Bytes & Bobbins

So a while  back I discussed the layout of my living room, indicating that there is a EXPEDIT bookshelf being used to create division between the living room and dining room.  This spring, I felt like the top needed some decoration.  Since it’s visible on both sides, the decorations needed to be attractive on both sides.  This is what I came up with:

I was happy with it.  It was a little sparse, but it did its job for about 6 months.  Today i got myself together and made a new arrangement to fit with the fall season.  I wanted something that could carry through until christmas, when I’ll put my nativity scene there.  I also wanted it to jive with the living room color: green and purple.  I added orange in there with some browns and viola.  here’s the new arrangement:

Wow, I never thought of myself as someone who does puns.  Apparently, old age has made my jokes really lame.  Oh well.

I’d like to talk about Charlotte Russe.  I’d never bought anything from there before last week.  I think I’ve always been sort of put off by their mannequins.  They always appear in the window with their hands on their hips and their pelvises thrust way out.  Am I the only one who thinks that’s weird?  If they were actual humans their lower-backs would have to have the strength of a pride of lions in order to stand like that for longer than 2 minutes.

Anyway, last week I went in because I was looking for something to wear for my weekend away in the mountains.  I found a great Chambray Shirt, almost identical to the one I’d been eyeing at J.Crew.

Denim shirts by RDewing07 featuring blue tops

Then this week, Uber-chic for Cheap posted a pair of shoes that I love,  in just the right shade of honey.

This prompted me to check out their website.  Which featured all sorts of great items.  Some of the shirts are a little short for someone my age, but still really cute.  Here’s some of my favorites items:

Charlotee Russe faves by RDewing07 on Polyvore.com

Happy Friday!

Shirt: target | Skirt: loft | belt: J. Crew outlet | Flip Flops: Switch Flops | Bag: target

Last week Meg shared her road trip outfit and discussed the merrits of skirt wearing while driving.  I have say, I’m in complete agreement.  I rarely wear pants on a road trip. I like the freedom of a skirt :) — now I’m not claiming to be mindful of proper skirt ediquette while in the car.  The privacy afforded by speeding down the interstate makes the skirt a must for every road trip, in my opinion.

Well its friday, friends…we made it.  It so happens that this is our last “casual Friday” for a while (we only have it during the summer) so I’m going out with a bang!  Eeeerrr, maybe that should be a sparkle?

I’m wearing a sweater that I “bedazzled” myself.   It was just a plain gray sweater from TJMaxx that I’d had for a few years.  I was tired of it, didn’t wear it much, so I gave it new life by painstakingly sewing little sequins all over the front.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!  I’ll be vacationing in Charleston, SC next week, but plan to pot some outfit photos and sightseeing fare, so stay tuned!!

I had a plain white tank.  It was very useful.  I wore it under sweaters, or other shirts for a layered effect.  One day I decided to wear it while I painted my nails…red.  This, as it turns out, was a mistake.  I’m known in certain circles, for my ability to stain clothes and this was no exception.  So After I got a big glob of red nail polish on this tank, I decided to try to cover it with something.

To the fabric scrap pile! <—scream this line like “to the bat cave” and you’ll instantly feel better about your propensity to save every little square of scrap fabric…at least, I did. :)

Here’s what I came up with:

Do I get bonus points for the shorts being a refashion too?  I bought those jeans at the thrift store and cut them off.

This is my outfit of the day.

Shirt- old navy, embellished by me

Pants – j crew, found NWT at the thrift store

Shoes – jcpennys

About 3 weeks ago, I was cruisin the thrift store racks and there they were. I’m speaking, of course, about the pants…the J. Crew pants.  They were new with the tags still on, the tags that still read “$80!!”  I thought I’d hit the jackpot, then I read the other tag, the tag attached by the tift store.   They were asking $30, a price I simply could not pay.  

So I waited, knowing they mark things down weekly. Two weeks later the pants were still there, and so was I.  I paid $5 and the rest is history.

So keep dreaming dear blog-fans because it could happen to you.

I made another skirt from this tutorial, which has it’s origins in this skirt tutorial.  I made a few changes.  Firstly, I dropped the width of the fabric pieces at the waist.  I did this because my fabric is a little stiff and so I didn’t want as much gathering at the top.  As I did that, I kept the width at the hem the same, so my pattern pieces had more of a triangular shape.  I dropped the pockets *sigh* only because with the other alterations i knew this skirt would be tighter through the hips and thighs and so I didn’t want to add any bulk underneath, though in retrospect I prob could have put them in if I had had some lining fabric to make them from.

Top: Trifted  |  Skirt:  I made it.  |  Shoes: Kohls

I plan to wear this sweet little skirt on my upcoming vacation to Charleston, SC.  At some point during said vacation I’ll be on a boat and I’ll be wearing this skirt.  The prospect of dressing to suit such an occasion is a exciting.  It makes me feel like Hyacinth Bucket in that episode of Keeping up Appearances that she and Richard were going “yachting.”  So funny.  Further explanation below:

I’ve recently opened a new etsy shop to sell off some of the vintage items I have accumulated and never use.

Check it out a few of the items I’ve got listed:

See what I did there? With the title?  Sometimes I’m clever…

Anyway, thought you wouldn’t know it due to the lack of posts, I have been sewing, though mostly on things for other people, not for me.  However, in that last two days I managed to start and finish a project I’ve been thinking about for a while.  Ever since I saw this post from Meg, I’ve been wanting to use this older vintage fabric to make an elastic waist skirt dress.  Don’t they look super comfy?  Well I”m here to confirm, dear blog fans, that they are, indeed, comfy.   It couldn’t hurt that I paired it with a lightweight cotton t-shirt.

I’ve had this vintage fabric in my stash for about 2 years, and I purchased this T last week, at the thrift store ($1.99) with this exact project in mind.  Here’s the before and after:

And just because she’s so cute, the dog:

As I’ve mentioned previously that I love J. Crew.  I love the casual/eclectic style they have had going on for the last 4/5 seasons, so whenever I get the catalogs, I’m more interested in looking for fashion ideas, than I am in actually buying anything.

Not long ago they had this skirt and shirt.

I love them both, but at $70 a piece, it wasn’t really and option to buy them.  Never fear!  I actually ran across a similar shirt at the thrift shop for $4 and altered it.  I had a yard of chambray hanging out in my stash and used this tutorial to whip up a little look-alike skirt. Here’s how it started and how it turned out. (My apologies for the images, my tripod broke).