Thursday, July 31, 2014

Business Time

I picked up this professional-looking dress for $5 at one of my favorite thrift shops. It had definite potential, but the fit was all wrong. The bottom fit okay, but the top was way too big and the waist was way too long for my short torso. The center back seam had come undone a bit and the bottom of the zipper was poking out (no wonder with how high the zipper stopped - clearly the manufacturer doesn't know what hips are). Add to that the fact that I like a little more color in my wardrobe, and I decided I would get a lot more use out of this piece as a skirt.

Grey Pencil Skirt - BeforeGrey Pencil Skirt - Before

Monday, July 28, 2014

Summery Floral Blouse

While working on this weekend's refashion project, I suddenly had a vision of what I wanted for a different refashion. So as soon as I finished the first, I jumped right into the second without even pausing to take pics of the first one. I got so caught up sewing that I just kept going almost until bedtime last night. Anyway, since I was so excited about this one, I'm going to show it to you first, and the original weekend project can be posted later.

This flowered, polyester skirt set me back a whole $1.50, and as you can see, I'm sucking some major gut to squeeze into it.

Floral Blouse - Before

Thursday, July 24, 2014

No-Sew See-Through Re-Do

Sometimes all you need is a pair of scissors to give a garment a completely different look. Take, for example, this lace tank top I got at the spring clothes swap. It's a little too big, and way too bland with that white underlayer. I mean, can you even tell there's lace on top? Can you even see that it's polka dot lace? Seriously! Polka dots! In lace!

Polka Dot Lace Tank - BeforePolka Dot Lace Tank - Before

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Sunday Sew-Day: Plaid-Back Tee

This shirt came from last autumn's clothes swap. It'a little too snug, leading to gaping buttons at the bust.

Plaid-Back Tee - BeforePlaid-Back Tee - Before

I also had this plain tank top from my heavier days. It just happens to be the exact same purple hue as the purple in the plaid shirt.

Plaid-Back Tee - Before

Thursday, July 17, 2014

DIY Cargo Skirt

If you're visiting from House of Estrela, welcome! Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoy this project, feel free to browse all of my refashions by clicking "Refashions" at the top of the page.

These pants are weird. They're too casual to be called slacks, and too dressy to look right with a t-shirt. They not blue, but they're not quite grey either. And to top it all off, they make my butt look awful (which I will not be sharing with the interwebs, thankyouverymuch). Since I bought them a couple years ago from the clearance rack at Target, I've worn them maybe half a dozen times.

Cargo Skirt - Before

As I was trying to decide how to improve them, all I could think was cargo pants. If only they had some extra pockets, then that murky blue-grey color would actually seem more appropriate. Obviously, I couldn't make matching pockets without losing some length, so I figured why not lose a lot of length? A cargo skirt would be perfect for summer!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Sunday Sew-Day: Too Much of a Good Thing

I love pink. I love polka dots. I love a bargain. And at $1.50, this pink polka dotted shirt was definitely a bargain. It fit great too, but whether I rolled up the sleeves or left them down, I just wasn't loving this top.

Pink Polka Dot TopPink Polka Dot Top

It felt a little overwhelming. I decided all it really needed was to be a little less. Less pink. Fewer polka dots.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Tribal to the Max[i]

You didn't think I was just going to use the back panel of that tribal dress and toss the rest, did you? Oh no, folks, that's just not how I roll.

Black Pencil Skirt - Before

While perusing Pinterest for ideas on how to use this fabric, two potential projects kept popping up. One was a print-back-solid-front tank, like the one I showed you on Sunday. The other was a cascading chiffon maxi dress topped with a funky tribal print. I didn't have any chiffon, but I did have this too-large jersey maxi dress.

Tribal Maxi Dress - Before

Looks like it fits okay, right? Trust me...

Tribal Maxi Dress - Before

...it doesn't. The last time I wore it, I spent the whole day tugging it upward to maintain decency. Not good. So it went in the refashion pile, and now it's time for an upgrade!

Sunday, July 06, 2014

Sunday Sew-Day: Going Tribal

You've been waiting for this. Now you get to see what I did with that lovely tribal print fabric leftover from this black pencil skirt refashion.

Black Pencil Skirt - Before & After

I've seen numerous tanks and tees recently that pair a printed back with a solid front, so I decided to give it a go myself. I grabbed this lovely t-shirt from my refash stash to supplement the tribal print. This was a standard unisex tee from a craft store purchased for, as you may have guessed, a bachelorette party. We all decorated t-shirts with iron-on letters before going out on the town to celebrate our friend's upcoming nuptials.

Tribal Tank - Before

Having not worn this tee a single time since that night (gee, I wonder why), I think it's time to cut it up and turn it into something new!

Friday, July 04, 2014

Thrift Score: Red, White, & Blue Jeans

Happy Fourth of July to everyone in the States! We're warming up the grill for lunch and gearing up for fireworks this evening. But first, let's check out the wardrobe for the day, shall we?

Here's another top I snagged at Buffalo Exchange a few weeks back. Its red and white floral print is just darling, and at an original price of $68 from Anthropologie, so I didn't feel too bad spending $14 on it (way more than I would usually pay for a thrifted top, but still).

Red & White & Blue JeansRed, White, Blue Jeans

We've also got my $10 J.Crew toothpick jeans and a pair of $5 bronze wedge sandals (my new favorite shoes!), both from Goodwill.

Red, White, & Blue JeansRed, White, & Blue Jeans

Now bring on the barbecue!