#29: I've been working on the railroad...

Welcome back! I started my new job this week! No, I haven't been working on the railroad, but this denim Dickies jumpsuit I found for a dollar at the flea market surely makes me feel like I have been. It made me feel like some kind of cross between a train conductor and mechanic.

Before: Denim Jumpsuit

Before: From behind

Sometimes you find something that is so outrageously awesome that you just can't pass it up. This was one of those things :)

Grrrr!

Macho-Macho [Wo]man!

I did this remake last Summer before I started this blog, so I unfortunately don't have any process pictures. But as always I'll try to detail how I transformed this jumpsuit from greasy to glam!

1) First, I washed it. I got it from a flea market, and I'm not sure how they got it, but it was super smelly and dirty. Washing out the grime was half of the transformation!

2) Next, I cut the sleeves and collar off by cutting a straight line just above the pockets on the bust. The zipper conveniently zipped only up to the top of the pockets with a clasp just above, so I didn't have to cut through the metal zipper.

3) I folded and sewed a new hem across the top of the piece in a shallow sweetheart neckline.

4) There were large openings in front of the side pockets, so I sewed them closed.

5) After that I cut over a foot of length off of the legs and took a seam ripper and separated the seams between the legs.

6) I flipped the piece inside out. Then I pinned and sewed the right and left leg inner thigh material together in a straight line down both the front and back of the legs, leaving a slight slit in the front. Because more material is used in pants between the legs, when the seam is removed, the extra material makes a triangular area of excess material when folded. That is what I sewed away and cut off the excess material. This way I have one big hole for a skirt instead of two holes for pant legs.

7) I then folded and sewed a new hem around the bottom of the new skirt.

8) Next, I took it in straight down the back from the waistline to reduce the size. It had a naturally built-in waist which worked well for this project.

9) Then I removed the bust pockets with a seam ripper.

10) For the last part I cut long, thin strips of material from the leftover sleeve material.

11) For each strip, I pinned one end into my carpet to hold it down and twisted the rest of the strip all the way to the end.

12) Then I carefully rolled each twisted strip around itself into a flat rosette. I used different lengths of strips to make different size rosettes. These looked cool because the two sides of the denim we're different shades, so the rosettes were two-toned.

13) I took a needle and thread and hand-sewed straight through the coiled layers of the flat rosettes so they wouldn't come unraveled. The opposite sides of each rosette looked like a spiderweb with all of the stitches!

14) I laid the rosettes across the top hem of the the bust. I positioned the smaller ones toward the center zipper and the larger ones slightly higher to give the illusion of a more defined sweetheart neckline. Then I hand-sewed them in place.

15) Finally, I sewed two remaining rosettes at the center of the waist with a metal floral bead at the center to make that area look a little less mechanical with the heavy-duty zipper and clasps.


I had a lot of free time last Summer, so I made a lot of transformations. Just like the rest, this one was just what the Summer weather ordered!

Here's what it looked like before:

Before: Dirty Denim Jumpsuit

And now after:

After: Strapless Denim Dress

After: From Behind

Close up of the rosettes

I loved this transformation! I really feel like I took it out of the junkyard :) What do you think?

Unfortunately, this is the project that sent my little sewing machine to its death.

RIP Lil' Sew & Sew

It was my first seeing machine, and couldn't stand up to all the denim. Something snapped on the inside that wasn't worth repairing for this kind of machine. I can't believe something so little and simple served me well in so many projects! But losing it made way for me to get a real, full-sized Janome 2212 sewing machine a for my birthday!

Helloooo Janome!

I LOVE my Janome! It actually goes in reverse and has more than one stitch (something Lil' Sew & Sew didn't have)!

I hope you liked this transformation. It's one of my favorites. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I can't wear it anymore because I've slimmed down since Summer and the dress just falls off! I'll have to take it in again. I have another black denim jumpsuit waiting for me in my big bag of transformations, so we'll see soon what I do to that one!

:)

Until next time, blessings.