:: dress-spiration! ::

[ this has nothing to do with dresses--well not really; except these are the latest additions to the inspiration notebook! ]

The weekend is over already–I can’t believe it’s flown by. And my goodness–it’s already the middle of April! Thankfully, I did get a lot done on my research paper over the weekend; it was something I wasn’t looking forward to doing, if only because the topic was one I didn’t feel I had a good handle on. Happily I finished it by late yesterday and have handed it off to The Editor (aka my younger sister–she’s a real whiz at proofreading/editing!).

In the midst of being stuck for a few hours on the last page (why is it always the last one that is the hardest?!), I too a little time off to refocus and bring some clarity to my words. A few evenings ago, I struck upon the idea of refashioning this recent thrift find:

Its a very bright, vintage robe! I found it a couple weeks ago while thrifting, and was quite smitten with the shades of pink (it reminds me of the gorgeous azalea blossoms that are due to pop out all over the yards here in a few weeks!). I don’t use robes, however, so it was going to be one of those “pretty” things that just takes up space. Which right now is at a premium (you don’t want to know how packed my closet is!! hehe!). So, I thought, why not make a dress out of it?

The end result isn’t that radical of a change, but I think makes for a very fun evening frock. I basically snipped off 15” from the hem, turned it up 2-¼” and hand hemmed it (the thing that took the longest… but looks very nice!). I added a snap to the cross-over so it stays snugly in place. The sleeve I trimmed down to elbow length and reattached the original cuffs. Quick and easy!

Lately I’ve been feeling quite guilty about simply not having the time to sew from scratch (aka a length of yardage, a sewing pattern–you know, actually cutting out a pattern and constructing it from the flat pieces! lol!). But as my mom said: why sew from scratch when you can refashion successfully?! Hmm… sounds like good sense to me!

Finally, here is today’s Vintage Monday image!! I’ve lately been on a 1950’s kick–full skirts, cinched waist, trawling through Ebay trying to find the “perfect” 50’s summer frock! hehe! I love all the details on these; simple yet elegant. Enjoy.

Cheers!

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:: polka dot pretties ::

Its taken me a bit longer than I anticipated to finish this dress, mostly because I couldn’t decide whether I wanted a ruffle at the hem or not! And then I had to figure out what kind of trim? Sheer cotton voile, lace, or eyelet? *sigh* I can be such a picky-picky gal sometimes! hehe! In the end, I didn’t like the cotton ruffle, and haven’t really found any lace in my stash that goes well with the dress, so I left the hem bare (for now…). Instead my trusty, vintage petticoat will suffice to add some frill!

[ the original...

What started out as a rather dowdy, vintage Lanz dress I plucked from the rack a few weeks ago at a thrift store, had to be reworked! I fell in love with the whimsical sailor collar and bright polka dots (I have quite a collection of red polka dot frocks; I think this is my third or fourth!). But not the length, or the sleeves that hit at the wrong point of my arms (who ever thought it was a good idea to have sleeves that stopped right above the elbow?!), or the very high neckline (even for me).

Out came my trusty Gingher scissors and quick as lighting the hem was shortened, the sleeves removed, and neckline lowered! I rebound the armholes with pieces leftover from the hem reduction (lol!), and added a piece of vintage eyelet salvaged (from the ever-trusty 60’s lace dress) to the neckline. I love how fun and happy the dress looks!! Now that the weather is (finally) starting to cooperate and act springish, it quite matches my mood!

I admit, the whole look was somewhat inspired by the lovely lithograph posters of 19th century artist Jules Cherét. Th brightness and exuberance really struck a cord with me and this dress!

So, let’s see, this is my fourth refashion this year, I believe? (I’ve lost count... bad me!) As part of my “year without mass-retail” experiment, I’m quite delighted with how these restraints on what I can and can’t purchase is pushing the creativity envelope! Somehow, I don’t feel as... encumbered by the offerings of the stores and what the going “look” is. I’m much more excited to strike out on my own--so abstaining from purchases of a clothing-nature (at least at the mall--no one said anything about thrifting! hehe!) has been a bit easier. I even find that because I’m not allowed to go to the mall to shop, I actually shop less; its no longer quite the recreational activity it used to be. So in turn I’m consuming less, and spending less. Even with my thrifting I’ve become pickier: if I can’t foresee using a garment as-is, or being able to easily refashion it, then I put it back on the rack!

Anyway, I’m off to do some work and homework! I’ve been busy work on websites and logos, and all manner of fun graphic designs lately! (As well as some top-secret personal projects... look for a debut in a month or so!) Oh yes, and enjoying this sunny day! I want to thank you so much for your sweet comments and emails of late--I’m so tickled that you enjoy my silly ramblings! hehe!

I hope you all are having a lovely day wherever you are!

Cheers!

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:: bittersweet ::

Aw… Thank you for your sweet comments about my wee posting that my Sweetheart was home for the weekend! It was really so lovely to find those in my inbox this morning; softened the feeling of loneliness a bit. Thank you.

Onto sweater-reveal goodness! Its a cardigan that originally looked quite drab, unfitted and well… basic. (Somewhat like this one, although this is a different sweater. I forgot to take a “before” shot! Ack!!) I picked it up at one of the local thrift shop’s dollar days, and since it was a lovely silk/cashmere blend, I thought it would be worth refashioning into something a little more… me!!

I used this book, The Yestermorrow Clothes Book as a reference point for starting the refashion. It details how to take apart a sweater, adjust the fit, and put it back together again! I figured out how much I wanted to take the sides in (‘cause the fit was too boxy for me), cut the side seams apart, removed the bottom ribbing band, cut the sleeves off, and shortened the body of the cardigan by about 4”.

Despite the fact that it is a sweater knit, it wasn’t really that hard to sew the pieces! I just used a very narrow zig-zag (almost a straight stitch… but not quite) on all the seams, trimmed them down and then did a larger zig-zag over the edges. The sleeves I shortened by cutting off the original sleeve cap, and cutting a new one (I was bad… I just eyeballed it, although the book does recommend using a pattern!), and then reattaching to the new armhole (which I narrowed at the shoulder seam).

The reconstruction work was a breeze; deciding on trim and buttons was the hard part! hehe! I hunted through my stash of vintage textiles and pulled out two sleeves I had chopped off an old, eyelet and lace dress. I knew the salvaged eyelet would come in handy one day!! I just enclosed the front edges with the eyelet, topstitching everything down. The buttons were just from my stash; and I decided to go with the white and red because I didn’t have enough red buttons of the right size.

So… I have a very cute (in my opinion! lol!) cardigan for only nickels and dimes, as my dad would say! Now that I have made you endure the long, drawn-out details of how I did this, here is the fun, belated, Friday links roundup!!! Oh, and now you can reference the older posts of Friday links just by clicking the “inspiration” image. Hurrah!!

♥ make a no-pattern, no-zipper skirt!
♥ sweet ideas for accessorizing with vintage doilies
♥ beautiful, inspiring fashion and outfit ideas
♥ a great interview with Polaroid artist Jen Gotch [ via ]
♥ Jenny’s meditation on creativity and developing a collection
♥ knit a very cute, stripy hat!
♥ breathtakingly beautiful photographs and illustrations
♥ how to take a pattern from a favorite garment!!!*
♥ I so want to live in this space…

*I am dying to try this! I mean… wouldn’t it be great to finally take some patterns from my vintage collection?! *sigh*

Enjoy all the linking-goodness and inspiration! I shall post the Vintage Monday image a wee bit later today…

Cheers!

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:: late day frenzy ::

A sneaky-preview of another refashion to be revealed in tomorrow’s post! Or, how I spent an hour last night. hehe!

Oh, and I had to show you these singularly odd Peeps that my sister picked up yesterday! We’ve dubbed them the “X-Peeps”, ’cause they’re all kind of mutant! lol. Seriously; not one in this string has their eyes in the proper place (and one is missing his altogether!). We got such a laugh out of them! hehe!

Cheers!

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