Refashioning

If you've seen the new button in the right margin, I've taken a pledge to reuse/recycle clothing and materials that I already have instead of buying new for two months!! Yay! It was actually kind of a relief going through the mall last weekend and not being tempted because, hey, 'I'm gonna try to make that dress myself instead.'

I've been getting into refashioning the past few months, especially for my kids. I'm always wondering what clothes I can make them out of the hundreds of Ryan's Hawaii T-Shirts. I do have to post about stuff I make from stuff (even fabric) I already have...Here is my first:

Maternity Jeans
Here's the before (that's not me in dem jeans):

I used this pair of size 0 designer organic cotton sailor jeans I got for practically free at a fundraiser. Retail is like $200. They had like a 25" waist and a crazy 36" inseam. So after not meeting any supermodels in the past year to give them to, I decided to make them in to maternity jeans.

First, try on the jeans (as much as you can!) and mark the front the jeans where your belly starts to protrude. You'll cut right below that part. Cut that top part off making sure the zipper is down:
Then, because these tiny little things didn't fit me to begin with, I cut down each side seam. I added stretchy fabric to each hip to give me some slack (skip this step if the jeans actually fit you when you're NOT pregnant):

After cutting, they should look like this:

After cutting, zip the zipper closed (the zipper clasp will come off). At the top of the closed zipper sew a few stitches back and forth over the zipper to act as a "stopper" so that it won't ever open again.

For stretchy fabric, I took a strapless black nylon spandex bodysuit (Charlotte Russe $3) and added it onto the top and into the sides. It took a few try-ons to get the snug fit just right (not fun when you're belly's in the way). You don't want them too tight, but the problem with jeans when you're pregnant is that they tend to slide down as the day goes on, so you want them pretty snug around the hips.

The After:
You see, I'm not too worried about the side panels showing because most maternity shirts will cover them. I've got another pair of jeans I'll convert later and show.