I am a wife and mother and spend my days at home with our son (when he's not at preschool) and doing other housewife/motherly duties (i.e., the cleaning, cooking, and procrastinating on the laundry until my husband threatens me with "recycling" his underwear...). So, with so much free time on my hands ;) I like to have hobbies to help me procrastinate on what I "should" be doing: thrifting, refashioning, reading, knitting, baking, eating said baked items...and if the weather is above freezing, I'll get out and run or walk for exercise (to burn the calories from previously mentioned baked items...). I'm not a particularly outgoing person and covet having time to myself to create and learn knew techniques, which makes this blog the perfect vehicle for my journey into more complicated and technical sewing (something I'm super excited about!). I am Michigan-born and -raised (and proud of it! Great Lakes, what!?), and living in New Jersey so far from family is difficult, but it makes visiting so much sweeter when it can happen. We are a bilingual family speaking English and Spanish, and love having the chance to visit my hubby's family in Puerto Rico (and the scenery isn't too shabby, either...beaches, tropical forests, old fortresses and colonial buildings). I love traveling, learning about different cultures, and have been fortunate to travel to a few different countries while in college. A perfect day is one in which I would get to hike in the woods, sew, play with my son and go out on a date with my husband (all while eating as much chocolate as I want!!!)...and that's a little about me :-)
About refashioning:
My journey in refashioning didn't begin long ago when I was a teen with a totally unique sense of style...because I was a teen who wanted to be like everybody else and worked from the age of 14 in order to clothe myself like everybody else. Yep, I was like so many during that time, and I don't regret it because it serves as a good reminder of how much I've changed...and how much I haven't. I still want to be fashionable and attractive, but I've found that I can do so with second hand items, giving them new life either by wearing them "as is" or completely changing their function.
I began refashioning just around 2 years ago after coming across the ReFashionista's blog, which led me to search for more and I found NewDressADay and Refashion Co-op (and am now a regular contributor there). I marveled over some of the hideous thrift store duds that had not only been bought in the first place, but completely turned around and made to look modern and attractive!!! By this time I had been thrifting a large portion of my wardrobe for years, yet I had never considered doing alterations (much less hacking things apart and rearranging them altogether) to make the clothes work for me. I already had a sewing machine that I wasn't really using, and I definitely had found the motivation to give it a whirl, so I got down to it!
Now, I could preach solemnly about how buying second hand is helping to lessen the amount of clothing going to the dump each year, but that's not why I started. I started because my creativity was awakened. HOWEVER, I have continued to evolve in my journey, as well, and have learned a lot about fashion, how it's produced (in many cases, with horrendous consequences for our planet and the workers), and how our "throwaway" culture extends to "throwaway" fashion (seriously, do some research on your own if you need to be convinced on how bad it has become). I am much more mindful of what items I buy when I go thrifting, and I consider my own wardrobe as well before going to look for something that I "need". In fact, around 90% of my wardrobe now is thrifted, and the % of that which is refashioned is ever growing! All I am saying, is give thrift a chance...ha.ha.ha! (BTW, I'm hilaaaarious!) No, but for real though...
Peace,
Andrea