New Fabric +Old Fabric = Fabulousness!!!!

Last April, I received a subscription to Burda Style magazine for my birthday. Every month, I get a new magazine in my mailbox with at least 35 new patterns. It is like a child getting candy in the mail every month.

I find the Burda patterns easy to understand and very true to fit. The patterns have to be traced and it is a bit confusing to see all the different lines and colors at first, but after awhile, the eyes adapt and the tracing comes easily. I traced a pattern for the long oversized cardigan from the July 2013 issue. The pattern picture looked like this.

You can find the pattern available for download here.
I used a boucle knit lace fabric for my cardi. For the contrast I used a long, darker colored, prom-type dress from the 90s that I got at the .99 sale last month. The fabric was great, the tags were still on the dress and there was enough so that I didn't have to purchase any extra yardage of fabric. My end result looked like this.

It is lightweight enough to wear now without a coat. When it gets cooler, it will still fit fine underneath a long, heavy coat. I paired it with a peach colored, sleeveless cowl neck purchased on a clearance rack for $5. The boucle fabric came from www.fabric.com, clearance of course. I ordered it in the beginning months of January when the temps were WAY below zero. Since the fabric cost $6, the entire cost of the cardi came to $12. Not too shabby for something that you won't find in anyone else's closet.

When you are thrifting, pay attention to the fabric of a piece and not just the style. That dress hanging on the rack may be just hideous in style, but the fabric may be useable for another purpose. Apparel fabrics can be costly and as I have found, hard to find in stores anymore. I usually have to resort to online shopping when looking for yardage of fabric. But I always check the thrift stores first.

I may have been working on a pattern from scratch this week rather than re-styling an old piece, but I was still thrifting like a mad woman. My thrift store find of the week is this awesome pair of Doc Marten sandals I found at Second Impressions.

Never worn, not a scratch nor a scuff can be found on these little darlings!  I have a very warm and fuzzy spot in my heart for Doc Martens. And they will go perfect with my 90s throwback outfits I am working on. I found the pieces, I just need to cut and stitch and we are back in the days of grunge and flannel my friends.

Happy thrifting from your stitchin' friend in the north!