Honestly, I only stopped in to browse.....

I was going to Joann Fabrics to pick up some muslin and a pattern for a shirt.  All the patterns I had many years ago are long gone-and way out of style.  I had a coupon for 40% off 1 full price item, plus a 25% coupon off of my total purchase.

However, Savers is right next to Joann's so I stopped there first. Sigh. Not good for the pocketbook. Huh, pocketbook-sounds like my Mom talking.

I found some books for the soon to be born granddaughter and was just browsing around.

I found patterns hanging on the wall in plastic bags. There were 4 patterns in each plastic bag, and they were stapled shut with a price tag.

Now, to be honest, most of them I won't use (the bags were so tightly closed, you couldn't see what was in each one). I did find three that I will try to use to make for my vacation to Portland, OR in the middle of August.  The Simplicity one shown directly above-oh my goodness, I love it!  I love 60's fashion. The pattern was listed in my dress size, but being that it is probably 40 years old, I don't know how it will correspond to current day.  The pattern is cut out and doesn't look to have been used a lot. It is such nice, heavy tissue with bold lines and the directions are so clear.

There is one for a longer tunic top that I want to try to go with some leggings I bought and another for a simple pullover top.

I couldn't stop myself from running through the apparel and shoe department. Darn it-of course I found things.

I found a denim Tommy Hilfiger dress for $10.  I usually try to only buy clothes and shoes when they have their 50% off sale, but it looked brand new.

I thought maybe I should take a little, teeny bit in by my natural waist.  One thing made me quite sad-I can see how much weight I have gained. I have had a stressful past 8 months, and I have always been a stress eater. This is visible proof that it has gotten out of hand. It is the motivation I need to get back to the gym and for making better food choices.

I also found a couple pairs of shoes. The black ones are a half size larger than I normally wear, but they were so comfy and they look brand new. When I turned them over, there was very little dirt and no scuffs or gouges. The brown ones have been worn a bit, but are in good shape. They both have chunky heels that work better for me. I'm not entirely graceful and my feet always hurt in stiletto's and pencil thin heels. 

I also found 2 more dresses that I like that will be great for vacation. So easy to throw on and go.  Those will show up later.

I've wasted my day (well, not wasted as I did learn quite a bit from watching some sewing Youtube videos) and now need to go sit at the machine and do something.

Have a great weekend!

Maybe if I was Laura Ingalls Wilder.....

When Savers had their big President's Day sale, my daughter and I found some great deals.  The granddaughter has a closet full of clothes and she isn't even here yet!  I have to admit-I was pretty happy when we found out she was having a girl. It is terrible to say-but they are so much more fun to dress up!

I also lucked out. That pile of clothes I posted last week has several things I am working on now.

One item I picked up was a long brown skirt. Between the regular price and the 50% deal they had that day, it only cost me about $2. I love skirts and dresses-I would wear them all the time if I could find a bunch that fit me well. My shape looks funny in a lot of them, so when I find one that fits, I pick it up.

I liked this one as it has some seaming down the front and back-helps with my curves. I was not, however, digging the long length and the hem. It looked like they used an overlock stitch just on the edge.

I cut about 7 inches off the bottom. I then laid the bottom portion I had cut off on top of the shortened skirt to line up the seaming so the curve of the hem would be correct.

It now hits at a more flattering knee length. I pouches at bit at my stomach, but that is because of my tummy-working on that :)

The hardest thing I'm dealing with is what to pair the skirt with. I have it with my beige owl sweater above, but I would like to find something a little brighter to wear-but I never know what color I should wear with brown.  Any suggestions?

I also mentioned that I attempted my first blind hem. I tried it on this skirt. I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt. It didn't catch in a few places so I used some fusible hem tape. I think it may have happened because I didn't iron the hem first. I was apprehensive to iron it first in case it didn't lay right or if it would pull while hemming. Learned my lesson-iron it flat first.

Off to watch the 100th episode of Glee and watch the snow fall. It is the winter that won't end.

Like a Kid in a Candy store

When I came to the realization that my money would go further if I shopped in thrift stores, it was like the proverbial light bulb went off.  Most things I have bought have needed some altering or I went in with the idea to refashion/make it over. I could get my craft vibe on and if it was dreadful, I wouldn't be out a ton of cash. If it turned out-well, new threads for me.

I had bought a new sewing machine about 6 years ago when my 20 year old one bit the dust.  I bought one with a larger sewing surface as my eldest daughter was taking a quilting class. Fast forward and she took it off to college with her.  I bought a cheap one just to have in the event I need to hem something or take up some straps on tank tops.

After finding many different blogs about people and their refashioning ideas and tutorials, I realized my cheapy machine couldn't stand up to what I wanted to experiment with.

I read many reviews and this one seemed to really fit my needs.  While it isn't a top of the line machine by any means, it sews like a dream compared to what I had.  I love the drop in bobbin-my old, old machine had it and I never had any trouble with it. My cheapy has the one on the front of the arm. It was a pain-especially because I couldn't see what I had left on the bobbin.

It is so easy to thread-I'm amazed.

I attempted my first blind hem :)

I think me and the Curvy will get along nicely.

I've finished a couple of easy re-do's, I just need to find a day to try them on and take pictures.  I didn't get out of my sweats from Friday night until I had to go back to work this morning. It was heavenly!

A Pile to Do

I found some great deals a couple of weeks ago at Savers. A few disappointments as things I thought would fit didn't, but trying to think of things to do with them.

Let's see what we can do with the pile........

If I close my eyes really tight....

I swear I can almost hear the water lapping against the side of the boat. See the sun glistening across the water. Feel the fish nibbling at my toes, wanting to know if I have some bread for them today.

We started renting a cabin after our 5th wheel was totaled due to water damage.  Just the two of us for one week in a cabin from the 50's.  A bunch of windows, no air, and hotter than all get out. The second day we had to go to town and find a fan. And it came with a double bed. Now, I love my husband, but that bed was way too small when it was 95 degrees and there wasn't any moving air except for the small fan.

We spent part of every day on the boat, beaching it on the sandbar by the island. We floated, drank beer, had snacks, fed the fish and grilled.

Trying to think ahead, I was looking for light weight clothing to take with this summer.  I had found a cute skirt that was about 4 sizes bigger than what I wear. It was $3.50 plus 50% off. Figured I couldn't go wrong.

I couldn't get a shot of how wide it was because the fabric kept drooping because the hangar is only so wide

I just pinned it, ran a basting stitch to see if it fit okay and then sewed it up. I'm glad I was smart enough to do the basting stitch as it was a little tight. I tried to curve it some around my hips so it looked a little more fitted.

(excuse the really white legs-they haven't seen sun in 6 months)

This will be a cute skirt to pack for a day we run into town to browse the shops (yes-he will actually browse on vacation) and hit up the burger spot. Some flip flops and a a white t-shirt and I will be all set!

C'mon July......

Tami

I thought it was matronly. I might be changing my mind

The weather here in Minnesota sucks. Plain and simple. It has been a long, cold, snowy, icy mess of months. We are hardy stock. It is cold here in the winter but we don't let that stop us from living our lives. We have theater, music, a happening restaurant scene. We have 10,000 lakes we can ice fish on. Miles and miles of trails to snowmobile and cross country ski on.

But, we are through. It snowed in November and pretty much hasn't stopped. No one can park anywhere because there is so much snow, there is no where to put it. 2 lane roads are now a lane and a half at best. Snowbanks are so tall, you take your life in your hands when you try to turn onto a street because you can't see what is coming. We are SO over this winter.

People are now just staying indoors and hibernating. I've been reading blogs and shopping at the secondhand stores.

We have Savers here in Minnesota-I don't know if they are nationwide, just in the Midwest, or just here in MN.  We had such nasty weather that the President's Day sale had to be extended a week and a half later.  They had a deal for card holders for another day of 50% off clothes, shoes and something else I wasn't interested in. I scored pretty big. For myself I found 2 dresses, a skirt, 2 shirts, 2 sweaters, a blazer and 5 novels. For my daughter (the pregnant one), I found a pair of maternity jeans, a scrubs top and scrubs bottoms. For the baby, I found 5 onsies, a pair of jeans, a skirt, a sweater and 2 pairs of jammies.

$56.

I picked this one because I liked the dress portion. Basic black. Thought that if it needed any alterations, it would be minimal.  I picked it up off the rack because I saw the jacket. Though it would be something worn to a holiday party by an older middle management woman who drank to much cheap champagne and kissed her intern and sang bad karaoke. It was something I would never wear.  I didn't try the dress on (I won't try on items from second hand stores until I wash them), but it was a size larger than I normally wear. I washed the dress and tried it on. I may be changing my mind about the jacket. It is so comfy and has great stretch and is really light weight. Just looking at the pics it looks really heavy. The shoulder pads and buttons have to go. The dress needs to be shortened. What do you think I should do with the jacket? Put some funky buttons on it? Try to shorten it, plus the funky buttons?

Hmmmmmm

Tami

First Refashion. And it's a failure.

One day in January, my baby Mama daughter and I were hitting up a local mall looking for some clearance sales to see if we could find some clothes to get her through her pregnancy. She is a little over 5' 8" tall and about a size negative 2. She DID NOT get that from her Mama! I had just found a couple of blogs that were about refashioning and when we went into Old Navy, I found a cream and light brown t-shirt on clearance for $2.50.  I had read a post about making a knit shirt into a cardigan, so I scooped that baby up. I also found 2 dresses and a blouse. $34 bucks later, I was walking out with ideas swirling in my head.

At this point, I hadn't thought about recording my purchases or even starting a blog.

I have no before pics.


It is similar to this, only it is cream and brown.

I folded it in half, cut up the middle front. I Cut out some satin material in to strips, sewed and pressed and then took strips of a type of tulle, burnt the edges with a flame so the wouldn't fray and sewed them on.

It looks horrible. I didn't cut the satin long enough to compensate for the knit stretching a bit.  The ruffly tulle didn't turn out the same width, so one side sticks out way too far. It is heavy, so the front flips open and yo can see the horrible sewing job.

I am going to pick the satin and tulle off and see if maybe I can use material to make a bias tape to add at least a little interest to it.

Failure is how we learn. Man, I have a lot to learn.

Tami