sewing and some refashions

• fabric: fluffy stretch knit
• pattern: simplicity/new look S0446 
• look: d [plus sleeve and waist ribbing]
• thoughts: def shorter than i thought, hence the ribbing

look at them fancy armscyes!  all angular and stuff.  and the pattern calls for 1 1/4 yards minimum... i managed to eke it out with a poorly cut yard.  i think the fabric was a remnant i bought years ago cos its fluffy on one side and not itchy on the other.  it makes an excellent cropped sweatshirt for the lack of spring this year.  also, all that remains from that yard are the scraps on the floor

a floral coat? dont mind if i do

back in october, i thrifted a london fog rain/trench coat.  fast forward 6 months... and i finally did something with it besides laundering and storing.  i sewed the weird shoulder tear closed, and then waffled about what kind of belt to sew.  thanks to the democracy that is facebook and instagram, i chose the navy retro floral fabric from my stash and sewed a handy belt and loops.

the goodwill blues

i have intentionally been avoiding thrift stores.  not cos i dont love to peruse the aisles, but since i no longer work an office job with a business-casual environs, i dont have time to wear many dresses.  i was suckered back in today whilst running errands.

peter pan collar dress: ann taylor loft
long sister-wife dress: to be cut up into a skirt for work
nautical type dress: landsend [i didn't know they still made clothes?]

new wave. not just for bad music

$60 used dresser at the salv army.  my shopping buddy convinced me not to buy it when i bought the brown dresser, but it was still there when i went to pick up the next day... and my mad tape measuring skills told me theyd both fit in the back of the truck.  and my artistic vision was not for naught.  it looks fucking awesome if i do say so myself.

the saga of the brown dresser

$35 dresser turned sideboard/tv stand!  if you follow me on the ig [see sidebar to the right], youve already seen this.  in very small phone-pic quality format.  read on friends.  read on.

$5 cake plate

what am i doing with slightly scummy looking glassware?  again?  following pinterest to my grave.  thats what.

goodwill hunting

ready to wear nearly-tunic-length winter top and 5-strand necklace

the triumphant goodwill return

a shoulder bag.  cos i needed more of those.  but its pretty much in perfect condition down to its little metal feet!  i dont think its actual leather so i'll probably just clean it with lysol and febreeze

a goodwill driveby

black and red corduroy "dress" and someone's old prep-school blazer, now the second in my hordings collection closet.  turns out it was corduroy and silk day.

goodwill in an hour

and i didnt even intend to be more than 10 minutes.  but there were so many good things.  and then i had all these crafty ideas.  we'll see of any of them actually come to fruition...

oh so retro floral dress - to leave as is or to make into a skirt, a khaki colored polyester man's shirt - to become a snood-type scarf, a purple silk paisley shirt - as yet unknown intentions, silk zebra shirt and magenta j crew dress - both ready to wear

salvation army

some things are inevitable.  like my car will need hundreds or thousands of dollars of work every year.  whether it be brakes, tires, rotors, or ahem.  a new windshield.  whatever.  thats what budgeting is for right?  what was not inevitable...but more fate perhaps is that the car place was less than 3 blocks from both salvation army and goodwill.  [un]fortunately my car took less than the 2 hours schedule for new brakes and rotors [and $600 less than it cost me the last 2x in ny] so i only went to the sa. 

tacky turquoise silk shirt, tacky paisley polyester shirt, oversized furry vest, reversible [!!!] rain jacket, brown sweater that i have been searching for ... for months.

thrift from the top down

some excellent vintage finds if i do say so myself.  the top two will be on the etsy after laundering

thrifting like a maniac

the blazer edition

rainbows of blazers galore, found in 2 separate trips [in 4 days..] to goodwill

to be continued..

goodwilly goodness

i decided to take a self-rewarding trip to goodwill after work one night.  not cos i really did anything in particular to deserve it...  but ive been doing better at staying within my budget, finishing more little sewing projects, and not complaining about work.  so damnit i earned it.  anyway.  [click on any pic to enlarge but since they were taken on my phone, be forewarned they may be blurry]

a gaudy ribbon shirt that may become a pencil skirt, a liz claiborne [sucker for those] dress with awesome paisley print, a polyester skater dress, a silk top that will be cut apart and somehow those epaulet straps will remain.  still thinking about that one.

thriftaholic

i ventured into goodwill yesterday.  in search of nothing in particular.  yet i made quite the haul.   and the nice lady at the checkout [after it was decided lines were subject to impatient anarchy.  ie line jumping.  assholes.  i waited my turn.]  offered me a goodwill discount card.  $10 for 10% off for a year.  it already paid for itself so you can do the math on how much i spent. 

jackets and blazers and tigers oh my.  no really.  clockwise from top left: denim blazer, faux velour LLbean blazer, nautical striped blazer, cape-like cropped apartment 9 jacket, and slightly ridonculous cropped tiger jacket.

the swap

shortly after taking this series of pictures...the hook fell off the back of my door.  apparently severe humidity + command hooks = failure

ridiculous goodwill spree

the neutrals:

semi wooly mixed animal print dress, white tee, talbots and anne klein pants

the brights:

very retro dress that i will be de-sleeving, a silky top, an overly bright skirt to shorten, and a 70s homemade dress that has a hole in it.  ...i may cut off the bottom and make a ruffle instead.  still deciding.

here we go a thriftin

nice work dress with a front ruffle which garnered the following conversation:

• my mom: wait whats wrong with it?  
• me: nothing
• mom: why did someone get rid of that?  
• me: cos i wanted it.  and they knew
• mom: um.

thrift edits

apparently im really into ruffles.  whether or not i'll actually wear this is another matter.  not exactly corporate office or grocery store wear...  but i think its pretty obvious here that i cut the bottom off and stuck it on at the neck.  explanation complete.

so this before pic isnt quite accurate as i added the bottom dip-dye as well.  and it looks a wee bit diseased.  i cant guarantee that its better in real life.  and im thinking i might just overdye the bright green black.  but it was a weird dolman sleeved jumpsuit-style dress.  i really liked the snaps so i bought it..and then debated for almost a month before hacking off the sleeves and skirt.

aaand 90s skirt cropped for normal wear.  fin

linking up to erica's recycled fashion finds

updating dresses

both in the i-havent-posted-real-things-in-awhile sense and cos the dresses were possibly from the 1970's.

anywho.  these were purchased over the last few week and either the pics have been on my computer or the unfinished product has been hanging next to my tv.  proceed:

overly elegant polyester maxi dress.. turned into a daytime dress with removable double peplum.  the glorified belt covers a sizable snag that i guess was there when i bought it [didnt notice] and unfortunately, the right pocket.  i wore this for st patrick's day celebrations [a potluck at a friend's house] aaand since were old, we were home by 12:30.  no carousing at crazy irish bars.  but when they have to put out portapotties to accommodate all the partiers [in maine of all places].. i am more than happy to go home.

matronly puff sleeves were removed and braided into a belt.  as i was sewing the arm holes closed again i ran out of bobbin thread so there was swearing.. but otherwise a very simple fix

 removed sleeves.  fin. 

oh eddie bauer.  you keep making these almost-updated dresses but they still have that slightly out-of-decade feel.  5" later.. much better.  i'll have to figure out the right placement for the under-boob seam cos in both pics its a bit wrong.  the fabric is surprisingly stretchy for rayon and shifts around a bit

last but not least..yet another blue and white print dress, and i'm not sure how much better the end product really is...  i unpicked the inside poof in the sleeves, cut off the weird cuffs, and sewed around the faux wrap top to tack down the flappy facing layer.  after trying it on again i decided knee-length would be better than just under so i turned the bottom hem up once and sewed a double seam.

linking up to shanna of colorblind