Peach Scalloped Hem Shorts

So I went thrifting last week and I always find myself face to face with loads of nice quality but unflattering golf shorts. I've been cooking up ideas for ages on how to improve them and I think I've just about nailed the scalloped hem technique :) I learned the hard way that the curves must be stitched in a curvy fashion (no points at the top of the curve like I drew out in my pattern). Fortunately, that was easily remedied with a seam picker. I happen to love high waisted shorts and the peachy color of these was just singing to me from the Salvation Army racks. What do you think?

 

^This is the part where I should have made the line curvier, rather than making points at the top of each curve.

Ready to stitch.

Finished product!

I just need to finish the inside edges to keep them securely in place and they'll be up for sale in my Etsy shop which you can check out here. There's not much up just yet, but it'll be a bounty of vintage finds by the end of the week :)

Pretty things to come.

I went thrift shopping todayyy. I feel like I haven't been in forever, so I needed some inexpensive retail therapy. I found so many handmade clothes! I love finding unique pieces. I found a few things that will need a teeny bit of tweaking, like a pair of peach shorts that are begging for scalloped edges and another pair in need of bleach and studs. I found one impeccable handmade vintage dress with a lovely floral pattern and an adorable collar. I can't wait to take some pictures and get a few of these posted on my Etsy shop and into the hands of someone who appreciates detail as much as I do :) No pictures quite yet, because I'm exhausted and have to work at 5:30 in the morning, but I felt like writing a quick blurb before passing out. Keep an eye on my shop for new things by clicking HERE and religously refreshing the page every 10 minutes, okay? Is that a bit much? Okay fine, but seriously, there will be fun things. I promise.

Refashioned Tom's! (Psst, it's a tutorial)

My Tom's are among my favorite shoes. They are the comfiest things ever and every pair bought brings a new pair of shoes to a child in need. I love the shoes, I love the charity, but as a part-time grocery store cake decorator, I don't love their price tag :( And, as I'm sure many people know, their minimalist design and dedication to natural materials means that the canvas doesn't last as long as the other shoes in our wardrobes, so to add another summer to their life (and a few dollars kept in my pocket) I have completely recovered them in new fabric! I took a slightly lazy approach to recovering these, so here's the tutorial on how I did it.

First, get together some supplies:

Old Tom's

Scissors

Sewing needle

Thread

New fabric

Fabric glue* (not pictured) 

My first step was to take the Tom's label off so I can put them over the new fabric and keep them looking authentic.

Next, I cut a square of fabric bigger than I needed and started folding the edges under and pinning it into place to get the shape of the shoe.

I cut a slit near the middle to keep the v shape, since they'd lose their stretch if I had covered over it. For the upper piece, I left the bottom edge raw since I was going to put the lower panel of fabric over it. 

Keeping all of my folds in place, I took the fabric off the shoe, trimmed any excess fabric, and started stitching around the borders. I hand stitched them with a back stitch and doubled thread because I liked the look, but a sewing machine will make it that much easier :)

This is what all of my pieces looked like after I had pinned them into the right shapes. Two panels over the toe, and one long panel to cover the back. I made sure to make the lower toe panel so that it would overlap the raw edge of the upper panel, which also keeps the diagonal seam over the top (they look so real!)

The lazy part comes in with the fabric glue, because once I had all of my pieces stitched together, I just glued them to the shoe. I had originally tried to stitch the fabric to the shoes, but some parts of the fabric are so thick that I needed a thimble and I bent two sewing needles before using the glue method. By stitching the fabric pieces, we are creating the illusion that we worked really hard when we only used glue! Yay laziness! 

Another small detail I did to keep their look was to make the lower toe panel a little bigger than needed over the toe so I could put the folds in the front.

Here's the contrast between the worn out shoe and the pretty shoe brought back to life by floral loveliness. 

See how the diagonal stitch over the top makes it look almost like an original? (You are going to fool so many people!)

Here's the side view, which shows how I glued the heel panel under the Tom's tag on the side, another little detail that will keep your shoes looking like Tom's, rather than knock-offs.

 And the last step is to glue the Tom's tag on the heel, let everything dry for about 24 hours, depending on the glue you used, and voila! Your Tom's are prettier than ever!

Make sure to take lots of pictures so you can admire your handiwork and show your friends.

This is my very first tutorial, so please excuse any sloppiness. Questions and comments are fully welcome :)

*Note: A washable fabric adhesive will work best, as you can still wear them in wet conditions without worrying about the glue dissolving.