pairs of these I have made, but they are soft warm and snuggly, and I am very much enjoying them despite the weather warming up a bit now. They will still be needed for summer in the UK I am sure, and will be still warm and cosy for next autumn.

They are basic straight legged sports trousers with an elastic waist and two front inset pockets.

 

There is not really much I can say about these. They are a darker grey than my previous ones. Not sure if thats good or bad just yet - it just IS. 

The trousers,because I have more fabric than my previous two pairs, have sweatshirting pockets rather than contrasting fabric lnings. I have yet to decide if this is better than the others or not. Its thicker but thats not necessarily good. I will wear for a few wearings and then make a decision as to weather I did right or not using the same fabric throughout. I do like my contrasting lining on my older pairs and its thinner so not so bulky but so far I have not found it annoying having thicker pockets anyway. My final choice of course makes no difference to these two pairs but will influence my next pair because its inevitable I will make more of this pattern because I still love it and its so easy and comfy to wear.

 
I left the hems unfinished and just sewed around the bottom to stop the side seams coming undone. Its exactly what I did with the last two pairs so I just copied them exactly really, because why change what you really loved?

And now some time over the next few days I hope to cut out my sweatshirt tops. I may do a new type of top for one pair but I need to check out my patterns first to decide which top to make. I definitely want one the same as my previous versions though.

Thanks for popping by to see my blog and see you again next week if you have the time,

Take care

Bracken

Unicorn Dress

 

 

When I came accross this fur backed sweatshirting with Unicorns on it, well, I could not resist. And its a very adult type of pattern despite the unicorns. It was expensive. But I bought 2m not knowing what I would make with it. I went through various patterns but decided it should be a TNT pattern because I really cannot afford to make a big mistake when something costs me lots of money. I also wanted a BIG top or dress or something I can throw over my other clothes if needed but also something nice enough to wear alone. So really thats quite a tall order. Oh and I wanted a hood!

 

This is the pattern I used for the red skulls top. Its my partners pattern really - or the one I use most for his tops anyway. But I knew it could possibly make me a nice dress to wear in spring, autumn winter and maybe even the colder days of summer but also I can wear this over my tracksuit trousers.Its a 2XL size which is huge on me but does mean I get a nice oversized baggy top. I "batwinged" the sleeves. Or tapered them severely to th extent I actually thought I had mess this up until I sewed them up. They are narrow on the wrists but really wide at the top. Still an inset sleeve but being a much larger size than I am work to look like batwings.

I have never before made a dress from this particular top pattern but its worked out well and would be wearable I think on a cold windy beach in August when its raining despite supposedly being summer just as well as it will work with tights por leggigs for winter so I am very happyhow this has turned out. And especially I am happy to have made it without it going wrong because whe I do spend on fabric thats expensive obviously its a real worry and thats likely to be when things go wrong. Partly its why I chose a TNT pattern thats really very easy and basic to make. Also I do want to wear this and not just leave it in my wardrobe so anything like a fitted dress or trousers had to be out of the question. This I think is very, very wearable.

Have a lovely weekend and thanks for popping by to visit my blog.

Bracken

Camo Lekala trousers

 

This was taken in Milton Keynes when we visited a relative near there. I never noticed the litter on the floor until writing this post. Still this photo is definitely "real".

 

The grey hoody worn with these trousers is one of my glitter hoodies that are pretty worn out so once I replace them I will be recycling this top. I really need some new sweatshirts for next winter and lets face it for summer in the UK.

 

I am not sure how often or if ever I will wear these together but the option for a outfit is there should I want to. 

I was meant to be cutting the hedge - hence the steps.

I quite like the look but all over camo can be a difficult pattern to wear on the street, in the supermarket etc.

LOVE my pointy hood and its such an easy pattern to make.

 

You can see the seaming here. The front wraps round to the back so theres a kind of princess seam going on, on the back only. Sleeves have to be set in because of this so you cannot do the sew-all-up-one-side-in-one-go thing I prefer with tops. But its still an easy pattern to make. I definitely recommend this top pattern. 

Anyway trousers: I got this pattern so long ago now. 2013 I think! I love this trousers pattern which is the Lekala sports trousers in a standard sizing version. I just put in my height back then but you can get them to create a pattern to fit you perfectly which is probably the better option for most people. These worked for me though so I have stuck with them. Mind you I joined the bottom pieces onto the leg permanently long ago and did away with the side splits, which actually are now back in again should you want that look, So, not an original pattern make, but a staple I know I will wear. And so cozy and warm.

Have a great Easter and eat loads of chocolate with zero guilt should you want to. 

I will be!

See you soon and thanks for visiting

Bracken

Camo pixie top

My sewing has had to slow up a bit this last week because my Mum, who is in her 80s, decided to be independent ad go up a ladder to change her shower curtains, and she fell from about 3ft or 1m up. Then she had to stay in hospital for a few days to recover and really I think she is very lucky nothing was broken or seriously damaged. Its just bruising. Anyway as you can imagine we have all (that is me, my brother, cousins etc) been telling her it was a stupid thing to do. Its not like there is no one who can do things for her. She just doesn't like asking. Trying to explain to someone their own pride has put them in hospital is not easy, or not if you do not want to upset that person. Anyway because of this I have not had time to blog and have only managed a small amount of sewing.

My coat is still "in progress" because I had so much trouble with the button hole, and had to unpick it twice, that I decided that the best way forward is hand stitching and that will take me a while. Really it will give me a nicer finish than machine stitching anyway so I intend to also do my hood lining and my hem in hand sewing - ah I did attach the hood, which I had not yet done last week, so I will show you the coat once that is done. For now its not exactly on hold but awaiting progress. I bought some black embroidery thread to make a decent button hole and the rest will just take time. The thread arrived a couple of days ago so it should start to happen now onwards. So for now the coat has to wait in the shadows while I clear the other stuff on my table. 

Well this camo fabric has been in my stash 3 years I think. I have another 2m piece to make a top for my partner as well. This bit was 4m. I am also making some tracksuit pants with some of this but hopefully more on that next week or even later this week since Mum has now finally come home. 

 

 I have made this top before in velvet. 

Generally, I make the dress version but decided this fabric could look good in camo. 

I love the pointy hood on this top. And its so wearable . Its actually a fancy dress pattern but works really nicely in normal fabric  with every day clothing.

Anyway, as I said earlier I have also cut out a pair of tracksuit pants so will show you them once I get them sewn up.

Have a great week and thanks for popping by,

Bracken