This is an exciting day - we are kicking off a week of Upcycling projects, can I get a WOOT-WOOT! March is National Craft Month, so we have a whole month of fun projects and ideas ahead of you to re-ignite your sew-jo and get you creating.

So, I get to kick off the month with my entry to the Top Stitchers competition. Essentially we have a team of Pattern Revolution girls facing off 'tete a tete' with other bloggers. We were each assigned a 'prompt', and today I get to see what my competitor Michelle (from Falafel and the Bee) has been up to!!!

So what is my prompt???? Well March Madness of course - as in Basketball, as in sports, as in......ummmmmmmmm, dang! Hahahah, I am not a really athletic girl, I am highly competitive in sports, but I don't actually have any talent. Luckily for me, sports knowledge and athletic prowess were not a part of the prompt, I just needed to create a look with athletic wear.

Instantly my brain jumped to black jerseys (we are Steelers fans) and black basketball shorts and black yoga pants and I was envisioning a couture styled gown for Mack in all black. I was skipping to my upcycle stash imagining how I could embroider parts, use interfacing to create new textile weight and shape, and create this stunning dress that no one would believe was made out of athletic fabrics. And then I hit my stash and REMEMBERED - I cleaned it all out in December!!!!!!!!!!! I felt like a lead balloon had fallen on my shoulders. I tore through the 3 boxes I had left and found 4 pieces of athletic wear....and none of them were black, and none of them had a bunch of fabric in them, and none of them were something I was inspired to work with.

So I sat out for a few days and pouted.

And then I remembered that just because my original vesion would not see the light of day, I could still create something cool. And as I thought more and more, I started laughing at myself - a couture gown for a 2 year old! BWAHAHAHAHAH. A fancy dress that she could never wear except for the photoshoot - so not ME! Bwahahahahahahah. I think I had watched too many episodes of Project Runway before being 'inspired'. Cause you see, my aesthetic is all about wearable - comfortable - and yes, stylish, but in an age appropriate, life appropriate way!

So Mack ended up with a new outfit for spring and summer- separates that she can mix and match into her existing wardrobe, but that also looks so dang cute together.

For the Skirt, I cut each leg of a pair of pink jogging pants into 2 horizontal panels, then I opened up the inseams to create long rectangles with the racing stripes in the middle. I kept the original cargo pocket for some detail and a pop of interest. I pleated the front of the skirt - with lots of heat, steam, and starch to give that wimpy knit some structure. I kept the original pant hem for the front and then matched it by sewing with a twin needle to hem the back - score!

The shirt was a bit more interesting. I took an old golf shirt that was stained and pilling, and transformed it into a shirt that I may just try to recreate because I really like it! I used the side sections under the arm because the fabric was the least damaged in those areas. This gave me built in parallel piping details - I loved how that worked with the vertical racing stripes in the skirt. But the shirt alone was just too blah. It needed a touch more girly. Collars have such a transforamative power, so I was inspired to attach a triangle collar in lace - once I had lace on the front, I realized I could do a whole panel in the back. Suddenly, I was in love. A few pink buttons and lace sleeve cuffs later, and even Mack (who previously snubbed her nose at the non-purple or pink shirt) was won over!