What I did on my summer vacation...last summer

Talk about running late! Not only have I not blogged in months, I'm showing off a dress from a whole year ago. Let's get started!

 A typical '80s made disaster...and the dress looks funny too. Ha ha, self deprecation...

Look at that weird, triangle shaped belt. Nice! A vintage dress with its original belt! It's by this label called "Lisa Petites."

I seriously can't tell the size because it's smudged. Size 18? Dang. Anyway, the label is mildly interesting to me as I have two other dresses by this maker.

 Like this one! It's a '40s style dress in an extremely '80s print. Like, that's the most '80s print I've ever seen. I'm all about the novelty prints. Here's a closeup of the green one:

There, I made it huge. What a cute retro print! White half circles with a black edge. That sold it, I was keeping/altering/wearing that dress.

I guess I didn't take any pictures of the process, so you'll have to use your imagination. I did my usual removal of the sleeves and lowering of the neckline. Then I hemmed it up a couple inches. I can show you what I did with the belt.

I changed the buttons to some cuter black buttons. I was going to wear the belt backwards. I had some other accessories I decided to add. By the way, I took pictures of the finished dress on the day that I wore it to summer school, last year. I just never got around to posting them because that's just how I am!

So, there's the bodice...in hindsight, I see that wearing that thick black chain necklace may have seemed like a good idea at the time but it was not.
However, the other little baubles; those are clip on earrings. I used them on each strap(?) to gather up the material for cuteness purposes. Here's the full after shot:

I had dark hair for a short time last summer because I really thought this particular color would look...not like that.

I must have really wanted to wear this thing if I got all fancy for summer school. My summer gig is 8:00 - 12:00 in a different school with two teachers and two paraprofessionals as the only staff. I do remember that I was complimented for my dress by one of the kids in my class. Whenever a first grade boy takes time to notice your outfit, you know you've got it goin' on.

If I could save time in a bottle...

Then I guess I would have it saved in jars for times when I needed more of it? Which is all the time. I would surely use "extra" time for blogging.
Hey, I made a big step in a refashion. I connected two pieces of clothing.

One of them is that blue dress and the other is that striped shirt. They are one now. Anyway, I think one of the reasons I don't post as often as I'd like to is because I put it off, thinking I have to make a big production with it. I think I have to "write" all about each experience. I don't.

The dress almost looks like it fits in that picture. For some reason, this plain and boring thing was marked as part of the Halloween clothes at Goodwill last October. At then end of the season, I decided that $2 was a decent investment for this piece. Because:
-Material is a thick cotton for warmth.
-Color works for me.
-Would probably be easy, like this purple dress from last year.

Remember that one?

For the most part, those bullet points were true. So, without any extraneous photos or writing, here's what I did: Took it in from the sides, cut a few inches from the bottom then hemmed, made it a v neck, and made a sash from the extra fabric.
Then, I put it in the drawer and didn't wear it. Because:
-No sleeves; would have to wear a shirt under it or a sweater over it.
-Didn't want to do that because it was already kind unsexy/boring and layering it would not have helped.
-V neck looked stupid because it had a matching fabric "piping" that I didn't remove, just cut a little away to lower the neckline.
Because I apparently thought that for once I should finish something that clearly needed more work, out of the drawer it came! First, that neckline...

I used my seam ripper and detached the "casing." (Seriously, I'm not sure what it's called.) That extra fabric on the sleeve hole--that's what I took off the neck hole. Then I took it off the sleeve hole as well. Much better.
I normally like to keep my refashions as simple as possible. But...what if I tried adding sleeves? It actually shouldn't be hard. I wanted to make this task worth the while, so I thought it would be cool to add stripes instead of just plain black. When I didn't have any striped sleeves in my collection, I actually bought two new shirts. By "new" I mean two cheap thrifted shirts.

I went with the black and white as it matched the dress better. That Superman top actually looked pretty good on me, and no I didn't keep it to wear as is and I'll tell you why in an upcoming post. For now, the tale of the easy sleeve surgery.
I pinned "right" sides together and sewed the first sleeve with ease. Then I did the other sleeve and turned it right side out to see how that one looked. It looked like this:

(Sarcastic LOL) The sleeve is inside out but the dress is not. Yeah, somehow I managed to do that. Ugh...ok, I'll just take the messed up sleeve off and try again later when I have time. Wait, you'll love this part. I re-sewed the sleeve on and...

Jebus tap dancing Christ. Really?! I made a ridiculous mistake and then did it again? It's as if I'm some sort of monkey with a sewing machine but not nearly as intelligent.
Well, I sure as shit wasn't going to waste my time going for a three-peat. To hell with that visible seam that's only on one side, this dress is now asymmetrical. And I may as well go forward with that concept.
The original blue sash that I made from the hem was nice but not very long. A sash from the striped fabric would be cool, but I'd have to sew several strips together to get something long enough. Unless...

I cut some of the length from the bottom of the shirt and made a tiny sash that would never tie around an adult's waist. Unless...

 Ha ha, they're not even the same width. I attached both sashes together. When tied around me, that meeting place seen in the picture is under the knot. Let's see this thing!

I assure you that I am pleased with the finished result! Before you say anything, I realize that I got dressed and then noticed that I forgot to iron the new seams. But what was I supposed to do, take the thing off and get out the ironing board? I didn't think so.

You can't tell from the pictures, but sadly the new neckline is now just a little bit low for work. Even so, I still planned to wear it last week for one of our school theme days. March is Dr Seuss month and Friday was "Red Fish, Blue Fish." I was going to show off my creation along with my red boots from my last post.

I really should be wearing said red boots in this picture.

So, a theme in this post is "not enough time." Also, remember when I said that this dress was a thick, cotton knit which would be nice and warm?
Well, whaddya know; early March in New England and already around 60 degrees. This dress would probably not be a good choice for work in an active kindergarten class. I guess it's springtime now.
Before I put this long-winded post to bed (and this is why blogging takes so long) I wanted to ramble about something.
I had to say goodbye to my little angel. He's the boy written about in My School Story and if you read it, you'll understand that "angel" is unlikely word choice. To sum up, I met him in September of 2012 when he was a five year old kindergartner that I was charged with helping as he had special needs. We formed a close bond and I cared about this child through the years. I was assigned to work with him during the '14-'15 school year which went ok. However, by May I was beginning to think that we, as a school were not going to be able to meet his needs. His violent outbursts were very concerning.
Finally, he was accepted into a program for children with emotional issues at one of the other city schools. This is what I knew he needed and he knew it too. By now my "baby," as I teasingly called had just turned nine years old. I wrote up a short letter, telling him how much he meant to me and put it in a folder of black construction paper on which I used a white crayon to draw a skull and crossbones and the words "I will miss you".
He gave me a big kid hug and he left school for the last time. This will be so much better for him. I sure am going to miss that "jerk." His word, not mine!
While looking for some important document or something that week, I came across this in a stack of papers.

The coloring isn't even finished! I remember that he had a jack o' lantern shirt and seemed to like the color orange. Therefore, I started calling him "pumpkin." When music class was done, the kids were told to put their papers in their cubbies. Not wanting to walk across the room, he passed it to me and smiled, "uh, I made this for you!"
Sure you did, B. If only you were still that five year old...Goodnight Sweet Prince! (LOL, that's a meme. And not one that applies at all in this situation. I just like saying it.)

I made a big production of this post. Let's wrap this up.

Love it or List it: continued!

I don't know how I spaced on that last post (well, besides being flakier than Toaster Strudels), but I neglected two of the dresses I meant to include.

That one! Isn't it a lovely Summer dress? It's only a little big, just a few darts and it would be a good fit. It was $2.

It's got an awesome aqua color and...what do you call that around the edges? Piping! I don't why they call it that. I love it and can see myself badass-ing it up a bit with some jewelry and a different belt. However, (this picture taken at night) doesn't do it justice. It's so lovely that someone might possibly buy it. I'm thinking that maybe I should list it and if it hasn't sold by April/May, I keep. That's a thought.
This next dress is probably an easier choice:

That one isn't so great. I should probably just hem it up keep it for myself, because I don't see it being a hot item.

It's a polyester piece that fits pretty well. I just have to take up the length and belt the waist, maybe figure out some alternative for that neck bow.
I promise to post one of my completed refashions by tomorrow, as I have several lined up.

Paint it Black: Indecisive Dress

One of the reasons my projects end up taking longer to complete than they should is my inability to make decisions. I have an abundance of materials and scraps and ideas, so I think that sometimes my brain gets all jammed trying to make things "just right." Like, I have a lot of vintage ribbon, and buttons, and novelty appliques...I don't want to waste these precious notions on a failed project. Or what if I use up something, then decide I should've used it for something else. That kinda thinking really stops up the works, know what I mean.
That's why I became interested in doing a refashion with a brooch. Meaning; use a brooch to gather up material, thus making an article of clothing fit. On a side note, can we discuss for a moment how oddly the word "brooch" is spelled? Since when do two o's make a long vowel sound? Every time I type it, I want to say it with an "oooh." I digress. Oh, by the way, it got cold last week. Those cold days gave me the chance to use this thick, sack of a dress:

I guess that I just had a good feeling about this thing, and a willingness to drop $0.50. It's an easy to use, poly fabric and it has those big sleeves I like. I've seen bloggers like  Refashionista make things fit using nothing but a pin. I'm gonna use one, but I'm gonna need to get a lot more material off this dress. First...

As with most refashions, one must do the standard shoulder pad removal. I used my scissors to take off that mock turtleneck thing because I wanted to make it slightly v-neck.

Pinning the new neck, not even gonna be a rolled hem.

I made it a high-low dress, but oh so slightly. You all know how to do that, right? Fold it in half lengthwise and then mark how much you're taking off before cutting. That's what I do.
At the last minute, I decided I needed less sleeve, and rolling them wasn't doing it for me. I cut off some of the sleeves and didn't bother taking a picture.

First, I used a safety pin to test gathering the dress. It looked like that. Even though, I have plenty of brooches at my disposal, none of them seemed right. It had to be something kinda simple, but a good size. Here's the good news: a recent thrift haul that I haven't posted about yet has left me with many, many pin backs!

score

I can make many brooches or more sweater clips! I had these two silver shank back (that sounds funny to me) buttons with their shanks mysteriously broken off. This made them perfect for my idea.
Veering off, again; this post features...

Black nail polish in a bottle shaped like a skull with a top hat! OMG, I'm so badass. Picked it up at Sally's when I bought my hair color last month. Anyway, you don't need a step by step for the DIY brooch. Here's the image:

See? Two shankless buttons glued to a piece of felt, glued to a pin back. I know, that's some cutting edge DIY here. Here's the damn end results:

I really like how simple and comfy it looks. I'm like, "Oh, hey. Just a little scrap of fabric for a dress, ain't no thang. I just put my hair in a ponytail and wrapped this bandana around my head, instead of hair washing. I'm just casual."

That high-low coulda been much higher...but I love this thing. It's all about versatility. Not feeling the brooch? No big deal, I'll just rock this huge belt.

And a little cherry brooch, sorry, no close up.

Or, I could wear the bird necklace, whatever. That belt is too damn wide. How about just a black sash to take the waist in?

That necklace is a strawberry

 I'm just saying, I really like this thing. Next chilly day, I'm wearing this again. And, I'll try and recreate more of these drapey things.

Stay moody, folks (?)

Recent Acquisitions

Do you ever get that "out of it" feeling? When you feel like you're working and you get tired, then realize you haven't actually accomplished the things you were supposed to?
No? Me neither, I was just asking. I'm a legitimate blogger, I'm totally with it... I'll just show you some stuff.

I love these little sewing boxes! My mama has one that she's had since the 70s in this same color, but it's the flat shaped one. I feel like I always pass these up when I see them because they're usually kinda price-y. So, when I saw this one for $2, I got excited. It wasn't until I was washing it at home that it occurred to me: hey, this is missing it's little removable compartments. It's just a box.
I came up with several alternative uses for this box besides holding needles and thread. I already took some pictures of it with lotions, craft paint, lunch, etc in it with hopes that I can sell it with it's cute, retro factor alone.

Speaking of cute, retro factor...I like this ceramic fish. For $1.99, he swam into my cart because I like the colors and how it looks like it's got aqua bubbles on it. It's diamond shape is so MCM, and I like that. I'm gonna promote this guy as wall art, or maybe a trivet (that's a fancy word for a thing you put on your kitchen counter to rest spoons on), or maybe a thing you put plants on top of?

This fabulous dress. Such a great vintage style and color palette. I actually did get around to listing it. Spring blue dress

The polyester and long sleeves aren't exactly spring like. But, look at the butterfly belt! Also, it's cold and rainy here. 70s pink ruffle dress

I listed this horse head. ceramic horse head wall hanging

...and this cat head. ceramic cat head wall hanging

I don't want to talk about the heads. I promise to do more listings this week and less fooling around. On that note, I can't decide if I should list or keep these two:

That pale green, gauzy one would be such a cute summer refashion. And the other one is for fall, obviously. But, I really wanna take the sleeves off. My seam ripper's ready.

Linking up with Sir Thrift A Lot

Top 10 Reasons Why I Suck at Crafting

( GIFs courtesy of pandawhale.com)

1. I lack self esteem (as evidenced by title)

Picture on the right was taken over the summer, as I was starting this blog. The one on the left was snapped as I feigned satisfaction with my charm necklace.

2. My "studio"

 That's my living room coffee table, at night with a cup of coffee and every thing that I just might use all spread out. Let's see...a ruler, some chains, spool of ribbon, spool of rope, tweezers(?), a tin of miscellaneous things (including Styrofoam for holding stuff in place), an organizer with beads/findings, another organizer/drawer thing with old necklaces and little trinkets, pliers, buttons, thread, a little white tin of the buttons I plan on using, a pincushion, and coffee. Shouldn't I just take out a few things at a time?

3. I cut corners

Before I owned a sewing machine, I didn't wait to borrow my sister's or anything. I just used fabric glue. That's an entire hem that I added lace to because I thought sewing was too damn hard.

4. I have too many supplies.

Oh yeah, I need to keep all of the vintage zippers, what if I need three pink and three yellow zippers? I wear those colors all the time...

5. I don't have enough or the correct supplies

See those jump rings? They look like mini key rings. Except they don't open. Little jump rings that aren't really jump rings.
6. I have ADHD.
Yeah, you're rolling your eyes. I'M NOT SAYING IT'S AN EXCUSE! I'm saying it's a reason that I started this post an hour ago, then got up and got a snack and just a second ago, realized I was three articles deep on Huff Post.

Remember that time I was about to paint these wood things and then I didnt?

7. Too many projects.
I think I can multitask. You know, while the glue is drying on a necklace repair, I can start pinning a shirt refashion, and --  how to clean a lamp

I stopped writing this post half way through and started this boat necklace. I'll be sure to share the finished product by summer time.

8. I like to "wing it" and jump in without a plan.

There's a nice blog post about using mod podge to decorate furniture. Look how well planned it is, with all those little cut outs. When redo-ing wood furniture, tutorials will tell you to clean, sand, measure, wait an hour between thin layers of paint/decoupage...

When I first moved in, I bought a fabulous vintage, 60s, coffee table for $5.99 from Goodwill. I saw it; left it behind; and then ran back for it a few days later. The top was all damaged, like so:

I happened upon some perfect atomic scrap paper and decided it would be perfect for the top of my table! Quick, just throw it on there!

Nailed it.

Should the paper not be overlapping like that? Seriously, I don't know what I was thinking. Did I do this in my sleep? After coming to terms with my fail, I somehow learned to live with it.

Whatever. From a distance one can hardly tell. Also, it has a TV on top of it.

9. I always think something will be easier than it actually is.

 =

10. Because I never finish what I st