Black and Blue Pencil Skirt

I am not a mall shopper. I am not against shopping malls, I just like to find original items of clothing that at least 1 other people will not be wearing. I like to be different. However, I am very enamored of Swedish retailer H&M. Were the nearest H&M store not 5 hours away, I would be there rummaging through clothing every day.

Recently H&M opened up their US website where anyone can order online. Heaven. However some items are still pricey for even me and I admit, I use their site for clothing inspiration. When I came upon this funky black pencil skirt with a denim band at the bottom, I was in love.

Love, love, love! And how easily this could be made! I started with some black knit fabric and used a simple McCall's skirt pattern. I then sacrificed a Gap denim skirt of the same size. The bottom of the denim skirt must be the same width as the bottom of the black skirt. I used a seam ripper to open up the bottom hem of the denim skirt so that I could get the rough edged look. 

I was quite pleased with the finished result and paired the skirt with a black, silver-studded cardigan that I found on the clearance rack at Target. So very H&M looking.

The total cost of this project was less than $10 as the black knit fabric was a remnant in my stash. The H&M skirt retails for $39.99. I feel so Swedish! 

Happy thrifting from your friend in the north, desperate for spring!

Givin' It the Slip

Have you heard? The slip dress has returned! After it's disappearance from the '90s grunge scene, it ran out of town, desperate to rid itself of Courtney Love's shadow (wouldn't you also?). After a long rest, it is now back on the runway. And, in the pattern pages of Burda Style.

I am girl of the '90s. I loved the grunge look. Flannel, Doc Martens, baby doll dresses. I was never privileged to own a slip dress but now that the trend is back, along with a pattern to sew, I am mad with anticipation!

The slip dress pattern from Burda is a simple one. You can find it here. I had some awesome gray silk fabric that I picked up for $3 in a thrift store a year ago. It was sitting in my stash, just waiting for the right moment.

As I am a larger girl, I cut the pattern a bit larger than the Burda allowance. It was fairly simple to sew but when it was finished, I felt it needed a little 'something.' I dug through my trim stash and found this little lace piece to put at the neckline.

Now, I did mention that I am not the Kate Moss-90s-waif type, so I am a bit hesitant to wear this alone by itself. It needed a grungy companion. And what a better companion to any 90s piece than FLANNEL!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, FLANNEL!!!!

Using a McCalls cardigan pattern, I took a gray plaid flannel fabric and made this cool asymmetrical front cardigan. Adding a belt, it was the perfect addition to the slip dress. I know the point of the slip dress is to wear the slip dress alone, but it is a bit cooler in North Dakota. Plus, sometimes a girl just has to cover up. Besides, I myself know that I am wearing the slip dress, so what does it matter?

I am Doll Parts. Bring on the flannel!!!!! Now, if someone can direct me to Eddie Vedder's house…..

Agent Skully's T-shirt and Cardigan

I like skulls. I like things with skulls on them. I am not goth, punk or anything dark. I just like skulls. Is that so wrong? I especially like smiling skulls.

When I came upon Debi's Design Diary's tutorial on sugar skull t-shirts, I was in 7th heaven!!! If you haven't checked out Debi's blog yet, get there asap. She makes the coolest things. I love how she thinks. Plus, she has this awesome, vintage, repurposed store. Sigh. She has my dream job. But she has a great tutorial on how to make these super cool sugar skull t-shirts. You can find it here.

I found a long sleeve white t-shirt in the thrift store one day for just a buck. I used lace from a vintage stash I had plus I purchased some that I thought would be perfect for my sugar skull. The Martha Steward decoupage lace at Michael's was the optimum choice for the eyes and nose of my skull. I followed Debi's steps and the result was my super cool t-shirt.

I love the shirt so much! When you wash this shirt, do not dry it. Hang it up to dry. Once I made the shirt, I knew I wanted more. So I took the skull pdf pattern that Debi provided and made it smaller in Photoshop. I printed out the smaller version and cut a skull out of lace. I then took a thrift store cardigan that originally had a beaded bow on the left side. I cut the thread from the bow so the beads would come off, but there still was a pattern left on the cardigan. 

I glued on the smaller lace skull where the bow was. Once that was done, I added some Simplicity iron on studs to compliment my smiling lace skull. 

Love, love, love this cardigan. But I have skull fever and I don't think I am done yet. I found  a great vintage teal 80s dress that would provide the perfect skull over a black or even a hot pink t-shirt. 

Make sure you visit Debi's Design Diary soon for to learn how to make your sugar skull t-shirt. She has a lot of other great things that I know you will want to make as well.

Happy thrifting from your snow shoveling, parka wearing, skull loving friend of the north!

Prabal Gurung Skirt Re-Style

Too much turkey and turkey preparation can prevent one from blogging. Add a little wine and you may pass out while your friends play with your cool toys. But eventually, one must come out of the turkey coma and get back to stitching and bitching, right?

Since I made my ultra-cool leather vest with the fur trim, I needed something funky to wear with it. I have this gorge black and white floral Prabal Gurung skirt that I got at the .99 sale last summer, but it is too small and too short. Story of my life I think. So I decided to expand the skirt to make it fit and lengthen it to make it longer.

First, I cut up the side on the right and on the left. I also had to cut into the lining. Before I started cutting, I used a seam ripper to remove the upper skirt band from the bottom of the skirt and lining. Once the sides were cut, I cut two side panels for the lining and two side panels for the outside of the skirt. I measured my waist and did some mathematical calculations as best as my limited math skills would allow and sized the panels at the top to add just enough width to the skirt for my waist. I also took seam width into consideration as well. 

For the lining, I found some simple scrap fabric in black that would suffice for lining. I sewed the lining panels in first. Then I cut two side panels out of black faux leather for the outside and also two small strips to add to the top skirt upper band. Once they were all sewed on, I reconnected the outer portion and the lining with the skirt band. Since the zipper was in the back, I never had to worry about that.

To make the skirt longer, I purchased a pre-made chiffon ruffle at JoAnn fabrics in the trim section. Remember, never waste a coupon-trim is rarely on sale. I sewed that ruffle to the bottom of the lining so that it would hang lower than the outer portion of the skirt. The result was exactly what I was hoping for!

Finally it was time to put my new funky outfit together. I found a little pink Cynthia Rowley leather trimmed top at the t-store for .99. I put it under the leather vest and added it to the skirt. I love how each piece has a leather look to it.

The most expensive part of this outfit was the trim, which cost about $5 with the coupon. The coat was $2, the top $1 and the skirt was $.99. The fabric used was scrap fabric, so I would estimate it at about $2. 

Total cost of the outfit = $10.99.

Check out those mad math skills, huh?

There is a snowstorm moving in and I have my sewing projects on reserve in case I am stormed in!  Happy shoveling  from your thrifting friend of the north! 

Fur Trimmed Leather Vest

Once upon a time, there was a black leather jacket. It no longer carried any coolness in its current state, so it was 're-invented' in order to comply with current trendy looks. Kind of like Madonna. Or Joan Rivers.

What a sad, lonely leather jacket. Even Fonzie couldn't make this jacket cool. It needs new friends.

The sleeves were donated to give this denim jacket new life.

The zipper was ripped off to give a little 'edge' to this floral jacket.

Finally, what was left of the sad leather jacket was nothing more than a sleeveless, unzipped shell; an even sadder version of it's original state.

But what can take sad and make it fabulous and glad more than faux fur? Faux fur makes everything better! It's soft and warm and, did I mention, fabulous!

I took seam binding and fixed the armholes of the now sleeveless jacket, similar to the technique I used when making the sleeveless blazer. I then purchased half a yard of black, faux fur and added it to the front part of the vest where the zipper used to be. I removed the collar and hemmed it where the collar used to be. The result: faux fur fabulousness!

What does one wear such a fabulous piece with, you ask? I suggest a warm white sweater underneath and skinny jeans and boots. I did make this with the intention of pairing it with another re-style. Part II is coming soon! Plus, there is still one final piece ripped from this jacket that can be repurposed. Can you guess what is coming?

Snow is here and this vest is just in time to greet it! Happy thrifting from your chilly, snow shoveling friend in the north!

The Sleeveless Blazer!!!

Remember in the late 80s and 90s how blazers were so darn popular? You just HAD to have one to wear and one that matched everything. Black was a typical color, but red and red plaid were also huge. Speaking of huge, most all came with giganto huge shoulder pads and some sort of gold emblem on the   chest pocket. Sadly, as time passed and trends changed, (thank goodness for no more shoulder pads!) the jackets were moved to the back of the closet and eventually, the thrift stores.

Fast forward until now when blazers are back baby! With a few minor changes, of course. The fall issue of In-Style magazine talked about the trend of sleeveless blazers. They are versatile pieces, that can be worn for casual or for work. I loved the look of both and set off to find myself some cast off, lonely blazers. I found two great blazers that were just begging to be cut up and worn again.

One army green linen blazer and one black double breasted blazer with the coolest buttons. They were also sporting giganto shoulder pads!

To make my sleeveless blazer, I cut off the sleeve very carefully from the jacket. If the jacket is lined, cut the lining just as close as you can to the outside of the jacket. From there, I used double fold seam binding in a coordinating color to make my arm opening look neat.

Once the seam binding was sewn in place, I ironed the armholes for a finished look. I then went to search for items in my closet to wear in both a work and casual setting. In other words, I want to wear these when I hang out and have a good time and also when I have to clock in at 8 am for 8 hours of office work. If this were a magazine spread, I could say 'A great day-to-night look!' 

The blazer can be worn with your favorite rock band t-shirt or any kind of graphic tee.

For a work outfit, I thought I would wear it with a sheer white blouse, giving a bit more warmth to the blouse for the upcoming cold, frosty, winter months. In North Dakota, we typically wear 3 or 4 layers during the winter. Sometimes more.

All could be worn with skinny jeans, skinny dress pants, skirts and boots. Very funky. The whole process took about 30 minutes from cut to last stitch. So run, grab yourself some blazers and start cutting those sleeves off!!!

Happy thrifting from your layered friend of the north!!!

Anarchy Sweater

Don't you just hate it when all you want is a burgundy cardigan with faux leather patches on it and you can't find it anywhere? Why is it that the only place it exists is in your creative imagination? You walk through store after store after store and you just can't find it anywhere. You do searches on the web and while you do find an acceptable solution, it is WAY out of your budget.

What? You don't have this problem? I thought everyone wandered the earth in search of a burgundy cardigan with faux leather patches. Huh. Silly me.

Well, I do. Or so I did. Until I finally gave in and went to the thrift store and found a cream colored cardigan that I introduced to a bottle of RIT burgundy dye. I was so dye happy, that I forgot to take a before picture. But I did take a picture of the process.

Yes, the bucket in the sink looked like a bloody mess. I highly recommend doing this process while watching Sons of Anarchy. This way, the bloody mess in the sink will not look unlike that of the crazy drama that ensues on Sons. Every commercial break, go and stir the mix. Use very hot water and salt. When you are done, roll the sweater in a black or red towel and air dry. Once it is dry, wash the sweater in cold with the red or black towel to get out any excess dye. Again, air dry that sweater.

I added two strips of faux black leather down the sleeves. Of course, the buttons on the sweater turned pink rather than burgundy, so I substituted them with black buttons. The end result was exactly what was living inside my imagination.

The great thing about this sweater, in addition to it being vintage, is that it is 100% cotton. Love a cotton sweater!!!!! (play Weezer song here) Don't be afraid to grab that packet of dye to make something the color that you want it to be. Leather patch sweaters fetch hefty price in stores currently. This one cost me $7.50. Not too shabby. And the mess was probably easier for me to clean up than the one Jax Teller had to deal with.

Happy thrifting from your burgundy friend of the north. Stay classy!!!!