The Renegade Seamstress LIVE!

Last fall, I had the opportunity to participate in Season 2 of Refashion Runway, hosted by the Renegade Seamstress. Beth created such a wonderful, creative, encouraging, inspiring, and challenging atmosphere where I learned so much about myself and my abilities. And now it's your turn! You can learn from one of the best!

Beth has been asked by BurdaStyle to teach a live web seminar all about the refashion process. You can read all the details from Beth herself here, and then go check out the course description and register here. It all happens Monday, March 31, so hurry while there are still seats available!

Sunday Sew-Day, Denim, Part III

Today, we finally return to our denim series. The denim portion of this refashion is actually no-sew, so to make it a real Sunday Sew-Day, I've thrown in a bonus refashion for your viewing pleasure.

This was my first ever experiment in bleaching! I would've been nervous if it weren't for the fact that I paid $0 for this 1980s striped denim jacket. It came to me in a huge box of leftovers from a garage sale. It fit great but reminded me a little too much of a pair of striped denim shorts I had as a kid.

Thursday Thrift Score: Blazers Revisited

Thank you all for your kind words and understanding of my absence this past week. While my grandmother's passing was not sudden or unexpected, her loss is felt no less deeply. She led a long, full life - 97 years in January. She was an amazing woman - a surrogate mother to her siblings after her own mother's death, a Rosie the Riveter during WWII, a wonderful wife, a caring mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was "Grannie" to so many more than just her own kin. She was loved by everyone who knew her and will be missed greatly.

I suppose it was somewhat serendipitous that, just days before I would find myself in need of more somber garments, I stumbled upon this classic black blazer at Goodwill. I'd been looking for a wardrobe staple such as this for a while now and found $6 to be a perfectly reasonable price.

It's a pretty decent brand - NY&Co - but it's also machine washable, so bonus!

I love the satin-y lapels against the matte finish of the rest of the fabric. And of course, I love that it fits me perfectly!

Be Right Back...

Due to a death in the family, I will be out of town for a few days. I will be back next week with all new thrift scores and refashions.

Sunday Sew-Day: Dog Tested, Mother Approved

The next part in our denim series must, sadly, be postponed. The bleaching is taking longing than expected. In the meantime though, I do have another sewing project to tide you over. Last weekend was Laika's 5 month birthday. She's getting better at only chewing on things she's given expressly for that purpose, so I decided to make her the crate pad I've been planning for a while.

A little back story: When we got Laika, she inherited an old blanket the Dude had since he was a kid. It was already stained and coming unraveled in a couple places, but even more so now after puppy teeth and claws have had a go at it. She also had an old cushion from a couch in her crate, but, in a fit of puppy rage at not being played with as much as she thought she deserved, she broke the zipper and started shredding the foam. So it was taken away, and she was left with only the hand-me-down blanket which had seen better days.

A couple months back, I found some lime green fleece in the remnant bin at Joann's for $7.50. Green is Laika's color - her collar, her leash, the placemat under her food and water bowls. It wasn't really intentional. I just seemed drawn to the green every time we needed a new accessory. So I picked up this remnant with the intention of making her a new crate cushion when she eventually learned the meaning of the word "no".

Finally, that day has come! So I pulled the green fleece out of my craft closet, along with the leftover bits of chair cushion foam from my dining chair redux.

Thursday Thrift Score: Denim, Part II

As I mentioned previously, I loves me some jeans. And I think I've made it abundantly clear I loves me some thrift shops. So it stands to reason I would jump at the chance to score a pair of quality jeans for a fraction of the original price, right? Imagine my delight when I spotted these babies a few months back at my local Goodwill.

You're looking at a pair of like-new J. Crew toothpick jeans that fit me like a glove. These typically retail for upwards of $125, so I didn't think twice about forking over the $10 second-hand price for them. I wear these jeans at least once a week, limited only by my lackadaisical laundering habits. Today I paired them with my raspberry velvet blazer, my refashioned plaid vest, a frilly thrifted tee, my favorite pairs of boots (DSW clearance), and my handmade beaded scarf-necklace.

Sure the outfit's a bit autumnal, but with 17 rapid weather changes in the past 3 weeks, I'm beginning to get confused what season it is! Plus, sometimes I like to flag my geek flag without anyone in public noticing. Did you figure it out?

That's right! It's my homage to the fourth Doctor Who, the illustrious Tom Baker. Just get me a fedora, and you'd never know the difference!

Sunday Sew-Day: Denim, Part I

I had such a blast making over all the blazers in my refash closet, but all good things must come to an end. Luckily, I have no shortage of garments just waiting for their turn under the needle. So without further ado, let us now turn our attention to: DENIM!

I don't know about you, but I live in my jeans. All these skirts and dresses I make, sadly, just don't get the amount of time in the spotlight they deserve. Some time, sure, but not as mush as they should. My jeans, on the other hand, get so much use they often end up ripped, stained, and/or threadbare. Such was the situation in which I found myself recently. It's time to retire a few pair to yardwork or the scrap fabric pile, and call up some replacements. Enter three pair of pants from last fall's clothes swap. Okay, so one of them's not denim, but I figured I'd tackle them while I was doing the others.

Thursday Thrift Score: Refash Reload

Well, it was bound to happen eventually. I'm out of thrift score blazers. So instead today, I'm going to show you a different way to style my circus skirt, recently refashioned from a blazer. Rather than keeping the rest of the outfit neutral with a black blouse and black boots, and since the weather has warmed up again, I decided to go for a more spring-worthy look with a sequined turquoise tank ($2 thrifted) and some yellow cut-out ballet flats (Target clearance $5ish).

Then I can just toss on a white cardigan, and I'm all set for work! I still like the black outfit from last week, but this combination seems much more fitting for the skirt's obvious personality.

Sunday Sew-Day: Blazers, Part X

You guys really impressed me with your creative suggestions for my Valentine's Day refashion. So what will it be? A bikini? A halter top? A corset? Alas, I was no where near as imaginative as you lot. I took this pink, polka dotted, linen blazer from last fall's clothes swap (I wonder if the same person also brought my clown jacket to the swap?), and I turned it into...

...a blazer! Surprise! Okay, so maybe it's no big transformation or anything, but I felt like this one had some potential as is. It just fell a little short. I like pink. I like polka dots. But this blazer just seemed to have a bit too much of both. Plus, I felt like the patch pockets and boxy style didn't really suit the fun, feminine fabric.

Valentine's Teaser

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! And what's V-Day without a little pink or red in your wardrobe, right? I've got plans to turn this eye-popping, polka-dotted blazer into something much more wearable for the occasion.

What would you do with this piece?