Craft, Thrift, or Die: Double Vision

It was a snow day...and by that I mean it had snowed the night before but the school cancellation that we anticipated didn't happen so I had to go to work. I wanted to wear something comfortable and warm. I had a great idea for a quick no-sew!

Except I didn't even have time to do that. I had to go to school. I don't refash in the morning before work. That dress in the godawful mirror selfie is a great winter piece. It's a nice thick cotton made by LL Bean and it's an extra small! (With adult clothing labels like LL, XS is good.)

It's hard to tell in those pictures but the dress has a nice blue-gray color. If I can be all poetic and shit, I'd like to call this color "storm blue" or "stormy skies" or this:

After I brought it home from the Goodwill and laundered it, I noticed it seemed familiar.
I looked in one of my vintage suitcases full of garments to be refashed and what do ya know?

It's another LL Bean dress in the same color. If my memory serves, I picked it up at the Goodwill outlet over the summer and stashed it away. Yea, two dresses. That one looks like a nightie. Blank canvas!
First on the chopping block: the longer one. I cut off part of the sleeves. I don't know why, but I'm into medium length sleeves, I always do that. Then I cut off the that neckline right around the seam.

I was thinking about doing some sort of weird, jagged hemline but I didn't have faith that I would do it right. Maybe that would be better with a thinner material. So, I went with the ol' high-low.

See? You just fold it sideways, with the side seams together. Then chop a triangle shape off. So, there's that.
I had plenty of excess material for a sash belt (the elastic waist was funny looking) but I used a black sash from a previous project. No-sew! Here it is.

Did I mention the pockets? Nice, it's got pockets. They're a little big, though, they add some bulk that hip section doesn't need. Still like it.

"I want to stick around 'til I can't see straight."

Look at that picture, it's all blurry. It's like the lyrics I just quoted from that song by Foreigner from which I took the title of this post.
And the other dress. Here's what I did:

First step; an asymmetric hemline! I laid it flat and cut out another triangle. Now one side is longer.
Then, I put it sideways and cut off some of the neckline in front. Then I cut the sleeves again.
I actually took it in on the sides. I didn't want to, because I wasn't sure it was worth the effort. Yes, I am that lazy. Everything's a damn project to me.
After that, it still bored me. I looked through a bunch or sewing notions and scraps for something to make the dress more interesting.

How about just a zipper. Yeah, that will work. The hardware gives it a little "edge" along with the slashed hemline. I just sewed it on there and called it a day. Oh, no. I did another thing. Belt everything! I used the excess fabric from the bottom of that last dress and made a sash for this one. Ta da...