Thursday Thrift Score: Black & White Party Dress

Sometimes I come home from the thrift store with what I think will be my favorite new garment only to realize upon wearing it for a day precisely why the original owner set it free. Then it goes in my refashion closet to be recycled into something awesomer.

Then there are times I grab something and toss it in the cart without a second thought, just because I like the fabric and I know I could turn it into something lovely. But lo and behold, weeks if not months later, I stumbled upon it in my refashion closet and think to myself, "Did I ever even try this on?"

This dress falls into that second category. I snatched it up at the most recent clothes swap with only vague notions of how to use that beautiful sequined floral fabric. Then, this very afternoon, having run out of thrift scores to post about, I found myself rummaging through my closet for a quick refash to share with you guys instead, when I noticed this dress hanging there. I pulled it out and held it up. I could probably chop off the top and make a skirt lickity-split. But wait, did I ever even try this on? Did I ever even look at the size tag? Hhmmm... a size smaller than I usually wear... but hey, it doesn't hurt anything to at least try, right?

Well, color me surprised.

And check out those sequins that originally caught my eye. Well, they're difficult to photograph, but trust me, they're there.

Sunday Sew-Day... a day late

In my defense, today totally feels like Sunday due to the three-day weekend we're enjoying. You see, in the United States today, we've been celebrating Memorial Day - a time to reflect on the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces and given their lives to preserve our way of life. Whether you believe in the cause or not, whether you support the given war or not, there is no denying that what these people have done is courageous.

In honor of the occasion, I decided to create a military-inspired shirt dress using this free maternity tunic as my starting point.

In addition to it being too large, it was also just shy of being long enough to be worn as a regular dress. But it did have pockets!

Making Your Sewing Blog a Success!

Our good friend Beth, aka The Renegade Seamstress, is at it again! She's got another web seminar coming up on June 5, and I find the subject matter very intriguing.

If you have a sewing blog, or want to start one, now's your opportunity to learn how to make it successful from the very best!

You'll learn...

• How to determine who you want to be in the blogging community
• How to develop friendly alliances with those who can help you grow your blog
• Ways to attract readers to your blog
• Ways to manage your time
• How to improve your photography
• How to develop your creative vision
• About self promotion and networking
• Ways to increase traffic to your blog
• How to develop new career opportunities using your blog
• Ways to make money from your blog

Now do you see why I'm so excited about it!?!

For more details, you can check out her blog, or if you're already sold on it, go register here.

Sunday Sew-Day: Butterfly Kisses Tank

At last autumn's clothes swap, I thought I'd found a really cute top here - light and breezy, cute print, great fit...

But then I noticed I was not the first refashionista to lay hands on this piece. Unfortunately, the first seemed to have been a bit scissor-happy. My guess is the tank top originally had some sort of embellishment - maybe some little butterflies or flowers or some such - and the previous owner apparently didn't take to them. The shirt was left with lots of little fabric nubbins and one large hole.

But I brought it home anyway, thinking, if I didn't, it would likely end up in the garbage. It wasn't until this spring's clothes swap that I stumbled upon a plan for this salvage operation in the form of this top. I love the lace accents, but the transparency of the body and the too-tight collar weren't my cup of tea.

Thursday Thrift Score: Linen Flowers

I snatched up this sweet flowered dress at the most recent clothes swap I attended.

It's a linen/rayon blend, so it's nice and cool as the days get warmer.

I paired it with my awesome orange suede pumps (Buffalo Exchange) and some purple beaded earrings (Etsy).

Of course, it does get cold in my office (plus visible tattoos are frowned upon in Corporate America), so I threw on a little red cardigan I picked up at the same swap meet.

Apologies for the wrinkles. These photos were taken at the end of the day, after sitting at my desk for 8 hours, and you'll have forgive the linen. It's just doing what linen does.

Sunday [No]Sew-Day: Yellow Striped Tee

I like to take a less-is-more approach sometimes (okay, pretty frequently). So I knew just what to do when I got this tee in a big box of garage sale leftovers from a local Freecycle member.

It fits fine, but those ruffles are a bit much. Add to that a few small bleach stains, and this is not the type of refashion where I want to spend too much time and effort. My solution: a quick, no-sew project to get a little more life out of this top before the bleach spots get on my nerves too.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

This Thursday Thrift Score has been cancelled due to rain. And also a big project at work that's keeping me there after hours, so I wouldn't be able to take daylight pictures even if the sun were shining. But please do stop by again on Sunday to see what sort of crafty madness I can get up to this weekend.

Sunday Sew-Day: Ruffled Blouse

This top was among my loot from last month's clothes swap. The too-short sleeves and poofy shoulder give it a more... mature appearance.

Plus, it was missing three buttons, and the seams were coming undone in a few places.

But I liked the teal and black stripes and the ruffles, and I've been trying to build up a more professional-looking wardrobe.So it came home with me!

Breaking Bad Birthday

Last Sunday was my brother's birthday. We've got this thing going where I make him a different geeky, crafty gift every year, and this year was no exception. He's a big fan of Breaking Bad, so I set out to create some not-so-fuzzy dice, like the kind you hang from your rear view mirror, only not fuzzy. And they'll have the bromine (Br) and barium (Ba) symbols on them, like the opening credits to the show. I gathered my materials:

Fat quarter (18" x 22") of green cotton fabric
White twill iron-on patch (because I couldn't find iron-on letters in the right font)
Interfacing (not the fusible kind, but you can if you want)
5 feet of white yarn