Moon and Star Lariat Necklace: Quick and Easy Jewelry Tutorial

I love an easy DIY. I have so many sewing projects that I want to do, but it's sometimes hard to find the motivation to work on them. Let's face it, sewing can be a lot of work and requires a lot of setup and cleanup. So from time to time, I like to make something that is easy and fun and can take me under an hour. In fact, this necklace took me just a couple minutes to make.

Dress to Skirt: Clothing Upcycle

Last week in my Yoga Pants to Leggings post, I wrote about how I was going through my closet and wanted to tackle some refashion projects. I must admit I started this particular project over six months ago. I got the idea for it and proceeded to take apart the zipper and detach the bodice from the skirt. And then...that was it. I shamefully left in pieces in my "to-sew" pile for months. I would like to say that it was just because I couldn't figure out exactly how I wanted to approach it the refashion. However, it was probably a bit of laziness and forgetfulness too.

After tackling the easy project last week, I felt motivated to finally do this project. Now let me begin by saying I really love this dress and I've had it for several years. It was easy to wear and went with everything. And it had pockets! But truth be told, it never fit that well and was a bit uncomfortable. The bodice was too tight on my ribcage and too loose on my bust (a perpetual problem with ready-to-wear garments for me). It hadn't left my closet in a while, but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. So I decided to try and refashion it and turn it into something comfortable that I would actually wear. I technically started this project in the fall envisioning it as a cute fall skirt that I could wear with tights and boots. Well, this will speak to the versatility of this fabric, because now it will become a cute spring and summer skirt that I can wear with booties or sandals.

Now let's get to how I did this. This is a fairly simple project. It will work for most fit and flare dresses that have an attached gathered skirt. The front of the refashioned skirt has a flat waistband and a gathered skirt for a polished look, and the back has an elastic waistband to make it easy and comfortable to wear. The elastic waistband also makes the skirt more versatile because I can either wear it on my waist or pull it down and wear it on my hips. So let's get started...

Yoga Pants to Leggings: Clothing Upcycle

It's that time of year again. It's springtime and warmer weather means more time outside, blooming flowers... and spring cleaning. I love how a home feels after a thorough cleaning. However, I'm not such a big fan of the actual cleaning part. As a way to put off doing some actual cleaning, I decided to go through my closet. It's been a bit warmer outside now so it was time to put away my winter clothing and accessories and take out my summer clothes. I wanted to take this opportunity to figure out what I'm still actually wearing. If there was a piece I haven't worn in awhile I like to ask myself these questions:

Does it fit well? If it doesn't, can I alter it to make it fit better?

Does it need repairs?

If it needs to be altered or repaired, it goes into my to-sew pile. Which, shamefully, hasn't been touched in much too long. If it still fits and it is in good condition, that usually means I just don't like it anymore. In that case I'll put it in a pile of clothes to be donated. If it can't be repaired or is in bad shape, then I'll try to salvage it. I remove and save any buttons or working zippers (you can never have too many!) and use the fabric as sewing scraps or cut it up for cleaning rags.

At this point, my pile of things to sew or repair has built up quite a bit. To get things started, I decided to begin with one of the easier projects. I've had these yoga pants for several years and the quality is great. However, they are just so flared. I definitely prefer a bootcut to my pants, or bet yet, leggings! Working out in flared pants just tends to get in the way. I prefer leggings when exercising, so I decided to see if I could turn this pair of yoga pants into leggings. I don't wear these anymore anyway, so it'd be like getting a new pair of leggings for free! It was so easy and successful I wanted to kick myself for not doing it sooner.

You could do this upcycle with any pair of flared stretch pants you have lying around. This would be a great project for pants that are too short since leggings have a shorter inseam anyway.

Ready to see how I did it? Let's get started!