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Chinese New Year Refashion - Kebaya

38 comments



Chinese New Year is the time when we all wear new clothes. This year I decided to reconstruct a crochet cardigan which my mother passed down to me a few years ago.  I wanted to make it a little more colourful plus the crochet was much too lovely to cut up! So, I took inspiration from the traditional Malay blouse known as the kebaya.

File:Kebaya 1.jpg
Picture: Jamieson Teo


Here's the before:



I cut flowers out of scrap batik material and used fabric defrayer (you can buy this at Spotlight) on the edges. Alternatively, you can iron on interfacing to the fabric before cutting it up, but make sure the interfacing is very light.





Arrange the flowers on to garment.

Sew into garment!
 I refrained from using sewing machine this time round - didn't want to ruin the crochet!




This is my first kebaya and I like it a lot - wore it to a party and a friend loved it though she didn't know it was an upcycled garment!  This project can be done in one day. :-)  Happy crafting!

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38 comments

  1. Very pretty on lace. Love the way you do the upcycle. Now that a design with "2 generations" - good keeper.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Terrie. So sweet of you. I will definitely be keeping this cardigan.

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  2. That's one amazing cardi & it looks great! Brilliant idea to jazz it up using batik!

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    1. Thank you, MamaJ! The batik definitely makes it more colourful :-)

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  3. That is great Agy! Hope u and family having a great new year :)

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  4. This is really, really beautiful! I would pay a pretty penny for this in the store. Awesome job!

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  5. This looks stunning Agy. It looks very expensive and designer. Well done on a brilliant fresh look.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Mezzy. The colours of the flowers definitely give it more umph!

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  6. Nice work Agy! Happy new year! :)

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    Replies
    1. So sweet of you, Michele. Happy new year to you too!

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  7. It's very pretty! The flowers are beautiful. What a lovely idea :)

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  8. The crocheted cardigan is really pretty before the embellishment, but I totally love the finished product!

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  9. It was cute before and wow, it is gorgeous now!

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  10. This is beautiful. I love what you did. I have a link party called Wednesdays Adorned From Above Blog Hop and would love to have you share this and any other posts with everyone. It runs from Tuesday night through midnight Sunday. Here is the link to the party.
    http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2013/02/wednesdays-adorned-from-above-blog-hop_26.html
    Debi and Charly @ Adorned From Above

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Debi & Charly! Will pop by and link up!

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  11. Fabulous work! Love it!! Would love to have you visit me sometime. Have a fabulous week!
    Hugs from Portugal,

    Ana Love Craft
    www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. THank you Ana! Love the crafts on your blog

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  12. I've a friend with cancer for whom I'd love to make the original cardigan. Do you have a pattern for this?

    I hope you don't mind - I've copied the picture of the cardigan and the closeup of the motifs into a word document and will try to figure out how to make them just in case you don't have a pattern.

    I thought I'd try to make flowers to be pinned or tacked on so she can use it to dress any outfit up or down.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Judi, so sorry to hear about your friend. I checked with my mum and unfortunately she doesn't have the pattern anymore, but I think you'd probably be able to find a similar pattern on-line. Hope your friend gets better and she's fortunate to have a good friend like you!

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  13. An awesome refashion, Agy!!! You've added colour, without taking away from the delicate crocheting. Well done!!!

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  14. Beautiful creation! The Kebaya shown here is Nyonya Kebaya, not Malay kebaya. Malay kebaya are different and less vibrant and old Malay kebaya don't have embroidery. Cheers!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for explaining the difference between the two styles ;-)

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  15. So soft, feminine and beautiful with the pop of color you added!
    http://xoxograndma.blogspot.com/

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  16. Beautiful! Loved your inspiration behind this final creation.

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  17. I love kebayas. They are so elegant. This is a great idea!

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