Stripes and Flowers shirt refashion

A while ago I got this great Banana Republic striped shirt from Goodwill. It had a scooped back and was great the way it was, but it was pretty plain. So I went to my fabric bins and started digging around. I found this amazing doily that my mom had scored at the Goodwill Outlet. I cut off the fabric it was sewn to, then hand-sewed it to the back of the shirt, and voila!

Simple as that!


I love my "new" shirt! It's perfect for the fall weather. And I can wear so many different kinds of accessories with it.



What's your favorite kind of outfit to wear in the fall?

I heart Animals!

This refashion was from way back in 2010! I'll probably be doing a lot of flashbacks this month because we'll be having a visitor with us and I will be kept very busy for the most part. :)

Here's what I started off with:

The raglan was thrifted and the "I love Animals" shirt was from Hot Topic.

Maybe you can't tell, but that tee in the background was way too big on me.
Let me give you the whole picture...

See? And the Animals tee was too small, so somewhere in-between both of these shirts would be perfect. 

All I did was resize the raglan by the pinch-and-pin method, cut out the animals design in a rectangle, and applique it to the front with a zig-zag stitch! So easy, and it's still one of my favorite refashions. (Probably because that animal print is just so darn cute!)

Thanks for stopping by ♥

Rainbow Polka Dot skirt- a refashion with tutorial (sort-of)

I love polka dots, and I love my new skirt!

 A little back story:
Sometimes I am struck with inspiration when I see something on TV. Case in point: I was watching New Girl a couple of years ago and Zoey was wearing this:

Sorry, I don't know where I found this :( It's been on my computer for 2 years, so...

 Of course, when I was watching it looked more like polka dots and less like partially bitten cookies but I didn't care! (Also I'm pretty sure hers were shorts too... weird.) There was my inspiration and it stuck with me for a long time. That's when I went thrift-shopping with one of my good friends and I found this:

Women's large rainbow polka-dot button-up for all of $3?! Score!

Was this a match made in heaven? Was the universe trying to give me a sign that I need to make this skirt?

Well, yes, but for some reason I was too chicken to try and start it right then and there.
And you know what?
I'm glad I waited!
Because it never would have turned out as well back then.

For semi-tutorial, keep reading!

Halloween flashback

I love Halloween! I have always loved dressing up (mostly as princesses) and to me it's just a bunch of fun. I know I haven't been posting much lately, but I wanted to show you guys what I made as my  costume last year.

Do you know what it's from? :)

I think this video will explain it all, but just in case, here's a picture for your viewing pleasure:

I was the Katy Perry girl scout from her video for "California Gurls"! I have lots of detail and in-progress shots in my original post on Craftster if you'd like to check that out. But basically I made/re-made everything except for the shirt/stockings/shoes! All those badges I free-handed with a sharpie, painted, and then glittered :) The skirt was a floor-length high-waisted skirt (yuck!) and the hat was originally a tan colored shirt and craft felt. And I got most of it at Goodwill. I don't really remember how long it took me to make, but I'm sure it was more than a week, lol.

Some more shots:

I didn't get much use out of the thing last halloween. I wore it to answer the door, but we only had two trick-or-treaters. (Kinda lame.) I was thinking about wearing it this year, but that song isn't exactly top news right now. Maybe I could pull off being a "sweets scout" instead?

Hopefully this will give some of you inspiration to go out there and make your own costumes instead of buying pre-made ones. I once spent over $40 for a costume and I will never EVER do that again!

Ooh, another idea:

I wonder if I can wear this to work? :D 

Michael's is having a big Halloween party in the store after all... hmm...

p.s.

I REALLY love my job! :)

Thanks for reading ♥

The Great Northwest Dress- Men's shirt refashion

Here is the finished dress! :) You may remember me mentioning it from my previous post here.
Before we go any further, this is what I started with:

Yes, that's really how 12 yr old me left it

Here's the back story: My dad gave me this shirt 10 or more years ago. And I jumped right in to try
and reconstruct it into a duster. Do you remember those? Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen wore them... lol. ANYWAY, I didn't do a very good job, and I gave up right after doing this to it (see first before picture). Wow it looked bad!

But I came across it in my stash a few days ago thinking it had some potential. (I know right? How on Earth have I kept something in my stash for that long! I have a couple pairs of pants in there too, surprisingly.) Thanks to the new skills I learned from making Lil A's princess dress I was able to transform this pile of scrap into something functional, comfortable, warm, and freaking awesome! :D This dress will be perfect for fall here in Oregon.

I even added a few special touches to the finished product :)

Everything is from the original shirt except for the tag, that's from an old Tee and sharpie. The belt was from Fred Meyers. The heart was cut from fabric that I had cut off from what I'm assuming is the sleeves. I have no idea what 12 year old me was thinking! It's actually covering up a very obvious flaw that couldn't be avoided which is that the pleat originally in the middle of the shirt is about an inch off from where it should be. But it's still my favorite part :) My mom says it should be my "signature" from now on, haha.

I am so proud of what I've accomplished :) Hoping I will make many more shirt reconstructions in the near future :)

Thanks for reading! ♥  

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P.s.
Crafting does in fact help time go by faster :) 3 days went by without hearing from my Marine and I didn't even notice! Still haven't gotten that package though :(