Maple Skirt by Gracious Threads… Hacked!

So I decided to do something I pretty much never do. I hacked a pattern!

Normally if I make any changes to a pattern I’m sewing it’s pretty minor. Maybe do a little colour blocking, something like that.

But for the Maple Skirt Tour, Jess of Gracious Threads was encouraging us to do a hack if we wanted so I figured I’d do something that was a little bit out of my comfort zone.

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I’ll say it right off the bat, I messed up my buttonholes. I needed to shift the buttons down a little because the third button would have been right on the line where the two fabrics join, and then I thought I measured well, but apparently I went all buttonhole happy and didn’t keep distances the same.

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It’s a fairly simple hack. I basically cut the skirt pattern pieces at about the third mark. Then measured along the bottom cut edge of each piece (the front and back); took that measurement and multiplied it by 3 to make the new width measurements. The length was the length of the bottom 2/3’s of the skirt pieces plus seam allowance. Probably doesn’t make much sense, I’ll try to get a picture of what I mean. For the back gathered piece I had to cut out two pieces to get the width I wanted.

For the jeans top part of the skirt I actually upcycled an old pair of my husbands’ jeans. Since I made a size 3 I still have quite a bit of jeans left to work with.

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The belt loops are the actual belt loops from the jeans. For the back piece I cut from close to the bottom of one leg and centered the fold line of the pattern piece on the side seam of the jeans.

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I was actually quite impressed that my sewing machine managed to sew through all the those layers! It had tiny fits trying to sew over the belt loops on the seams but otherwise it survived! Yay!

Even though I messed up on the buttonholes, I’m still quite happy with it. The topstitching with the jeans thread really helps I think. Both my girls like the skirt. Luckily SillyBean is super skinny so she can fit into it. She can wear it over leggings, it will look so cute.

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It was a fun hack. Next time though when I cut the bottom part off the skirt I’ll add the curve of the original hemline to the top part of the skirt pattern piece (the jeans part). Maybe then it won’t hike up so much in the back like in the pic below.

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I have plans to sew up an original version soon. I just need to clear up a few other projects on my sewing table first!

Check out the other stops on the Maple Skirt Sewalong Tour by clicking the pic below!!

maple-skirt

I hope you enjoyed my hack!

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Earth Day Projects Round Up

I hope you enjoyed the Earth Day Blog Hop! If you missed one of the stops on the mini hop check them out here:

Earth Day blog hop collage

Vicky Myers Creations  –  Coral and Co.  –  Seam of My Pants  –  EYMM  –  Create 3.5  –  PenSeb&Rox  –  Candice Ayala

But not to be missed I collected an extra 45+ upcycling and recycling projects to share with you. I’ve created a completely separate collage of children’s crafts with recycled materials which I will be posting later.

50+ projects using upcycled and recycled materials

I have also pinned these projects to a board full of Upcycling, Recycling and Refashioning projects so be sure to check it out too for even more ideas. Click on the pictures below to get to the post! There are even more projects listed near the bottom too.

alaska

DIY-Felt-Mug-Cozy-with-printed-sentiment

Quilted Heart Coaster Tutorial

Denim Foot poof

 

 

 

 

shirts to pillows

reupholster

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Sweater-Pillow-Finished

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diy-cd-upcycle-coasterDIY-How-To-Color-Glass-So-That-It-Looks-Tinted-576x1024DIY-Recycled-Twine-Vasehow-to-use-a-flower-loom-2terrariumDIY rotating jewelry storage using cereal boxDIY Pencil Box using cereal box CMON-GET-CRAFTY-TOY-SHELVES-PIN

sugar bags
DIY-Handmade-Journal-400x600

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UPcycled-Desk-ORganizers-400x600
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Toilet-paper-roll-wreath
DIY-Halloween-Decoration-Plastic-Milk-Jug

Make-your-own-sandwich-wrapplarn-projMILK JUG CRAFTSpool-noodle-wreath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and even more upcycling, recycling and refashioning ideas:

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Earth Day Blog Hop

Welcome to the first Earth Day Blog hop I’m hosting! This is a mini hop with just a couple stops each day with different bloggers sharing projects that they’ve made using recycled or upcycled materials. Earth Day is held every year on April 22nd and I remember as a young teen, Earth Day seemed to explode on the scene and my local municipality held many different activities in honour of Earth Day. The last few years though, things seem to have quieted down quite a bit, at least where I live, and the city mainly just hosts a (limited) tree giveaway (but oddly not actually on Earth Day but a week later). (And I mean limited, they give away 1000 trees in a municipality of approximately 230,000 people).

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On Friday I will be sharing a round up of 50+ recycling and upcycling crafts which will include all the stops on the hop for this week as well. So if you’re looking to be inspired with ways you can use recycling and upcycling in your sewing or other craft projects be sure to follow along all week and check in again on Friday for even more ideas! Some of the projects will be suitable for children but many are best for older teens and adults.

Today I’m sharing a post I did three years ago. Egg carton flowers! This is an easy craft for kids to do with minimal adult involvement and needs very few supplies. Click the photo below to get to the post.

Mini tutorial on making egg carton flowers with preschoolers

For more inspiration be sure to check out all the blogs taking part in the Earth Day Blog hop!

April 18:
Vicky Myers Creations  –  Coral and Co.

April 19:
Seam of My Pants

April 20:
EYMM  –  Create 3.5

April 21:
PenSeb&Rox  –  Candice Ayala

April 22:
Lulu & Celeste (Round Up post)