Chartreuse Crop Job

I grabbed a few pieces at a neighbor's yard sale sometime back in July, including this chartreuse sweater. What I didn't notice upon grabbing it were the several and varied stains along the bottom half of the torso and sleeves... :-/ Meh. The best way to get rid of all of that was to simply chop off the offending portions. Which is just what I did...before snapping a before shot ;)

With my newly cropped sweater, I decided that I'd go the easiest route and simply finish off the raw edges. I grabbed some thrifted yellow bias tape and first topstitched on the outside of the raw edges, folded it under, topstitched it again giving it about a 3/4 inch hem, then folded it under once more so that the bias tape lines the inner side of the hems. I had some taking in to do, and thanks to my new hem without stretch, I got to get a little creative. I decided to fold over a portion in the back, and marked the area with pins.

I then grabbed a thrifted snap and hand stitched the folds, then the button, in place.

Now, when I put it on, all I have to do is snap it closed in back and I have a fitted cropped sweater...perfect for layering :). I paired it with this thrifted silk, black and white striped top + thrifted & refashioned skinny jeans.

I need to fiddle with the snap a bit as I don't think I like the off-center placement, but that's a simple matter. What do you think? Does it look like it needs to be slightly more secure? Perhaps two snaps? Center placement? I'm also considering doing two snaps creating two smaller folds centered side-by-side in the back...maybe I'll play around a bit with this. Oh! Maybe I'll insert elastic, creating a gathered portion in the back!!! Ha! Not sure why I didn't think of this sooner...

Either way, I love this layered look, and wish I could have photographed it with my boots in the lovely outdoors, however we are experiencing a very gray, rainy day. Perfect for cozying up with hot chocolate and a snuggle with my family on the couch while watching movies and, generally, just being lazy ;).

Polka Dot Skirt

I've got a quick, no-sew refashion for you today. It can be repeated on any number of jersey (t-shirt fabric) skirts that may not fit, or you simply don't like as a skirt and want to change up somehow. That's where this skirt falls in. I grabbed it in a bag sale, knowing that I would hate it as a skirt. And I was right...of course ;)! There is something about this type of asymmetric hemline that I'm not a fan of...hi-low skirts are fine but not this. So, I had to come up with some way of making it into a piece that I'd wear. My initial thought was to turn it upside down and turn it into a top. Would have been simple: sew a couple of sections together at the hem on either side to make shoulders and leave the middle open for my head. And I'll do that with a skirt, eventually, but I was feeling unmotivated to sew...even that tiny little bit. :-/

Upon laying it out I noticed the uniformity of the design and it started looking like a top without having to flip it upside down...

But what would I do about the neckline...er, waistline? Tighten it up and secure it with a vintage button (for example) or leave it loose. Well, I'd decided on loose and thought I'd simply cut a small opening in the waistband and cut the elastic out. But it was serged all the way around, so I ended up simply cutting away the waistband altogether!

No need to worry about waste, as this waistband will be used in a future project :).

And that was really it! For now I've decided to leave the neckline loose and unfinished. The fabric rolls back on itself, doesn't need to be hemmed, and allows for a wider neckline for over-the-shoulder wear. I threw it on with my favorite uniform of boyfriend jeans and an oversized t-shirt (both thrifted, of course) and snapped a few pics for your viewing pleasure.

A simple, comfy poncho made of a thrifted jersey skirt. I can totally see adding detail to the neckline by cutting slits intermittently and weaving ribbon through and tying it in a bow at the shoulder or front. Or I may grab a vintage brooch and use that to close up the neckline a bit. Lots of ways to customize this if you're working with a solid fabric, but with all of those polka dots, I won't be getting too crazy with any further embellishments.

Oh, and now I like the asymmetric shape! Hope you like this one...I'm looking forward to throwing this on as a coverup over a date night outfit as the weather is finally cooling down here in New Jersey :). Happy Refashioning!

Peace,
Andrea

July/August Thrift Scores

Seeing as creativity and inspiration for refashioning have been eluding me, I thought I'd gather together the pieces I grabbed in a bag sale at the end of July/beginning of August. Each came out to about $.27 and not all are pictured here, but you caught sight of a few of the pieces in these three posts {stripes+florals here, eyelet lace here, & tribal no-sew skirt here}.

Notice a theme as you glance at these pieces? LOTS of black...not sure why but I just grabbed pieces that I thought had potential and threw them in the bag ;). Every single one of these pieces is a refashion waiting to happen...some will have small changes to fit, such as the top row. The middle dress will probably just get a better fitting as well, and the rest, well, we'll see!

This batch is more of a mixed bag...ha! Yeah, I know, lame bag joke ;). Top left is a Banana Republic oversized sweater (perfect!), the shoes are from Target and my size (this rarely happens), the jeans will be skinnified, or perhaps refashioned...not so sure yet. The striped cardigan will get a better fitting, and the striped top will stay as is. The skirt is vintage and has sewn in muslin shorts!!! Perfect for wearing while riding my bike :). The two silk scarves will be added to my collection and may find their way into a future project.

I didn't have a chance to do much more thrifting in August as this bag sale happened just prior to them closing down shop for a month to clear out and restock...still waiting for them to reopen! But I did pop into the nearest Goodwill one weekend when we'd rented a car for a lake house getaway. I picked up these four pieces, and the leather purse that has been featuring heavily in my IG OOTD posts (Instagram Outfit Of The Day) lately.

The dress is a Diane VonFurstenberg dress that looks to be from the 90's? and will either be resold or refashioned. The jeans are Banana Republic, high-waisted, olive and need to be skinnified. The top jacket is charcoal gray and I love it. The bottom jacket I am not too sure about...yet. It's H&M, very cheaply made and will probably only last me this one season. Impulse buy! Hopefully it works out, though. All told, I spent under $30 for these four pieces and the purse. Definitely not as good a deal as the bag sale ;).

I'm currently in the process of clearing out my sewing space, reorganizing my stash, pairing down my closet and will hopefully make myself start posting the items I'd like to get rid of to my Instagram shop.

I'd love to hear your feedback, not only on my thrift score, but with any inspiration you can share for some of the refashion pieces...anything you'd love to see me make? Want a tutorial on how to do it? Let me know!

Peace,
Andrea