Whew! I took a week to slowly work on this Repurpose…more of a creative endeavor than a sewing project, actually. And, did you see? Gabrielle of Design Mom gave Project Repurpose the Wardrobe a thumbs up! She has fantastic taste and balances her many endeavors with being a mom of six. Pretty cool.
Enter the ten-year-old, oh-so-comfy, grey zippie. I bought this baby my first year of university and within a month it had a hole in it. Who knows from where. Well, I was industrious back then, and snipped a crocheted flower from an old sweater of my moms to sew on over the hole. I used a little of the sweater trim to detail one of the pockets so the flower looked intentional -however oddly placed!!
The size and fit are perfect, and I actually love the long sleeves (though not to wear today in DC!) In the last few years however, I’ve opted for a little more updated looks to throw over a t-shirt or with a casual skirt. So, I thought I’d do a little modern embellishment repurpose on this old favorite.
And, what more modern than a bird? A peacock to be specific! I thought I could curve the bird’s neck to just cover that hole, without it looking like I was covering anything!
For the back? Well, a peacock isn’t a peacock without her (okay, actually his) tail feathers!
I used dupioni silk for all of the applique. It gives it the rich coloring and ever-so-slight shimmer of peacock feathers. There are a couple hours of ironing pellon to silk, cutting feathers, ironing silk to jersey, then stitching around and up the middle of each feather invested in this zippie. Worth the time? I don’t know. But fine feathers make fine birds…and shirts;)
More of Project Repurpose Here.
