Day 211: D’oh! Dress

Posted on January 29, 2012 by

How did this happen?  Today I had a guest with me while I refashioned.  Sara from Dateline Carolina chatted and snapped pics while I worked.  It was fun talking with her about my process, but sadly I got distracted…and…completely forgot to take any before or during pics.  :/

Just pretend it looked like this, okay?

Today’s dress began as being too big and frumpy.  I liked the plaid print, and I loved that is was handmade.  :)

I took in a bunch from the back, so I could hold on to this really neat side snap.  I just don’t see these very much anymore, and I’d hate to get rid of it.

I like it!

In taking it in from the back, the collar ended up with an obvious raw seam, so I made a small panel to cover it up.  No prob!

That raw edge is undercover! :)

I also took away some of that length, and turned it into a sash.  Sadly, you don’t get to see any of that.  :(

Fortunately, Sara was nice enough to send me a few pics.  :)  Here’s me in action!

I know...it doesn't look very action-packed.

I promise…I’m not sad!  :)

Whirrrr!

I promise...it's an improvement!

Later that night, I couldn’t believe that I forgot to take the flippin’ pictures!  I consoled myself with copious amounts of Indian food.  :)

Sorry, Guys! :(

I promise…I won’t let this happen again!

At least you have a nifty article to look forward to reading!   :D  I’ll be sure to share it with you as soon as it’s published!

I'll never forget again! :)

Cheers?

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Day 210: A’dress’ing a Too-Big Tee! :)

Posted on January 28, 2012 by

It seems like every time I volunteer at an event where I’m required to wear a Tshirt for said event, I always get stuck with a gigantic tee that looks like a tent.  :/  This includes today, when I showed up at The World Beer Festival.

Seriously?????

It looks like Erin snagged the last medium tee. They didn’t even have smalls.  :/

She's a smug little thing, isn't she? :)

Luckily, I anticipated my bad luck, and came armed!

Gigantic tee, you have met your match!

I cut each of the sleeves of my tee into strips, like so:

By this time, Erin was looking realllly concerned. :)

I stretched out all of the strips, and tied them in front of me.

Tie it nice & snug!

I turned the whole thing around, and was ready to volunteer in style!  :D

Ta Daaaaah! :)

I could have totally worn this as a dress, but stuck with my jeans to keep my legs warm in the colder areas of the Columbia Convention Center.

Muuuuch better than a tent-like tee! :)

And here’s what it looks like from the back!

Pretty neat, eh? :)

I had a blast helping out by lugging bags of ice, emptying buckets, and grabbing whatever the vendors needed.

Dan...the man behind the Brew Crew! :)

Of course one of the perks of providing free labor was that I got to sample plenty of tasty brew!  :)

Booze and friends...a winning combination! :D

I have to admit that this refashion worked perhaps a little too well.  When I went up to a few vendors and asked “Are you guys doing okay?  Do you need anything?”, a couple of them didn’t realize I was a volunteer, and looked at me like I was nuts!  They must have thought I was just a very concerned attendee!  :D

Cheers!

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Day 209: A Sweater Made Sweeter

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

I hate turtlenecks.  They don’t look so great on me either.  :/

Mrrrph. Mmmmph! Mrrrrrmmmph!

I love that diagonal stripe pattern, though!  I decided to explore that a little further!  :)

Chop!

Yup…we’re going solo sleeved!

I folded that top edge under twice and pinned it down.

Pinned and ready!

Then, I stitched it up!  I used a zigzag stitch so it could stretch with the weave of the sweater.  :)

The Stitch that Zigs! :)

I took in the armless side a bunch to make my new sweater nice and snug!

Pin & Sew!

I wore my sweet sweater to a going away party for a very cool lady.  :)

I'm gonna miss this gal! :(

The Charming Host (I love his jacket!)

Hi Jen! :)

Party People!

Geez! I try to be romantic...;)

When I get all stressy and overwhelmed, Fella is sadly the one who bears the brunt of it.  :/  The best remedy is spending time with my friends and just listening to them.  Hearing about all the interesting things they have going on in their lives really helps to get me out of my own head.  :) So-and-So just moved into a new house.  So-and-So just started a new job.  So-and-So hates their job and is planning on spraying EZ Cheese into the heating unit in their boss’ office.  These stories calm me.  :)  This party really was a breath of fresh air.  I’m lucky to have such an understanding fella, and such fun friends!  :)

Cheers!

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Day 208: Sucker for Seersucker Dress

Posted on January 26, 2012 by

Seersucker is a spring/summer staple here in the South.  Wikipedia has a really interesting article on this delightfully lightweight fabric.  Unfortunately, there was nothing delightful about this 50 cent seersucker dress.  :/

This isn't looking good, y'all. :/

Some of you might be wondering why I’d want to wear seersucker in the middle of winter.  It seems a bit nutty, right?  This has been the mildest winter I can remember in my 11 years of living here.  Today temps climbed to…70 degrees!  Yes.  There’s a reason why you don’t ever hear about anyone retiring up north.  ;)

This dress needed my help desperately!  First off I removed these really bizarre shoulder pads.

Rectangles? Reallllllly?

Next came a hiking-up of that length!

Chop chop, y'all! <---This is me being southern. :)

Now I have a bunch of messy raw edges that need to be taken care of.  I took that bottom scrap, and folded it in half lengthwise, pinning it along the raw edge.

Pinning right along!

Under the needle it went!

Refash That Sash! :)

I turned my new tube of fabric inside-out, and presto!  Instant Sash!  :)

Now for that bottom hem of the dress…or rather, its lack of a hem.

Keeping it Even Steven! :)

Finishing that hem! :)

I gave my new hem and sash a good press and was all done!  I tossed on a light cardi (which really wasn’t even necessary for the warm evening), and headed off to a place I need to cut back on…Cantina 76.  :)

I'm a sucker for seersucker! :)

I can't quit you...or you...or you!

Seriously…their food is amazing and their margaritas are delish!

Happy with a belly full of tacos! :)

Did you see my sweet brogues in the after pic?  :)

I heart brogues!

I don’t just get a lot of my refashionables from Revente’s Last Call, I also buy a lot of accessories from there, too (including these sweet Steve Madden kicks!)!  :)

The way I look at it is, I don’t have a lot of money.  I can’t donate as much as I would like to the charities I believe in.  BUT…I can use what spending power I have to support good causes, be green, and look fabulous…all at the same time!  Just by shopping at charity shops!  This idea can completely change the way we consume, and why we consume.  Hmmm…food for thought.  :)

Cheers!

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Day 207: Publix Dress

Posted on January 25, 2012 by

When I saw today’s dress, I immediately thought of the logo of a certain grocery store that I love way too much.

Do you see it?

I heart publix! :)

If you’re from up north, then you’ve probably never been to this amazing place of glorious awesomeness.  I absolutely love this store.  The staff is always super-nice, I always seem to run into my friends there, and their produce is delish!  They send me really awesome magazines on eating healthy, too.  :) Plus, I’m a couponer, and they double them there.  :)   I wish I was there right now…*sigh*

Whoa!  I’ve gotta snap out of it!  Anywho…back to this dress.  It really doesn’t need all that much work before it’ll be looking tres chic!

First, I removed a bit from those awkward sleeves.

Sleeve 1 & Sleeve 2!

Then, I took in each side 1.5″.

Pin it...then sew it all down!

After running each side through my machine, I snipped off the extra fabric.

Snnnnnip!

I gave my new sleeves a nice new hem.  This was a little tricky since the sleeve didn’t fit around the arm of my sewing machine (I’ve got to do a push-up one of these days), but I made it work.  :)

Only a little tricky! :)

I’m almost done!  For my last trick, I chopped off just a smidgen from the bottom of the dress so it didn’t hit me mid-knee (the worst length ever!).

Chop!

By this time, my phone was blowing up with texts from Fella and friends telling me to stop refashioning, and start heading over to Art Bar for Karaoke Night.  Geez…you just can’t get any support around here!  :P

I showed up when I was good and ready…and in high style!  :)

Welcome to Publix! How may I help you?

Sitting Pretty!

While there, I ran into my good friend, Alex.   He’s the one who gave me my first sewing machine a couple of years ago for Christmas.  Without him, you probably wouldn’t be seeing any of this.  Cheers to Alex!  :D

He's pretty swell! :)

badfoto

goodfoto!

Cheers!

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