80's Blazer

This blazer was bought on e-bay for about $8 and thankfully didn't need any adjusting except for removing the shoulder pads.  It is worn with a $2 retro top and a neck-tie made with offcuts from one of our revamps.

Blue 'Madeline' dress after Revamp

If you remember the 'Revamping retro clothes can be addictive!' post.... the blue dress in that photo waited a long time to be revamped.  Well here is the finished product.  Even though the original looked great on the hanger, there is no way my daughter would wear a calf length dress with a split that went to mid thigh.  Also, the skirt section of the dress was far too tight for her.  But she loved the style with the white collar so it had to be revamped.  The top of the dress fit her well as it was a size 12 so nothing had to be changed there.  With the bottom half I sewed a seam where the split was.  Then I separated the dress at the waist seam.  The top section of the skirt (where it was too tight) was cut off (this naturally shortened the skirt also) and it was re-attached to the bodice section.  The dress looked rather plain and seemed to need something to give it a bit of 'interest'.  I think this was because it is such a plain blue dress.  So it was unpicked (my 'quick unpick' gets used a lot!) and I made a band with the extra material.  The top and skirt were attached to the band (a row of basting was needed on the top of the skirt to gather in the fullness).  My daughter loved the finished product and it also looks great with a jacket and brooch so can be worn in all seasons.

Retro Jacket before Revamp

I found this jacket at a church fete in a 'fill a box for $1' section. I didn't know if my daughter would like it, but I figured at that price 'who cares!' Well she loved it but again it was huge on her. This revamp took a bit to do but was worth it in the end. The jacket was lined, but the lining wasn't stitched down at the hem. So I went under the lining to do all the adjustments. First I stitched the sleeve caps in about 2 centimetres as the sleeves were far too wide (removed the shoulder pads first). Then I unpicked the neck facing (only a few centimetres on both sides of the back seam - no need to unpick the whole facing) so that I could sew in about 2 - 3 centimetres on the centre back seam to make the jacket a smaller size. Then I stitched in the same amount on the facing so that it would fit back on the smaller neckline and then stitched the facing back on.

Retro Jacket after Revamp

The jacket was too long and needed to be shortened however, there were deep pockets that hung right down to the hem. I stitched the opening of the pockets closed so that I could cut the jacket off right through where the pockets hung. I hemmed the bottom after opening out the facing. Then stitched the bottom of the facing back onto the jacket. The jacket was still a little baggy in the front, so I stitched in the princess lines about 1 or 2 centimeters. And voile! A one of a kind jacket that looks great with pants or a skirt.