ReFashionista
Keepin’ it Teal
The first thing to grab my attention with this weird jacket-y piece was the color. I adore teal. Also, the fabric was super-light and silky. Perrrrrrfect to make a casual Tuesday top.
Judge’s robe or graduation gown?
So what if it looked like a graduation gown?
Math is hard!
Not to worry. I was going to transform this hideous beshoulderpadded monstrosity into a cute tunic top.
First off…these guys had to go.
Ugh! Pads!
Next, I needed to close up the front. It was apparently intended to be open, floppy, and flappy, as it had no form of closure. I thought about turning it into a button closure, but instead took the lazy route and just sewed it up the front.
Pinned down the middle
artistic shot #1
Then, I hacked off that extra length.
artistic shot #2
My tunic was shaping up, but it was still huge and shapeless. I took it in 3 1/2 inches on each side and cut off the excess fabric.
Trimming the fat!
Now that it was fitted, I just needed to hem the bottom under and press it.
Whirrrrrrrrr!
Pressin’
TA DA! That’s it! After rolling up the sleeves (casual was the word of the day) and tossing on one of my favorite thrifted belts, my tunic was good to go! I wore it comfily at work…
Sneakin’ a pic at work
…and after work for some C&C (Coffee and Cribbage!)!
Keepin’ it teal!
If only I could get a Jonny Con Panna! *Sigh*
Marty just said something hi-larious!
Welcome to my Crib!
All About an Awesome Applique
This dress really wasn’t that bad when I found it.
Not bad…but not very special…
It’s a nicely fitted leopard print shirtdress with 3/4 sleeves. I know some of you are cringing at the print, but I have a confession to make. I actually really like leopard print! It’s fun! Especially when worn in a cute 50′s pinup kind of way.
This dress actually fit me quite well…er…um…okay…it was a bit snug.
Size ZERO?
I am not a size 0. I am going to tactfully refrain from revealing my true dress size, but 0 it is not. There was no way to let this dress out a bit, as there wasn’t enough of a seam allowance inside. Whatever…I was willing to just hold my tummy in and make it work! I mean, it was only a dollar.
Even though this dress was okaaaaay, I still had plans for it. First off, I thought the 3/4 sleeves were a bit too stuffy for the sexy cut of the dress. I snipped them off, and inadvertently created what I’m certain will be the next huge fashion craze!
HAND SPATS (for men)!!!!!
My fella was kind enough to serve as hand model for my fabulous new Hand Spats(TM). For when it’s not cold enough for gloves, but your wrists still want some garb.
Hand Spats(TM)! (hand model: my fella Marty)
After talking myself out of patenting my new invention (as Hand Spats are actually quite lame 
), I sewed the new shortened sleeves of the dress under with the purple thread already in the machine.
…and then paused…
…because shortening sleeves isn’t really exciting enough to blog about…
…and then I remembered this Tshirt I haven’t worn in about a year…
Jillian doesn’t look so hot in light blue.
Do you see where I’m going yet? I snipped out that very cool lady and pinned her to one side of the dress.
She’s got more pins than that dude from the “Hellraiser” movies.
Next, I put this on my machine and carefully sewed around each curve of my applique. This really isn’t very hard.
Here’s the trick: When you need to make a sharp turn, make sure the needle is completely down. Raise the presser foot and re-angle the fabric to go in the direction you need it to go. Then, put that presser foot back down and keep going!
I had to do this seeeevvvvvvverrrrrallllll times, as this lady has a lot of curves! I used my purple thread for this, because I liked the contrast.
How did it turn out, you ask?
Rawr!
close-up of my thigh
I, for one, was very happy with how this little dress turned out. I grabbed the sash from my Christmas in July dress and tied it around my waist to give it a bit more color.
Thinking….”Do I really feel up to holding my stomach in all night?”
Sure! 
Cheers!
Burn Victim
This dress was not very exciting when I first purchased it for a dollar.
boooooooring!
Also, what you can’t really see here are all sorts of teeny tiny cigarette burn holes all over the skirt. I tried to photograph them, but they just wouldn’t show up. Whoever owned this one was EXTREMELY careless whilst ashing her ciggies, lemme tell ya. Thanks to the stupid holes, I was going to have to turn this dress into a new top.
First off, I cut off that hole-y skirt.
bye bye burn holes!
Then, there were these bad boys to deal with.
Buh bye! You’re not playing football, so you don’t need us!
The neckline wasn’t so comfy or attractive either. I decided to V-neck the heck out of it.
snippin’ a V.
Pinnin’ a V (it’s inside out y’all)
Almost done! I sewed the V down, and then added about a 1/2 inch of ruching right under the V to make it a little less plain.
ruched!
Next, I needed to get back to that skirt. This fabric was fray-tastic, so I broke out my pinking shears (those funny zigzag scissors) t0 go over where I had initially cut the length off. Then I pinned it under and sewed my new hem. This is a “quick and dirty” way to make a hem that won’t fray. I also saved a scrap from the cut-off skirt to sew a sash for my waist.
New hem!
After hemming the top, I still wasn’t quite done yet. Those sleeves needed to be shortened. I decided to go with a 3/4 length sleeve. After pinning and sewing it, all that was left to was to press the pleats at the bottom of the top, as well as my new hems at the sleeves and neck…
…It all seemed so simple…I mean…what could possibly go wrong? I started to press one of the sleeves when tragedy struck.
*WARNING* The below photo is VERY graphic and not for the faint of heart!!!!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
D’OH!!!!!! I completely forgot that I had left the iron on its HIGHEST POSSIBLE SETTING! I had barely touched it to the very polyester fabric when it burned a massive hole into the innocent sleeve.
As if this dress hadn’t suffered enough after all the burn holes.
Luckily, this was an easy fix. I just hacked off the sleeves a little more and gave them new hems. After carefully checking that the iron was on its lowest setting, I finished the job.
Now I have a cute new top to wear to work and for my usual Wednesday Delaney’s lunch with Alex!
Heading to Delaney’s!
Oh yes, and FYI…Delaney’s in 5pts is awesome for lunch, as their menu is buy 1 get 1 at lunchtime. A perfect pick-me-up for hump day…along with my pretty new top!
So full! Must rest for a moment!
Channeling Chanel
I was so very very very excited about this piece.
Uncle Fester?????
Black! Black! Oh beautiful black! How I have missed thee! When scouring the thrift store for clothes to refashion, I hardly ever find any in black! And for those of you who don’t know me….I loooooove black. It’s so classic…so elegant! Also, I had just rewatched this awesome movie the night before:
starring the lovely Audrey Tautou!!!
I looooove vintage Chanel clothing. Sadly, having chosen a highly lucrative career in Non-Profit Arts Management<—sarcasm (don’t feel bad…it’s wonderful work! ), I own none of it. However, I saw potential in this dress to make my very own Chanel wannabe dress with simple lines and a classic look.
First off, I needed to remove some of that length. A lot of it actually. Then, I needed to take it in on the sides a good bit, but still in keeping with the drapiness of the dress.
Chalkin’ and Pinnin’
I decided against taking the bottom of the dress in, as it looked nice as is, and I didn’t want to lose those marvelously practical pockets.
Next, I hemmed the bottom of the dress under.
a quick and simple hem
Now, I just needed a sash for my waist to complete the look. I haven’t gone into detail about this yet, but let me advise you against just tying a scrap of fabric around your waist (I’ve cringed at waaaaay too many refashioning blogs that tell you to do this!!!). Nothing tackifies up your creation like some fraying scrappy mess around your midsection! Finish everything you do. Chanel would agree with me on this one, I’m sure!
To make a nice lil sash, I took some of the fabric from the bottom of the dress that I cut off earlier
Yay! I’m about to be reincarnated!I
I cut a smaller strip from this, folded it over once, the folded it under, and THEN pinned it all along the strip.
pinned and ready to go under the needle!
Now, All I had to do was sew it down!
Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!! Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
Yay! All Done (after pressing my seams and my sash)!!!!
I think it turned out quite lovely.
TOBORS!!!!
Seriously…this might be my favorite yet. I felt so chic and got tons of compliments all night long! CoCo would have been pleased.
Standing waaaaaaay too close to the TV!!!
Bonjour! 
Halt(er)! Who Goes there?
I bought this dress a while back because I loved the print.
I have this urge to help it cross the street…
It’s sort of floral in an abstract kinda way, which a not-too-flowery gal like myself really likes. From far away, it looks like a floral print, but look at it up close!
A full on Monet!
However…I had no idea what to do with the thing. I thought of making it into a blousy top (sans collar)…but wasn’t so thrilled by the idea. Finally, I decided to make it into a halter dress with an empire waist.
First off, I removed that ridonkulous lace collar. Then I hacked off the top of the dress right under the arms, like so.
off with your shoulders!
There was this weird black gauzey material in the top of the dress (I assume to make it as poofy and itchy as possible)
Um…Yeah…that had to go.
Optical Illusion Alert (OIA!)! It looks like a bat!!!!!
Next, I took in the top of the dress a couple inches on each side. I didn’t need to make it fit me perfectly, as I was going to put elastic in the top to make sure it stayed up. Also, I wanted the top to be a little blousy.
Chalk it, pin it, then sew it!
Once the sides were taken in, I folded over the top raw edge and sewed it down.
The top wasn’t done yet. I needed to make a place for the elastic to go.
I don’t care, cuz I’m rocking elastic…and that’s what makes my life so F#$^$$# fantastic.
I sewed down the top of the dress again, leaving room for the 1″ elastic to go in. To measure exactly how much elastic I would need, I just wrapped my strip of elastic around the top of my favorite elastic-topped strapless top, and cut it so it would be the same length. Perfecto!
ready for elastic!
So…now the dress part was almost done, but I needed a couple of straps to make my dress a true halter. Since I didn’t take any of the length off the dress, I didn’t have any strips. Not to worry! I cut a strip from each of the sleeves, and then cut those strips in half. Next, I sewed them end to end like this:
strip tease
Next, I pinned the strips together with the inside part facing out.
Then, I sewed along the edge of the strips (the pinned side).
Then, I turned these tubes of fabric inside out (technically right side out) with the help of a chopstick.
Chopsticks…not just for sushi anymore!
Now that the pretty print was exposed and ready to be strappified, I tucked in a tad of the fabric on each end of the little fabric tubes and sewed those down (raw edges are gross…remember!). After pressing (just assume you need to press everything ya do) them to make them lie flat, I was ready to sew them on!
Strippies are now Strappies.
I pinned and then sewed the straps to the front of the dress.
Woo hoo! Almost done y’all! Now I needed to thread the elastic into the top of the dress. I attached a safety pin to one end, and worked it through the top, using the safety pin to guide it through.
It’s in!
We’re soooooo close to being done here! I sewed the ends of the elastic together a couple of times.
Then, I sewed the elastic to the back of the dress to make sure it didn’t do that annoying twisting thing elastic tops tend to try to do.
securing that elastic so it won’t do the twist!
So….yeah….that was a lot of steps, but really easy steps. And I must say, I think the end result was well worth it!
Ooooh la la!
from da back
I felt so 1940′s in this dress! I wanted to jitterbug (which I have no idea how to do) or swing dance (once again…no clue). I had to settle for the rhythmless Elaine-ish dance that I seem to have mastered over the years.
Oh! And besides being the “after” photographer for this dress, my dear friend Alex also gave me this for making such an excellent garment (okay…so technically it was for buying him a beer…but whatevs)
EXCELLENT!!!!
I will recirculate my certificate of excellence in due time…so do something excellent in my presence, won’t you?
Green with Envy?
When I first found this dress for one little dollar, I giggled a little. I mean, it’s soooooo not me!
a purtian maid????
The collar! the cuffs! The length! The ties! Those cutsie little puffy sleeves! The…horror!
Now…I’m sure some of you out there find the cutsie cuffs/puffs/collar thing to be absolutely adorable. If you are one of those people, you should probably stop reading about now.
Seriously…because, it’s all about to go buh-bye, y’all.
Xing out those stupid ties!
I will never, never, NEVER condone any garment that has those absurd ties that end in a bow above my butt (I have a distaste for bows in general).
Next, I needed to remove some of that length. I’m fine with maxi dresses, but this one is 100% polyester, and not too breathable for a scorching SC summer day.
bye excess length!
Next on my amputation list was the lacy collar and sleeve caps. With the help of my seam ripper, off they came!
rippin’
doilies in waiting???
I paused for a moment before cutting off the puffy sleeves. I was hoping just removing the lacy stuff would be enough to save the dress, but sadly, the puffy sleeves were not for me. I’m just not a puffy kind of gal.
puff daddies…er…babies
Now, I was left with a bunch of raw edges around the neck and armholes that needed to be pinned in preparation for sewing.
pinned and prepped
whirrrrrrrr! whrrrrrrrrr!!!!
After sewing those down, I hemmed the raw edge of the skirt in much the same manner. To ensure that your hem’s seam is even, use your sewing gauge to measure the seam allowance before each pin goes in.
Hi! I’m your friendly sewing gauge!
Now my dress was just about done. I pressed my new hem (always do this! remember!), but still wasn’t completely pleased. The top of the dress was a bit too plain.
a little blah
I like nice, clean, simple lines…but I decided to add a bit of detail. I liked the way the ruching looked at the bustline of this dress, and decided to borrow this design element at the collarbone area of the dress with some hand-ruching of my own.
hot ruching action!
The ruching was EXACTLY what my dress needed. Now I had a cute dress to wear for brunch that made many a woman green (forgive the pun!) with envy!
brunchtime attire
I paired it with my favorite bronze accessories and a cute vintage straw clutch I snagged for a mere buck whilst scouring for future refashions.
I enjoyed a verrrrry delicious Bananas Foster French Toast and an equally tasty Bloody Mary at Liberty Tap Room where my fella and I were serenaded by a jazz band. A perfect beginning to a perfect Sunday!
It IS easy being green!
Feelin’ Fierce in Fuschia
Even I had my doubts when I bought this frightening fuschia flop for a buck.
Fierce in Fuschia! Grrrrrrrowl!!!!
The color really isn’t my bag, but I liked the crispness of the fabric and I really wanted a bright shirtdress with a full skirt. The only possible contender I found was this hunk of pepto dismal.
The first thing I had to do was remove a few extremities.
Pink pads of doom!
We’re not very attractive.
Including this really absurd pocket with some sort of coat of arms embroidery on it
Weirdo Coat of Arms Pocket
ripping off that weirdo pocket!
My work had only just begun. Next, I desperately needed to take the top of the dress in…a good bit. I like marking where I’m going to be sewing with chalk before I pin it. I also measure the taking in area on both sides with my sewing gauge to make sure both sides are even.
just normal, everyday chalk.
Then I pinned along the chalk line.
Once both sides were pinned, I sewed along the chalk line on each side, then cut off the excess material.
Next, I needed to fix the newly shortened sleeves. I decided to go with a rolled look by rolling the sleeves twice and pressing them. To make sure they stayed rolled up, I sewed them down like so on the bottom of the sleeve.
the stitch that zigs!
I used a zigzag stitch to keep the raw edge of the newly slenderized sleeve from unraveling. Don’t worry. Nobody will even see it, as it’s under my arm.
Next, I needed to alter the length. No minidress for me today! I wanted this to fall just above my knees.
Basement kitteh holds the dress down while I snip
Then I hemmed the bottom of the dress with my favorite rainbow thread.
taste the rainbow
And that’s it! I now had a very cute 50′s ish dress that I felt quite fetching in.
ello stranger!
Fierce in Fuschia 2.0!
This dress was perfect for an evening perusing Columbia, SC’s Main Street for their First Thursday (happens on the first Thursday of every month) art shows! I was most excited to see the works of Lyon and Jennie Mae Hill at Frame of Mind. I took pics of a few of my favorites.
Awesome plushies my Jennie Mae Hill!
A collaboration piece by Lyon and Jennie Mae Hill (It’s a marionette y’all!)
an Interactive piece titled “Incubus” by Lyon Hill
And since I was all about Columbia artists last night, I even accessorized with this nifty pin made by local artist, Clark Ellefson. It’s a little piece of a road sign that he’s refashioned into my favorite pin.
I’m Jillian’s favorite pin!
Scarf it up baby! Scarf. It. Up.
Hey guys…remember this (seriously…it was only last week…try to keep up)?
Look at those ties! Eeeep!
…which I turned into this?
a vision in blue!
Well…this refashioning left something behind…the cut off extra length from the bottom of the dress.
…seven days…
As it lay there on the floor, I swear I heard it say, “Seven Days!” in that creepy voice from The Ring.
Was I going to let this scrap of fabric haunt me from its grave? Oh hell no. Hell. No.
leave no scrap behind!
No real reason for including this pic, other than I think I look just precious.
I refused to be bullied by fabric ghost! As I really loooooove that hue of blue, I couldn’t just toss it out. Instead, I simply wrapped it around my neck three times to make my new eternity scarf. Sweet! Another no-sew super easy refashioning! Perfect for giving my black on black work ensemble a bit of panache, as well as classing up my more casual evening wear.
It’s SKAGZILLA, Columbia’s most awesome (and tallest) Roller Derby Announcer!!!!!
Tunic or not Tunic?
yick!
Whoa. Just Whoa. What was I thinking when I purchased this scary dress for fifty cents at Goodwill? I understand your concern. There isn’t a lot of good in this dress, but there’s a lot of tacky and just plain bad in it. However, I’m a sucker for teal, and I actually like the print, just not in such a large, bulky quantity. Call me crazy, but I saw potential.
First off, several things had to go. That big, functionless button on the neck was removed. Next to go were the shoulder pads, the weird puffy things that were sewn into the seam between the shoulder and sleeves (like it really needed more poofage), and the sleeves themselves. Later losers!
Pads!
Puffy sleeve things!
Don’t worry. It’s not like a starfish…a new ugly dress won’t grow from the sleeve!
Ahhhhhh…better already! I still didn’t like that big vertical strip on contrasting fabric on the front of the dress. I also thought the high neck was rather ugly as well. So, I decided to turn it around and make the back of the dress the front of the dress. The back originally closed with a couple of buttons. I removed those, snipped down a couple of inches, and pinned these edges down. This was going to be the new V-neck for the new front.
Front shall be back and back shall be front!
Then, I pinned the raw edges under for the arm holes and sewed them down, along with the new neck.
sleeveless!
The sleeveless look was definitely an improvement, but I wanted the top of the dress to look more feminine. To do this, I hand ruched the shoulders.
ruchy!
Now I needed to fix two issues. First off, the top part of the dress is too big for me. Also, making the back of the dress the front has made it lay weird, with the front fabric section being smaller than the back. To fix both of these problems, I folded the back section under the front (about an inch on each side), pinned it, and then sewed it into place.
Pinned side seam
The last decision I had to make was a difficult one. Did I want this dress to remain a dress, or turn it into a tunic instead? The fabric was just too busy to leave the skirt at its current length. I eventually (I seriously waffled back and forth on this for about 30 minutes) decided to split the difference and make it into a minidress.
Trimmy trimmy
hemmy hemmy
I cut a strip from the excess material, and made it into a thin belt/sash for my waist. For my final steps, I pressed the new hem, and then had to re-press the bottom of every single pleat back in place.
this is very boring btw.
Now I had a cute little boho dress I could wear as a tunic by day
Ooh! What’s that over there?
…and as a dress by night!
showing some leg
Fortuny for the Fortuneless
Friday’s dress started off as a piece that perhaps only a fashion history buff would bother with.
Look at those ties! Eeeep!
Yipes. Lots and lots of grey-blue with an obnoxious tie neck (which I despise). I had already begun snipping the sleeves before I took the “Before” pic for this one (I keep forgetting…I’m a blogger now!), but here’s an idea of what they started out as.
Why would I choose this dress to revamp, you ask? Well…first off, it was only a dollar and the color kind of rocks…I just want less of it. And most importantly, it reminds me of the dresses designed by Mariano Fortuny that were oh so chic in the 1920s-1930s. Here are a couple of examples:
love that pleating!
Peplos Gown
I mean, look at those pleats on the top of the dress! Someone was definitely channeling Fortuny!
Fortuny Wannabe!
Granted, I was working with a light polyester 1970’s day dress, and not one of Fortuny’s exquisite silk satin hand-pleated tea gowns, but those sell for 5 digits, whereas I scored mine for 1 (digit and dollar).
Of course, alterations would need to be made. As I said, I HATED that ridiculous tie neck. Out came the scissors.
Ties are lame. Don’t worry ties, you’re going to be the new sash for my new dress.
I hid where I cut the ties by widening the V-neck and pinning it to get it ready for some hand-stitchery.
pinned!
Next, I decided to cut more fabric from the sleeves. I originally wanted to keep them at a ¾ length so this dress could transition into the fall, but quickly realized that to remove the frump factor, there would have to be more severe trimmage. Hello cap sleevelets!
sleevelet!
The original length was mid-calf. I was in the mood for something more fun. Right now, I’m all about my dresses falling mid-thigh, and this one was no exception.
Basement kitteh supervises dah snippage.
The last two steps were sewing the two ends of the ties together to make my simple sash to cinch the waist of the dress, and then tacking down the new V-neck with as unnoticeable stitching as possible.
hand stitchery
And that’s it! Viola! I now own a lovely grecian dress that I adore. I wore it to work all day, and continued rocking it into the evening at one of my favorite places, Cellar on Green for dinner. They have an AMAZING and ever-changing wine selection.
a vision in blue!
mmmmm….wine!
Cheers!
Later at Art Bar with a tasty bev
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