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Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Where is everyone?

 ...and where am I, this post is all over the place. Proceed.
I'm aware that it's been awhile since my last post, but you know, better late than never. It seems like some of the personal blogs I visit have been abandoned lately, and I find it worrisome. For instance, a living space which was a popular thrift/craft/decorating blog suddenly came to a halt in September with no notice/goodbye post. Another favorite blog, Sir Thrift A Lot has not been active since February 2. What happened? Are these bloggers ok? What made them up and abandon their blogs?!
My reasons for concern are actually a little more selfish. Sir Thrift A Lot used to post at least once a week, and always did a "thrift share" post, where other bloggers could share links showing off our weekly thrift scores. I needed those to get traffic to my blog as well as to my etsy shop.
So, let's begin with the excuses. I read on another favorite thrift blog that there's no excuse for neglecting your blog. I'm gonna have to disagree. Life; it's unpredictable. My priority has to be the things that help me pay the bills, so attending my day job and working on that aforementioned etsy shop have to come first. Next, I have to take care of myself; accessing/consuming food, proper sleep, and occasionally seeing other people are important.
Also surprises happen. I did another WAW show, possibly the last. Stories to follow.
 Sadly, working on Craft, Thrift, or Die often takes a backseat. Lame. So, here is a list of what I hope to do on the blog when time allows:
-Finish my Falcon story.
-Write about last week's show, and maybe begin "My WAW Story).
-A tutorial and some narrative on my "minimalist collages."
-A massive thrift share post to show off my many recent scores (and links to their etsy listings. I'm a sales lady.)
I am way behind. Hey, did you see those clown lamps up there? Aren't they awesome and/or terrifying? That pair is one of my favorite recent scores, bought at Goodwill. I'm asking a fortune for them, because they are seriously rare (well, I can't find any proof of them existing anywhere else on the Internet) and because they're freakin' awesome! Items priced according to awesomeness.
While I'm here, how about a quick refashion?
The way I do refashions and the way I list items for sale is like a triage: I remake the easiest and most likely to wear clothing first, leaving other garments in a pile. I list the items expected to sell quickly, or make the most money before other items that regardless of what has been acquired first.
This dress had a lot going for it. Obviously not in that condition, but check out these stats: beautiful blue/teal color, thick material for the cold we had last month, $0.75, and an easy to use fabric for a simple idea that I had. I wanted to make a tunic-like sweatshirt.
It was a big medium with a long bodice as usual. Don't care; I only wanted the lower half. Here's what I did:
Seam ripper? NOPE. That material was thick and made well. It would've taken me years to rip seams. Slice with scissors!
Then I did that. (Ignore the color variations, I do a lot of this at night and end up having to edit the shit out of my pics to make them work.) I laid the skirt part out flat and traced a slouchy top on it. Don't forget to cut out sleeve holes.
See those things on the shoulders? Those are the dress's pockets. I just went ahead with my project, hoping they wouldn't be an issue.
They tore right off, barely needed the seam ripper. Look at all the dust in the depths of those pockets.
The dress's original hem is the bottom. Hopefully you can see the those little black lines I added which indicate where to sew. Around the sides and across the top, leaving a neck hole. I wanted to go with a high neckline that was also wide.
I had to play around with it a little, but this project was pretty much easy. Here it is:
 
It works. The big sleeves don't work as well with this sweatshirt-y material as they do on lightweight stuff like the shirt I traced. 

I love those jeggings. I see that they're not doing my thighs any favors. In conclusion, I will do this style again, but with a lighter material. Still gonna wear those thigh enhancing jeggings, too.



7 comments:

  1. Seriously LOVE that shirt! I need to make one.

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  2. Really? Thanks, maybe I should do more of these!

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  3. Hi Erica. I like the shirt a lot. Actually, I like the dress you made it from as well. I think that you might follow a refashioning blog that I enjoy - Refashionista. Her last post was about her battle with depression and the struggles she is going though recently.. Your post sounds kind of up beat so I am hopeful that things are going better for you now. Best wishes Judy . .

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  4. Thank you! I am feeling pretty well; of course I'm always afraid it's just a calm before the storm : /
    Refashionista! She has the best blog and refashions, she's the queen of it. Since, it came up...the idea of this top was borrowed from her. Thanks for posting!

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  5. Hi - I found your blog through an old Sir-Thrift-Alot post... where is he??
    I will be following along on your adventures in life. I too suffer from life-long depression (maybe a bit bi-polar, but I don't like labels very much). I am considering starting my own blog. After years of being low, lazy, tired, paralyzed. I'm starting to come to life and DO THINGS rather than sit around and think about DOING THINGS. Is life a bowl of roses? No. I too am single, childless (which is OK).
    You are an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your story and life.
    Leanne

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    1. And ...
      I'm commenting because I love that shirt you made and those clown lamps! Side-track Sally they call me (and for good reason!).

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    2. Side-track Sally! I love it! That's why my stories are so damn long-winded. Anyway, thank you so much for your comment. I highly recommend blogging, it's really helped me and I've gotten a lot of good feedback. Me? An inspiration? Wow, thank you! I hope I can live up to that compliment.

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