wardrobe redux: combining two silk blouses > colorblock blouse

I found these two identical vintage silk blouses [excepting the color of course!] hanging next to each other on one of my Goodwill forays back in the winter. I thought they'd be fun to combine into some sort of cute colorblocked top, so I took them home and have been trying to decide what to do with them ever since. Fall is rapidly approaching, though, so I gotta figure it out soon if I want to wear it this year!


[skies are blue colorblock sleeveless blouse] [alice & trixie rory top | hey, even the colors are right for this one!]

Most of the time when I do a refashion, I know what I want to do with the piece of clothing more or less within 10 seconds of laying eyes on it, but I think since these are so simple, it opens them up to many more options. Any suggestions? :)

wardrobe redux: peplum blouse

Making more progress on my pile of thrifted stuff to fix up… this is probably my most involved Goodwill makeover to date, and I’m so excited about how it turned out!



The original: love the color, love the pleats, but they just kinda dissolve into a weird unflattering ruffly mess at the bottom. Seems like it could be a good idea if executed better, so here’s what I came up with…



First, I removed the sleeves. I’m going to add a waistband, so that will come out of one of the sleeves; the other sleeve will be turned into bias tape to finish the sleeve edges and inside seams [I took in the sides a bit and added some bust darts so it would fit better].



Sewing the bias tape around the sleeve edges, hooray! Also, I would like to add that making your own bias tape is not nearly as scary as one would think :D Here’s the tutorial I used, although I didn’t have a fancy bias tape maker - a pin works pretty well to help guide the folds if you pin it to your ironing board and run the tape under it like so…





After that, I cut off the bottom just above where the pleats stopped to get a clean edge, then picked out the ones that made it onto the bottom. I cut off the buttons/buttonhole edges then sewed the cut edges back together to get a clean front, then used a basting stitch to gather it up. I attached the gathered edge to one edge of the waistband I cut from one of the sleeves, then sewed them together, then I sewed the other edge of the waistband to the bottom edge of the bodice.



Et voila! A little bit of an improvement :) Now I gotta figure out what to wear with it!

wardrobe redux: green pencil skirt

I got this skirt at Goodwill a couple of weeks ago. Please ignore the fact that I look like a hot mess in this lovely bathroom mirror foto:



I’ve been wanting a green skirt for a while, and this one jumped out at me - not because it was fantastic in its current form [hello elastic sweatpants-esque waistband], but because I had an inkling that there was enough fabric there to make it into a pencil skirt from an vintage McCalls pattern I got a while ago. It was pretty darn close, but it worked!



I had to put in a zipper and a couple of hooks & eyes, so altogether this skirt set me back around $5. Sounds good to me! That's another good thing about looking at clothes that are too big for you at Goodwill - if there's enough excess fabric, it's cheaper than going and buying a couple of yards of fabric to sew something from scratch. And if you play it right, some of the work is done for you - I didn't have to hem this skirt, which was awesome.

wardrobe redux: fitting a too-big blouse

As I may have alluded to once or twice, I have a huge pile of fixer-upper clothes bought with the best of intentions, but I don’t usually get around to fixing them up [this is the most notable exception]; so with that in mind, I debated long and hard [about 5 minutes] about buying this top… the fun print and price [$5.99] did me in, though. AND I fixed it the same day I bought it! Yeah… that’s probably never happening again.

Before [or at least halfway through the process, just imagine there’s a sleeve on my left arm, or maybe don’t, I’m not a huge fan]:



and after:



Much better.

materials -

• blouse that you would like a more tailored fit from
• sewing machine
• seam ripper
• pins
• iron
• bias tape [store bought or self made if you have enough fabric from the blouse]

process -

> Remove sleeves at the shoulder with the seam ripper. Set aside for bias tape making if you have enough fabric.

> Turn shirt inside out and try on. Pinch in sides to estimate how much you'll need to take in, then pin.

> Take off and sew up side seams. Try on again to check fit. Tweak as necessary.

> Once you're satisfied with the fit, finish your arm holes with the bias tape.

I use this method a looooot to rescue Goodwill finds that are too big. This is a double-edged sword because, while it opens you to way more options which is awesome, it also opens you to way more options ie purchasing more than you should. Just because it's there and cute and cheap doesn't mean you have to buy it. This is something I struggle with, haha.

how to make shorts from pants

While perusing various mall shops yesterday, I found a pair of white shorts in Gap, which I liked except for the fact that they were pretty much see-through. No bueno. Then I happened to notice that they still had the white jeans I got last time I was in there for about $5 cheaper than the shorts… cue the lightbulbs. This was the easiest way I could think of to do this, since rolling the hem twice = no need to finish the cut edge. I like shortcuts :D

materials -

• pants
• tape measure
• straight edge
• pencil
• pins
• iron
• sewing machine

process -



Measure the desired inseam length + allowance for the hem to be turned under twice. I wanted the final length to be 4”, with a 1” rolled hem, so I marked 6”.



From the mark you made, draw a line perpendicular to the inseam, then cut along the line.



One leg cut successfully!



Flip your pants over to the other side, making sure the legs are lined up.



Align your straight edge to the cut leg, then draw a line on the non-cut leg so they’ll match up, then cut off the excess.



Line up your tape measure along the inseam and place a mark at 1” and 2” up from the edge. Repeat for the outside seam, then repeat on the other leg.



Use the markings as a guide; fold once at the 1” mark, then again at the 2” mark. Hooray for hiding that raggedy edge! Pin on either side to hold in place, then repeat for the three other seams.



Once your two seams are pinned in place, you’ll need to finagle the rest of the fold to match, then pin it in place. This is what it should look like when it’s done. Repeat for the other leg.



After everything’s pinned in place, use your iron to press the folds so they’re all nice and pretty :D



Here’s what it should look like when everything’s pinned and pressed!



Now, using your handy dandy sewing machine, sew down and back the middle of the outside seam [orange dotted line] a couple of times for security.



Repeat on the inseam, although for this one, I sewed along the outside of the seam [orange dotted line] because I thought it looked nicer :D Repeat this step and the last one for the other leg, then remove all the pins and press with the iron again.



And now you have a new pair of rolled-hem shorts!

wardrobe redux: cobalt & white patterned dress

I found this dress at Goodwill a few weeks ago [yesss bathroom mirror fotos!]:



As far as dresses circa mid-late 80s go, it’s not toooo terrible [cue the not quite convinced expression], but not not terrible enough where I would feel compelled to actually wear it in public…. but it fit well [= way less altering] and I like the fabric a lot, so for $3.50, I decided to take it home and add it to my pile of stuff to fix up… and I actually did fix this one up, hooray!

The end result, after shortening the hem about 4 inches, removing shoulder pads/lace collar, and hacking off the sleeves:



I’m pretty excited with how it turned out, although I may play around with the bodice a little more at some point. I do have to say, though, that finallyyy completing one major goodwill alteration successfully has given me a little more motivation to tackle the rest of the ones I have…. stay tuned to see if I actually follow through on that :D

orange paisley sheath dress

Whoa long overdue post! This dress has been done for quite a while now. I’m really happy with how it turned out; it fits perfectly in all the right places :] Always nice to have a dress like that. It took a lot of altering, though, but the princess seams made that a lot easier to do than it would have been otherwise. Probably should have started with a size smaller.

I’ve got some more projects I want to start after graduation when I have a little extra time and no thesis consuming my every waking moment! Got a couple different ideas for bags, and I want to do some stuff to go with my camera - a memory card case for one, since I’m always losing them - so stay tuned, hopefully I’ll get some of that up here soon :]