Posts Tagged ‘thrifted’

Wrap Bracelet “Tutorial”

April 16th, 2013
3 Comments

This is the most complicated tutorial on my blog to date. I kid, I kid. You probably already have everything on hand, it’s just a matter of repurposing. And maybe you’ve already done this before.

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Yes, make an awesome, hip, trendy, amazing wrap bracelet in a matter of seconds.
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Find the skinniest skinny belt in your closet.

Wrap it around your wrist a ton of times.

Fasten.

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Mind blown? I sure hope so. The gold belt above I scored as part of a sweater set at H&M. I made the hot pink one from leather cording and a lever-back clasp.

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I measured the leather cording to my waist and glued the leather into the end cups. Each wrap took 2 minutes to make and an hour for the glue to dry. So I can wear these as itty bitty skinny belts or multi-wrap bracelets. I like these as bracelets as they’re flexible, comfortable and don’t get in the way.

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Outfit details:

  • glasses: Coastal.com
  • scarf: thrifted
  • blazer: H&M
  • top: Forever 21
  • pants: target
  • shoes: thrifted
  • bracelets: handmade and H&M
Leather and clasps courtesy of endlessleather.com (cording here, clasp here).

 

Sewing: Gathered Tulle Skirt

April 11th, 2013
25 Comments

At my church we have two weekends a year where we listen/watch a broadcast of our general church leaders from home, and I love it. Growing up we have a tradition of crafting/making/sewing while we listen. So I made a skirt on Saturday.

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I’ve had the idea of this skirt in my head for some time. I was going to make it a gathered skirt with a jersey underneath, but Miriam convinced me that I make it out of a thinner woven material (that she then gave me). I liked her idea. Then I decided to make it with a real waistband with a zipper and everything. I’m so glad I did.

The tulle that I found (thrifted) is really soft with a very drapey hand. I’ve not found anything like this except for a floral netting I came across at Joann a while ago (they don’t have it listed online, but I’ve seen it in stores). Does anyone have a good way to describe this kind of fabric?

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The pink color is my absolute favorite. So soft and romantic.

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I used the same template as I used in my woven maxi tutorial for the underskirt. I did change the zipper to the back rather than the side. So I measured at the half-point and added a seam allowance and cut the back pieces accordingly. I then gathered about 4x my waist measurement worth of soft tulle (I think this may be classified as a lace more than a tulle?) and attached it to the bottom of the skirt. Then I attached the waistband.

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I added extra width in the waistband so I could attach a button (I’m getting much better at sewing button holes!) for the final enclosure. I didn’t have a matching invisible zipper on hand, so I used a regular one. This just so happened to match perfectly.

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I love the way this skirt flows. It’s my new favorite!

Outfit details:

Button provided by LotsOfButtons.com. Use code: BUTTONS4CHARITY for 10% off your purchase.

 

 

 

Refashioned: Geometric Sweatshirt

April 9th, 2013
16 Comments

Last night was the storm of the year. We woke up to about 3 inches of pure ice. So today I decided to refashion something that I was thinking about saving until next fall/winter. With all this cold, wet weather I know this will get a lot of use.

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Some great friends of ours gave this sweatshirt to Chris. It’s AMAZING. I love the geometric shape. Chris got some use out of it, then he started working out and gained a bunch of weight. The man is a beast, so I stole this from him.

It’s pretty big on me. Mostly the pits and upper arms are the biggest. It’s also too long in the sleeves.

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So, I grabbed my favorite sweater and used it as a template for taking in the sides and shortening the sleeves. Once I pinned and marked the sides, it was a 20 minute fix. It made all the difference in the world.

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I’m pretty stoked about this new sweater, the geometric lines are amazing.

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Outfit details:

  • sweater: hand-me-down, thrifted
  • pants: Anthropologie, refashioned
  • shoes: Eddie Bauer, hand-me-down

 

 

Sewing: Granny Sweater

February 21st, 2013
11 Comments

My dermatologist says I need to wear long sleeves more often. And by more often, he means all the time. That’s right. A little nuts perhaps? Maybe. But if it can make my skin look awesome when I’m 40, I’m going to give it a try.

Over the last 6 or 7 years, I’ve started taking better care of my skin. I should’ve started doing it 13 years ago before I went tanning in a tanning booth for the first time, but late is better than never. I’ve really come to embrace the pasty skin I was born with.

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With that in mind, I’ve been on the look out for fun light-weight sweater knits. I found this funky grandma-esque sweater knit (similar here) and knew I wanted to make something with some serious length in the back. Last night as I got started, I thought I should really make a test muslin first but the part of me that was looking for instant gratification won out. I had to make it now, I could alter the fit later.

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I used an old sweater of mine as the “base”, and sort of winged the details. Miracle of miracles, the sleeves were perfect as was my pattern matching. This project couldn’t have gone any smoother. Really.

I also wanted it to be loose, but still have some shape to it, so I sewed a leather “belt” of sorts on the back. I think it’s a nice detail.

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The odd thing about this fabric was that the most stretch occured opposite of what you would assume. I liked the horizontal chevron more than a vertical zig zag, so I just ignored where the stretch went. It’s a slight issue at the sleeves, as I wanted a tighter fit, on the arms, but not that noticeable.

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Originally I had front hemline at a point with the high-low, but it looked funny, so I rounded off the bottoms. I think it drapes better this way. I also wish the colors in here were less subdued, but they’re still lovely. I love the coral in there. And browns look pretty good on me. I think. Now that I have a pattern I know that works, I really want to make more of these. Making this cardigan (drafting the pattern, included) was just over 3 hours. I’m sure I could whip one up much faster now.

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Outfit details:

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Sweater knit provided by Fashion Fabrics Club.

 

Refashioned: Bright Green Outerwear

February 7th, 2013
10 Comments
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I’ve had this jacket for ages. It’s part of a skirt suit hand-me-down from my mom. Totally 80s, right? It’s amazing, but it was (until now) much too big. Well, sort of. I’m about the same size my mom was when I was her age, minus the chest and hips. And considering that the style of jacket in the 80s was boxy around the shoulders and roomy around the arms, this did not flatter my frame as much as it did my mom’s. I remember seeing my mom wear this on Sundays and thinking, I have the prettiest mom in the chapel. Every child is biased, but I was still right.

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I actually used to wear this jacket out in high school and college on a semi-regular basis and always on St. Patty’s day. Little known fact – I really wish I had had a fashion blog through my college days, particularly my freshman year. My goal was to never go a day wearing just a tee-shirt and jeans. And I never did. I often work skirts and suits to school and work, and rarely did I ever not wear heels. I was always dressed to the nines with layers and accessories. Often times I wish I could remember all those crazy outfits. So despite me wearing this on a regular basis, I have no photos of me wearing this before my alteration. And I have no idea what happened to the before pictures that I took, either. It’s a real shame.

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Taking in this jacket was about as complicated as taking in this rain coat. When I took in that coat, I just removed the lining and never reattached. This time I wanted to keep the lining intact and proper. I separated the lining where it counted, turned it inside out (it looked like an undescipherable mess) and zipped up the sides. It was easy enough, but I quickly realized that I couldn’t take in any at the armpit because it would either look wonky or I would have to completely deconstruct the coat to take anything in at that point. So I tapered off at the pits. It’s a good thing, too, because it seems to fit perfectly that way anyway.

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You can see my small frame much better with this jacket now than before. Oh did I mention I took out the 3 inch thick shoulder pads? Those pads were beastly! Thank you, 80s.

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It’s a little more kelly green than the pantone of the year, but I’d say it still counts as being on trend for 2013. I’m very happy with my “new” jacket. I’ll be getting even more use out of it now.

Have you ever altered anything with a lining? What kinds of tips can you offer if you have?

Outfit details:

  • scarf: Soel Boutique
  • earrings: H&M
  • top: Kohl’s
  • jacket: hand-me-down
  • jeans: PacSun, refashioned
  • shoes: thrifted
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