Bytes & Bobbins

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.

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:

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).

Neal & I are leaving for vacation…in about 2 months, but hear me out!  We are going to Charleston, SC at the end of August.  I knew when we planed the trip that we were essentially planning to vacation in an oven.  So my thought was to invest in some strategic pieces of clothing to keep me cool on those HOT HOT HOT days.

Linen is always a safe bet for hot, sticky weather.  From what I’ve read/heard the fibers actually work to wick the moisture away from your skin, so while you’re skin may be covered, you aren’t trapping in heat and moisture.  This is starting to sound like a paper towel commercial!

I was all ready to go out and shop til I dropped…then I remembered that infernal pledge.  DRAT!  So lately, on my trips to the thrift shop I’ve been scouring the racks for anything made of 100% linen or a linen/cotton blend.  About 1.5 weeks ago, I came across a full length berry-colored linen skirt, with two deep pockets on the front (you all know how I feel about a dress and/or skirt with pockets).   It was, sadly a little tight in the waist and, obviously too long.  Typically, a perspective refashion that is too tight is sort of a lost cause.  I mean, you can take stuff in, but depending on how much fabric you have in the seam, you are limited as to how much you can let it out.  UNLESS…..said item has pleats! Yes! Win! Score!

So I just used about 10 sentences to tell you all, dear blog-fans, that I let out some pleats to create more space in my skirt waistline.  Since I had to make a new waistband anyway, I went ahead and made it wider, and of course shortened the length. Perfect southern summer apparel.

And now the reveal:

As promised, I’m back with another refashion!

This one is a dress that I paid $1.99 for at the thrift shop.  It looks to be from the early 80s (it has a definite 60s flare, but it’s too loose in the waist and sits a little too low to be from then).  It’s a really cute mint green color that I just love.

I removed the sleeves, shortened the hemline, and took the waist in/up.  I love how it turned out!!

I signed up for wardrobe refashion…again.  This comes on the heels of my husband announcing that I’m being “cut off” from his millions  :)  In all seriousness, we did have to have a nice long convo about my spending habits, and my inability to temper myself when it comes to SALES SALES SALES!  I’ll admit it, I have a shopping problem and I’m at the breaking point, or at least, my tiny closet is, so I’ve signed up for a two month membership to the refashioning blog.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Wardrobe refashion, the premise is that you sign up for a certain amount of time, and in that time period, you are forbidden from buying new clothes.  You can buy thrifted clothing and alter it, or “refashion” something already in your closet. It’s fun!  And it’ll help curb my habit.

I’ve been busy already.  I had a whole load of thrifted items sitting on my sewing table, just waiting to be altered, but I’m not going to show them all at once!

The first is an orange/purple/red skirt with an elastic waist that I scored it for a mere 99 cents at the local thrift shop. I was GOING to cut off to just above the knee, but I think I’ll try it like this for a while:

Check Back tomorrow for another morsel! :)

I’ve never been much of an embroiderier. I’ve tried my hand at it before, but it never comes out looking like I expect it to .   It’s generally too flat or too slight looking.  Know what I mean?  So maybe I’ve decided I don’t have the patience to create something with the volume I’m looking for?

Whatever the reason, I never really like the outcome of MY embroidery.  But that could all change.  I’m thinking with a thicker “thing” to embroider with maybe the work would go faster, things would fill in quicker and texture would explode in an instant (see how poetic I am? Imagine exploding texture…yeah you like it too.)  What could I be refering to? Silk Ribbon Embroidery.

I was initially inspired by this image from my beloved J.Crew:

Which led me to search ribbon embroidery on flickr.  Take a look at what I found:

(Clockwise from top left)

1. Vasylissa 2. KonnyKards 3. Vasylissa 4. bstudio18 5. nigarhikmet

You’ve heard me lament the suit on here before right? I can’t recall whether I’ve mentioned it before or not.  This is what’s it’s going to look like *hopefully*

It’s burda pattern 8681. I’ve been working on this suit on and off for about 3 months. I’m ashamed at my progress. I finished the pants, all but the hem. And I’m working on the jacket. I’ve only made one jacket men’s jacket before and it was for costume purposes, so I wasn’t entirely worried about the details. The lapel was a little wonky and the collar didn’t sit right (I had to tack it down.) This, however, is for everyday wear and so I’m trying to be a little more precise…never my strong point. Last night I had to stitch the lapel by hand to get the points pointy enough….needless to say I’m over this project and if it wasn’t for my poor husband’s sad face I’d probably shelve it for a while. Oh well. On I go.