It’s Lauren from Blooming Leopold back with this month’s DIY project. This time around, we’re working with vintage again. As I’ve mentioned before, changing a vintage garment doesn’t have to be intimidating; it can be as simple as shortening a skirt, or in this case, removing sleeves and finishing the armholes with bias tape.

I recently found and fell in love with a nude colored silk jumpsuit via Salt Valley Vintage. When it arrived on my doorstep and I put it on, the puff sleeves overwhelmed my frame and I channeled Rosie the Riveter a little too strongly – so using this Pinterest image as inspiration, I decided to cut off the sleeves in an attempt to modernize the one piece.

What you need.. single fold bias tape, your item of choice, sewing machine, iron, and scissors.

First step: Cut off your sleeves. It’s important to use a vintage item that doesn’t have super deep armholes, such as a dolman sleeve blouse (unless you want large, gaping armholes). Be sure to leave about a 1/4 inch for the finishing. Try it on and see how the new armholes lay, then trim as necessary.

Next step: Sew your single fold bias tape, right sides together, to your new armhole. Begin at the armpit seam and sew around, leaving about an inch of extra bias tape at the end so you finish it neatly. You will need to sew the small 1/4 fold of the bias tape to your garment as shown in the photo, leaving the majority of the tape loose (you will be folding this into your garment to finish).

Using an iron, press the bias tape into the garment, wrong sides together, keeping the edges flat and pressing very close to the bias tape edge (where it is sewn to the garment). Also fold the remaining inch at the end of the bias tape inward at the armpit and press it in place.

Then, it’s time to sew the tape in place! Sew on the outer edge of the bias tape and you’re finished. As you sew, keep the fabric fairly tight and pressed to the tape.

The bias tape will allow the armholes to lay flat against the body, resulting in a professional finish. You can also use double fold bias tape to face armholes and necklines, as seen in this DIY.

As the weather grows warmer, I hope this project comes in handy for you all. Happy May! – Lauren (DIY Sew Contributor)

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It’s Lauren from Blooming Leopold back with a DIY for you guys to try!

Today we’re tackling a paint job shirt using self-drawn stencils and fabric paint! What you need for the project.. materials to create stencil (see below), a shirt to paint, plastic drop cloth or brown paper to protect your work area, fabric weights (I use washers from the hardware store), and Tumble Dye. I found Tumble Dye via a craft site a while back and was tempted to try it for myself, so I purchased the primary color set and experimented with yellow for this project.

To make the stencil, use a pencil and rulers to create your desired image. I decided to recreate a botany-style wallpaper pattern by cutting out simple leaves and connecting them with curved stems. I used plain printing paper as my stencil but I highly recommend using something thicker – card stock or even transparency paper – to create your stencil, as paper can become soaked with paint and it loses its effectiveness when used too often, causing paint bleeding (which happened to me… don’t use regular paper!).

Steps 1 & 2: Prep your work area by laying out a drop cloth or paper, then place your shirt flat against the surface. I sewed a tie top for the project and deliberately kept the front separate from the back to make painting easier. If you are using a completed shirt, separate the front from the back by wedging a piece of cardboard in between – and wait until one side is fully dry before painting the other.

Step 3: Position your stencil where you’d like it, then outline the stencil with thick paper or plastic (laying weights at the corners) to protect the surrounding area from paint.

Step 4: Shake your Tumble Dye thoroughly and spray evenly onto the stencil from about 6-8 inches away, at a slight angle.

Step 5: Carefully pull the stencil off the painted area, then repeat until your project is fully covered.

Step 6: Wait until your shirt is completely dry, then throw it in your dryer for twenty minutes to heat set the paint. And you’re finished!

See you next month! – Lauren (DIY Sew Contributor)

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Hey! It’s Lauren from Blooming Leopold with this month’s DIY Sew project. Just recently, I was inspired by this Refinery29 photo featuring a pair of bleached-out denim overalls with a dark denim pocket outline. Deciding to make a pair of my own, I picked up a bottle of bleach at the supermarket and set about reworking some old overalls.

What you need: Bleach, seam ripper, a pair of dark denim overalls, thread and needle for a quick sewing job, and a washing machine or bucket to soak the overalls in.

First step - Choose which pocket you’d like to remove, then sew it shut. This isn’t completely necessary but closing the pocket off completely before its bleach soak is a good precaution against any fading underneath.

Second step - Bleach the overalls. I bought a bottle of Clorox Bleach and poured it into my liquid bleach marker on my washing machine to its max line, then washed it on hot (bleach works best in hot water). For top loading machines, dilute your bleach in water before adding it to your machine and refer to the bleach instructions for how much (about 1/2 cup of bleach per load, I think).

**Another great way to bleach your overalls is to soak them in the bath or a bucket (warning – wear gloves!). To do this, use between 1/4-1/2 cup of bleach per gallon of warm water. Mix the bleach into the water thoroughly before adding your overalls, then let them soak. Check on them every five or ten minutes, as the color should change pretty quickly, and remember that they will look darker when wet so take them out before they reach your desired shade. Once they’re finished, rinse them thoroughly with cold water – you can also run them through the wash post-rinse to make sure all bleach is out of the fabric.

Third step - Once you have a bleached pair of overalls, you can pick out the sewed-in pocket using your seam ripper. Gently rip out all of the pocket seams until you have just the dark denim outline underneath.

And they’re finished!

Another idea for changing up an old pair of overalls is replace the pockets with a mismatched pocket from another pair of shorts, jeans, or overalls – maybe even a patterned pair with striped or floral denim for a patchwork look. Just use your seam ripper to remove the pockets, then swap them out and sew them in place.

Have fun with it, and see you next month! – Lauren (DIY Sew Contributor)

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Hi everyone! It’s Lauren from Blooming Leopold with a new sewing post to share.

A few months back, I found this great linen blend sailor dress in the little girl’s section of Goodwill. I loved it. Although I would have worn the dress exactly as-is not so long ago, lately I’ve been inspired by less frills in what I wear – that excludes most bows, and especially bows when paired with double breasted buttons and puffy sleeves. I knew I had to change the dress to make it more wearable for my style.

In an effort to make the dress more modern, I followed 3 (yes, just 3!) simple, go-to steps:

1. Remove embellishments. I used a seam ripper to (gently!) pull out the decorative buttons and bow on the front of the dress. Gentle is key. You don’t want to accidentally create holes where the buttons were. The sailor collar at the neck was a perfect amount of frill for me, so I left that in.

2. Shorten the dress. Maxi dresses especially get a modern look when shortened. It is one of the fastest and simplest alterations you can make, and it goes a long way (pun intended) in changing the style.

When it came to this dress, I didn’t have to shorten it by much. I pressed an inch and a half inside the dress and sewed it at the pressed edge, creating a stiff (and adjustable in the future if necessary) hem.

Another option – if you like drop hem skirts, measure it out and cut it high in the front and low in the back!

3. Remove or shorten the sleeves. At about 8 inches from the shoulder, I cut the sleeve and finished the seam with a simple rolled hem – I folded 1/4 inch inward twice and sewed it in place, then pressed the sleeve.

And that’s it! A simple dress for spring.

Other steps to consider…

*Add your own embellishments. Add graduated stripes by sewing on strips of ribbon or fabric to the skirt or bodice. Shorten and add interest to a dress at the same time by creating horizontal pleats or pin tucks. Put in some studs. Make it your own!

*Create a coordinating two piece playsuit. All you need is some elastic and a dress to cut up (DIY post here!)

*Replace the collar. This is a great option for a button up as well – add a contrasting collar for some interest.

See you guys next month! – Lauren (DIY Sew Contributor)

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It’s Lauren from Blooming Leopold, here with my first sewing DIY post on Drifter & the Gypsy!

Today I’m skipping the sewing in favor of a fabric paint DIY. Neil and I just bought a new couch and needed some new pillows for it, so I bought a white cotton cushion cover from Ikea and set about painting it with a geometric pattern. This tutorial will also work on a tea towel or even a blouse, so feel free to be creative with it.

What you need for this project – fabric paint (I used Speedball black and Pebeo gold), painters or masking tape, paint brush, an iron, and your cushion cover or tea towel. Use this project on a natural fabric like linen or cotton for best results.

This project has only 3 steps!

1. Start taping your fabric. To create a geometric pattern, simply layer long strips of tape in straight lines from different angles, overlapping one another and creating shapes in the process… triangles, rectangles, hexagons, etc. I also outlined the cover in tape at the stitching so the edges wouldn’t have any paint on them.

2. Paint! If you’re painting a cover, line the inside with cardboard or kraft paper to make sure the paint doesn’t leak through to the other side. Allow to dry for at least an hour. Once dry, pull off the tape.

3. Speedball and Pebeo are both heat-set paints, so they require an iron to make the paint permanent – the instructions say to iron the wrong side of the fabric once the project is dry, but I like to iron over a scrap bit of fabric (muslin) on the right side instead. Either way works. Make sure to let the iron sit on every inch of the cover for a few seconds.

And it’s done! Hope this helps you out with an afternoon project, and feel free to post questions or comments below. See you guys next month! – Lauren

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Hello again! It’s me Esther, from Esther-fromthesticks with another sewing tutorial. If any of you read my blog, many of you have probably noticed that I’m a little obsessed with pockets. Not only are pockets incredibly easy to make and add a cool detail, but they’re also really functional. There’s always something in my pockets at all times whether it’s my car keys, bobby pins, or my hands. So today I’m going to show you how to make hidden pockets.

Step 1. First cut out four pocket shapes big enough to fit the size of your hand. The shape is kind of like a kidney bean only with a straight side on one of the sides.

Step 2. Measure the length for where you want your pockets to start. Normally for me it’s only a few inches down from the waist depending on where the waistline starts on the skirt.

Step 3. With right sides together (this means the right side of the skirt fabric will be facing the right side of the pocket fabric) pin the pocket with the straight side onto the skirt starting where you marked your measuring point.

Step 4. Sew the pocket to the skirt using a size 2.5 stich and on the 3/8 seem gage line for guidance taking the pins out as you go.

Step 5. Press the seam open and then press again so that the seam lies towards the pocket. Repeat steps 1-4 until all four of the pockets are sewn onto each side of the skirt.

Step 6. Now with right sides together, pin the skirt together so that the seams and pockets match up.

Step 7. Sew what you just pinned using the 5/8 seam gage line for guidance using a size 2.5 stich. Remember that when you get to where the pocket is, turn and go around the pocket until you reach back to the skirt seam.

Step 8. Snip a cut close to the corner where the pockets meet the seam line.

Steps 9 & 10. Press the skirt seams open, but press the pocket seam facing towards the pocket.

Once you have completed these steps you will now be able to finish the rest of your skirt and shove as many things as you can into your new hidden pockets!

You can add pockets to dresses that you already have as well. Just seam rip a gap in the skirts seam line and then do the same steps that I just showed you. Every single dress that you own could have pockets if you’d like. Be sure to send us a link to where we can view your new pocket creations! Go to town with it and just have fun sewing!

sewing graphic by amy moore for drifter & the gypsy

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Bias tape is such an easy way to add cute detail to any type of garment. I add it to so many of my sewing projects. It’s fun to add just that little pop of detail, or to finish off raw seams for hems. So today I’ll be showing you how to finish off a raw seam by adding bias tape to raw edges.

1. First measure out the length of the edge that you will be placing the bias tape around.

2. Mark and cut the length of the bias tape adding 1inch to the length (the extra inch is added because you will be sewing the bias tape together).

3. With right sides together (this means the right sides of the fabric will be facing each other) sew the bias tape along the 4/8s seam gage line on your sewing machine as a guidance.

4 & 5. Using an iron press the seam open and then refold close and press again.

6. Open up the bias tape and align the raw edge of the garment with the middle fold of the bias tape.  Pin in place.  Do this until the entire edge is pinned.

7. Fold the top of the bias tape over the raw edge so that the bias tape encases the raw edges. Pin in place.  Do this until the entire edge is pinned in place.

8. Once everything is pinned in place sew the piping using the longest stitch setting on your sewing machine. Taking the pins out as you go along, sew close to the edge of the bias tape. This is the trickiest part, so go slow and take your time.

9 & 10. Once sewn, press the bias tape down and voilà! You’re finished!

You can use bias tape for other things than just finishing off edges. Try sewing it a couple inches above a hemline for a vintage sailor hem look. Or try using a contrasting color on the collar of a button down shirt for a cool pop of color. There are so many creative possibilities to play around with. Have fun, experiment, and show off by posting your creations on your blog and send us a link through the comments. We’d love to see it!

xx
Esther

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