20 quick and easy refashions for beginners

Refashioning is a great way to get the most out of your wardrobe. In fact, every season I go through my wardrobe and take out things that I haven't worn and think of ways I could update them to get more wear out of them. Even after just 6 months of moving to Germany with my capsule wardrobe, I'm finding things that aren't working for me.

Maybe they're just a tad shapeless, or I don't feel comfortable because I fear my boobs might fall out (we all know how tricky those strapless dresses can be). Whatever is stopping me from wearing those garments, there's almost always a way to fix it and make it more interesting, comfortable, or wearable. So, I thought it would be fun to round up some quick fixes from the archives to inspire you to spring clean and update your wardrobe.

You really don't have to be DIY queen to do these. Anyone can get into refashioning - you just need to be able to see the potential in every garment.

1. Dye is the quick fix with a lot of impact. Sometimes, all it takes are a few rubber bands an a little dye to turn a boring white tee into a colorful summer staple. Find the tutorial here.

 2. If you're not that into tie dyeing, you should dry dip dyeing for an ombre look. I don't think were quite over the ombre trend yet.

 3. If you're not that into messing with dye, or you have dark items to refashion that won't take in any dye, try bleach for a change. You'll get the same drastic color change, but with less of a mess. I love this shibori-style t-shirt dress I bleached (it was black before).

4. Just throwing something into bleach is really one of the easiest refashioning tricks I know. You never know how exactly it's going to turn out, but that half the excitement anyway. You can read moe about this pullover refashion here.

5. You don't need to dye the whole garment to add some color. Fabric paint is a great way to change up a garment by adding a colorful pattern - like this spotted T-shirt. 

6. You can go a little crazy and try this splatter technique. I love it!

 7. Here's a fun way to add a tribal or geometric pattern to a jacket.

8. Pearls are a super easy way to add some fancy to otherwise simple garments. All you need are some basic hand-sewing skills. Add some pearls and sequins on a shoulder....

9. ...or around a neckline....

10. ...or bedazzle a pair of jeans!

11. Why not use buttons to add some personality to jeans or trouser pockets? I'm definitely a fan of buttons (I have a whole box full of them).

12. If pearls nor buttons rock your boat, what about zippers? This zipper embellished T-shirt is one of my all-time favorites.

13. Or, try adding some zippers to an open-back dress with slippery shoulders.

14. Sometimes it's the fit of a shirt that makes you pass each time you look at it in the morning. Try shirring the waist to add some more definition and shape.

 15. Have a nasty stain on a comfy t-shirt? Maybe putting a lace heart on it will do the trick.

 16. Lace hearts are super cute on the back of a tee as well.

 17. Sometimes, all a blouse needs is a lace collar. You'll be amazed at the difference a little lace can make.

18. Adding lace straps to a strapless dress can turn it from something you fear wearing into something you love. It certainly turned this dress into one of my favorites. 

 19. When in doubt, add fabric flowers. It helps. Every time.

20. Last but not least, you can take something away. Whether it's taking some length off of a skirt, or a the sleeves of a jacket. Snipping off what's not working, can sometimes be the simplest solution of them all.

I hope you're inspired to give your closet a good clean-out and refashion some of those unloved garments to give them another go. Sometimes an easy fix can turn a "meh"-garment into a wardrobe staple.

xo. Hanna

15 quick and easy lace fixes for old garments

I'm sure my love for lace doesn't come as a surprise to anyone. I've sung my love song to lace ever since I started this blog, and really, I've been in love with it forever. Lace and I are super tight! 

So, for me, it comes naturally that whenever I need to refashion or mend a garment, I think of lace first. Like "Hey, how about adding some lace?" or "I wonder if I have any lace in my stash that matches this fabric?" This also means that I do a ton of refashions using lace. I've actually had to consciously stop myself numerous times because I bet you'd get super bored of seeing only lace added here and lace squeezed in there every week.

That being said, I still find lace amazing, and so I wanted to highlight 15 projects and 5 easy ways you can utilize lace in your refashioning projects. 

1) Use lace to add length. There's been many times that lace has literally saved my ass, as in covered it when the garment couldn't. Like the red minidress in the top photo - I wouldn't be able to wear it if i hadn't added a wide panel of lace to make it longer. And, just out of curiosity, who wear a dress that short? I mean, I'm 162cm and it's way too short on me. Maybe it's meant to be a shirt??
I've also used lace to add length to a blouse, and to make up for my mistake of cutting this skirt too short.

2) Use lace collars to add a fresh layer of texture. Ready-made lace collars are a great way to add some functionality or texture to an old garment. Adding a lace collar can really elevate a simple blouse, and give a whole new look to an out-dated vest. The last one is by far my favorite 10-minute project.

3) Use lace to cover up and/or cut out stains. Adding some lace on top of a stain is a great way to visually lose the stain. I love cutting out the original layer of fabric away from underneath the lace and bringing some see-through action to garments. It add so much more interest and sophistication to a garment.
Here are a few ways to get started: the heart cut-out tee, the lace neckline tee, the bubble tee, and of course the sheer back tee.

4) Use lace to add visual interest. Sometimes a garment just lacks oomph, and lace is a quick way to add some "vavavoom". I love adding a lace panel to the hem of a skirt (like HERE and HERE). It's also a great way to update a granny jacket, or spice up a pair of simple cut-off jeans.

5) Use lace to fix a fit issue. Lace is pretty and compliments a lot of different garments, which makes it the perfect material to use when you need to fix a fit issue, but don't have extra fabric to work with. I've used it to add straps to a strapless dress, and to add width to a garment (like in the bottom photo).

I hope this sparked some ideas in you how you could use lace to refashion or even mend old garments. If you're not that into lace, it's cool too (but really, I don't think we can be friends anymore). But, I challenge you to try it out before you discard it. Lace doesn't have to be "pink" and overly girly. It can also be sophisticated and classy. It all comes down to the way you use it.

xo. Hanna

Refashionista // 5 Projects with Fabric Roses

I'm kickin' it #tbt style today and sharing 5 past refashions I did using one of my all time favorite embellishment technique - the fabric roses made of old t-shirts. If you've been  here a while you might be familiar with my fabric flower obsession, but seriously, it's a really easy technique, and gets beautiful results. You can find the 6th project and the tutorial right here.

I fell so hard for my first fabric rose project, that for a while, I used them on every freakin' refashion I did. I just couldn't get enough!

This bag was made out of an old denim skirt. It was my first clutch, although, to be honest, I mostly still wore it with the strap. I love it dearly, though, since it's a 100% refashion, which means every bit of it is re-used. Except the thread - that was new.

The above 2 projects were modeled by Marianne. Some of you might remember her from my previous blog, and the early days of Pearls & Scissors. She used to help me out with modeling. Those were the days... I'm getting a bit nostalgic here.

The flowers on the blue top were hand-sewn. You can see the difference of hand-sewing versus machine sewing (bottom pic) well here. 

I love these roses, although the rest of this refashion was quite a bust. I altered it again and removed the sleeves, but since I really didn't like the color of this top, I never really wore it after. Lesson learned - always make sure you love the material you're working with before investing a lot of time and effort into a refashion or any other sewing project.

One tip I'd give for this technique is that less twisting and wider strips make for more textured flowers, and more twists and narrower strips make for flat flowers.

As you can see, I was pretty into these flowers at some point. Lucky for you, I branched out eventually, otherwise you'd still be looking at fabric flowers every week. Although, this round-up got me thinking about adding some roses to something. So, there might be a seventh project in the near future.

Have you tried this or a similar technique?

xo. Hanna

10 DIY ideas for your Valentine's outfit

I spent all Thursday updating my blog archives, so I thought I would celebrate by sharing some crafty ideas to spend your Sunday on. And since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I rounded-up some tutorials to help you add a little DIY to your Valentine's outfit.

I love a simple T-shirt refashion, especially when it involves lace. Add a little lace heart where your actual heart is, or sew it to the back of the tee. Whichever you choose, it's just as cute.

Or, if you think a heart is a bit too mainstream, add some red fabric flowers to a T-shirt to make it just a tad more romantic.

Sewing is not your forte? Why not try fabric stamping. It's super easy, I promise. You could do a red dotted T-shirt, or make a heart stamp out of a sponge (similar to this) or potato and cover the tee with a cute heart pattern.

If you'r more set on wearing a pretty dress than a cute T-shirt, why not make a DIY accessory? Like this knitted bow. How lovely would this look in ruby red?

These crochet rose stud earrings are my favorite. Very feminine, and easier to make than they might look.

Or, make these waterfall earrings. No crochet-skills required.

Since hearts are still the ultimate Valentine's day trademark, here's a fun fabric heart brooch.

And, a pretty fabric flower brooch  I created for Oh, Everything Handmade a while back.

Last, but not least, make a knitted headband, just in case your super romantic boyfriend/fiance/husband insists on going star-gazing. What? It happens.

I hope your excited about making something tomorrow. I sure am! Although, it's not really Valentine's related since Rein and I are spending Valentine's in different countries this year. Nontheless, I'm in full creative mode. How about you? Do you special plans for V-day?

xo. Hanna