Refashion Runway Week 4: Small To Large, Contestant Michelle Paganini

Hello, I am Michelle Paganini.  You may already know me from my business, Paganoonoo, or appearances on the syndicated PBS TV show

 It's Sew Easy, or my upcycle sewing YouTube tips.

Lucky me! I juried into Refashion Runway hosted by Beth Huntington a.k.a. "The Renegade Seamstress. It is an online 6 week challenge to refashion with the emphasis for each week selected in advance, much like Project Runway. There is winner each week, based on votes (like yours) 50%, and 50% judges choice.  You can vote for your favorites once a day, every day, Sat - Friday.

This weeks challenge is "Small to Large"
So many possibilities!  I settled on vintage linen pieces combined to make a larger piece - a Haori-style jacket.

The two main base pieces were a linen tablecloth with fading embroidery and a large strip of a cutter quilt (too damaged in parts to be useable as a whole quilt.)

As I sorted through all the small pieces I found those that made the best color combinations, and trimmed the to size.

  Sometimes I needed to square the pieces.  The flannel english bulldog is from a pair of Nick and Nora PJs.

  One front side is lined linen and the other is quilted.  

The sleeves are from embroidered runners and bits of an old pillowcase.
The back is a mix of both linen tablecloth and quilted pieces,.  The banded collar is quilted.
It It was a pleasure to combine all of the smaller pieces into a larger garment!

   












The whole garment makes me smile. What role will it play in my wardrobe? Probably multiple: #1 super cool bed jacket, #2 playful lunch out with girlfriends, #3 sewing workshop wear... the possibilities are endless. Probably will not work for date night, as my hubby would be likely say, "This makes my teeth itch!".
To me, this one is a winner!

  

Vote for me here. 

What's coming in the next weeks? If I stay in the contest then...  5) Southwest, and 6) Kentucky Derby Hats.

Previous weeks:

We started three weeks ago.  

In challenge #1, "statement sleeves", I tied for 3rd!  See full details on my sleeve refashion entry on this blog post, and all the contestant entries here.

In challenge #2, "1970's", I was inspired by one of my favorite 1970's sewing patterns!  See full details on my blog post, and all the contestant entries here.
In challenge #3, "Faux Fur" I modified a jacket to a vest. See full details on my Blog post, and all contestant entries here.

P.S.  Find out more about Michelle and shop Paganoonoo upcycle sewing tutorials at www.paganoonoo.com 

P.P.S. Mishap!!! I had never even heard of such a thing being possible. My beautiful oversized red spool of thread was, I thought, innocently sitting behind my machine waiting to be used. Oh NO!

When I clipped it and left it hanging over the top of the machine, it migrated over to the turn wheel and got wound up.

Apparently it was feeding onto the turn wheel for hours and hours and eventually displaced the turn wheel cover which dropped off the machine and finally caught my attention.

Unbelievable. Time to order more red thread. Lol.