As usual, it's been far too long since my last post...but I have been hard at work creating (and buying, oops) new things. Since I've been splitting my time between Chicago and Milwaukee, I usually want to spend all of my time in Milwaukee crafting (since that's where all of my supplies are), and all of my time in Chicago hanging out with friends (or...being lazy, let's be honest). Long story short, I need to get my act together and actually start taking pictures of my finished projects!
All that being said, I've got a two-fer for you guys today! A while back (a loooong while), I stocked up on tons of not-quite-right clothing from Goodwill during a mega super sale they were having. When I picked up this skirt, I didn't have anything particular in mind.
[I have tried and tried to clean that mirror, I swear! Guess I might need a real one and not a cheapie, huh?]
As I was digging through my stash looking for a new project, I stumbled across this ill-fitting skirt again. I've been wanting a cute, simple summer dress for a while now. After some debate, I decided to turn this into a tube-top style dress (which I haven't dared to wear in quite a while now!) with a high-waisted belt. I just cut off the waistband (which you can't really see in the above picture, but it was way too small), and hemmed the top and added an elastic lining.
[My neighbors thought I was super crazy posing for this in front of my house!]
This dress is so light and airy, I've worn in several times already! Plus, when it gets a bit cooler (or maybe for those chilly end-of-summer nights), it's easy to add a cardigan on top (belted on top or underneath).
You may also notice that matching clutch I'm holding. I made these projects within a few days of each other, but didn't intend to make them match - just a happy coincidence, I guess!
Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the before - this fabric came from a seriously undersized (for me) skirt from that same Goodwill sale. The wonderfully easy-to-follow pattern (well, easy when you actually read through all of the steps) came from Whitney at Elm Street Life. She recommended using a heavier fabric, but I was dead-set on using this one, so I just bought some really thick interfacing instead. Worked like a charm!
The day after I finished making this one (after a 2 1/2 week interruption), I immediately made another one with some fabric I just bought (I know, I know, I'm supposed to be busting my stash, not adding to it). The second one came together soooo much faster than the first (seriously guys - read the directions, they're not hard, I just reached a point where I thought I'd figured it out, and then had to back and rip out a bunch of stitches, dangit).
Stash busted:
- 2 skirts from Goodwill
- Random elastic I found in the old sewing box I've been using
- Zipper from one of the skirts
- Random extra fabric for lining the clutch
Bought new:
- 6" of interfacing - $0.50 at Walmart
