Thrifty Thursday - "Olive" to Refashion!

Thrifty Thursday - "Olive" to refashion!  Haha, well I really do love to refashion!  And it just so happens that today's refashion is olive green - one of my favorites of the season! I found this gem at the Goodwill outlet.

Yes, it was a tad big and frumpy, but it had potential!

I was lucky, because where the bottom part of the skirt was attached was the perfect length for me!  So, I just detached it with a seam ripper!

Then I stuck it on my dressform and pinned where I needed to take it in.

At that point, the skirt wasn't too bad on its own.  I'll probably wear it like this sometime. (After I sew on a new button!)

However, I wanted to do something a little more fun!  I used the bottom part that I cut off and made it into a belt/sash to tie into a bow.  I thought it was cute!

I'm excited because I feel like this will be a great neutral, versatile piece for the Fall/Winter!

Before/After

What other ways would you wear this skirt?  I'd love ideas!

Ethical Fashion

Ethical Fashion is a series I hope to continue and expand as I learn of more and more companies.  If you've read many of my other posts, you'll know that I support and LOVE Noonday Collection for jewelry and accessories.  They are a Fair Trade company that helps artisans around the world to build a sustainable marketplace.  To learn more about Noonday read this post.  

Today I'd like to highlight some companies that provide ethical fashion in the clothing area.  Daily I'm learning of more of these companies and I hope to purchase from more of them and share the results!

The first company I learned of through Instagram is Elegantees. Elegantees is located in Nepal and employs women who have been rescued out of sex trafficking.  They provide a positive source of income that reinforces independence, a healthy self-image, and confidence to restore lives. They make a wide variety of clothing, including comfy knit tees and dresses, cardigans and tunics. 

 Here is their raspberry dolman tee.

And of course, I'm wearing some Noonday with it!

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Another company I learned about on Instagram is Francis & Benedict.  Francis & Benedict is a Non- Profit organization that exists to empower and equip skilled Togolese seamstresses by providing them with dignified and sustainable employment.  Their profits are used to resource community leaders in Togo, enabling them to continue projects that benefit orphans, widows, and those suffering in poverty.  They sell skirts in different lengths and styles using West African wax print textiles that are simply gorgeous!  I got midi length and maxi length full skirts.  Next I want to try a pencil skirt and a mini full skirt!

Here's the midi.

AAAAND POCKETS!!!

It's no surprise that I put a Noonday necklace with it!

Here's the maxi

This print!

Sometimes it feels like poverty and injustice are just overwhelming and we can't do anything to change it.  While that may be true as a whole, we CAN change lives for individuals.  Using our Western purchasing power, we can make a difference across the world!

Thrifty Thursday - A Giant Refashion

Thrifty Thursday - a giant refashion for sure!  This giant dress and its giant shoulder pads were actually not a giant undertaking.  

I'm really annoyed that I didn't realize the photo quality was bad until after I cut up the dress.  I would have taken a better pic!  

The first thing I thought was that the bottom of this dress would make a cute pleated midi skirt!  So I whacked off the top (and set aside for another project!).

 Here comes my not so favorite part.  I knew that I'd either need to add an elastic waistband or a zipper.  For the look I really wanted here, I knew a zipper would be the best option.  Here's the thing.  I think that putting in zippers is one of those things that you have to do like 100 times before it becomes easy.  Every time I put in a zipper I watch several youtube videos on how to do it.  I'm not showing closeups b/c you don't want to learn from me.  But here's where I found the center of the back and started cutting...

I left the part at the top because I wanted to iron it down on the inside to act as a facing.  

After I got the zipper installed (seriously stressful to me), I put it on my dressform, inside out, and pinned the sides to where it would fit.

After that I just sewed up those sides and after a little pressing, I was done! Ta-dah!

I could see this skirt styled several different ways.  This is a bit of a dressy look, but I bet I'll dress it down more often!

Before and After

Goodwill Outlet Treasures!

Goodwill outlet treasures!  This was super fun!  Most of what I get at the Goodwill outlet has to be "refashioned" or at least altered to fit me.  On my last trip, however, I hit the jackpot with pieces that fit me and I liked just the way they were!  I did get plenty to refashion as well, but the ready-to-wear pieces were a big score! Since they charge by the pound at the outlet ($1.39/lb), my total ended up averaging $1 per piece - I mean seriously that can't be beat!!!

I'll give you a little preview of what I found.  These are not styled how I would wear them.  I just put on jeans and a black tee for try-on purposes. This is just to show the pieces I found - I'll definitely post them styled as outfits as I wear them.

 This Old Navy dress will be super versatile and great for layering!

 I love this slouchy sweater!  I can see it worn layered in the Fall or even at the beach. Funny story - I actually did "rock, paper, scissors" with my friend Debbie for this sweater in the middle of the outlet! 

I'll layer this skirt with tights and boots.

 I'm not sure how I'll wear this vest, but I thought it had a fun, boho vibe. Suggestions?  

 I love the fun green plaid!  I can see it worn oversized with leggings and boots or maybe knotted for a more fitted look.

 Leopard cape.  Need I say more???

 I love this fun, oversized Aztec sweater

 I'm not sure why I thought I needed 2 Aztec sweaters...

 Hello 80's???

This is a super comfy neutral top. 

This leather bomber jacket might be my favorite purchase!  And for $1, too!!!

I also found several scarves!

In addition to these pieces and my refashion pieces, I got a huge stack of ready-to-wear (after washing of course!!!) clothes for my girls!

Have you ever been to a Goodwill outlet? If you have, I'd love to hear about your treasures! If you haven't, you should research the closest one to you!

How to Pattern Mix Like a Pro

How to pattern mix like a pro didn't necessarily come easily to me!  I would have never thought about mixing my prints and patterns until I got involved in the fashion community on Instagram.  I learned there that it is fun and trendy!  It went against everything I was ever taught, so it took some teeth pulling, but I managed to slowly, but surely get into it.  Now it's a no brainer!  

So, if you are like I was, and need a little help or prodding, here are some tips!

Some prints are actually neutrals.  You can pair them with anything.  The two biggies would be leopard and camo.  Yes, they are a print, but the colors are actually very neutral and they look really good paired with each other or other more colorful prints!

Camo and leopard

 Leopard with black and white

Leopard with stripes

Leopard with floral

Don't freak out on me - camo, leopard and floral!

Another fun idea is to mix florals and gingham/plaid.  In doing this, I try to stick to the same color scheme.  

The floral shoes have white, pink and green, which match my pink gingham and green shorts.

Here I stuck with blue and white gingham with a red/white/blue skirt and neutral accessories.

A really easy mix is stripes and polka dots.  Go with the same colors and it is a no brainer!

Another fun mix is to pair stripes with stripes.  Again, it's good to stick with a similar color scheme.  It's also best to put a small stripe with a large stripe.

I chose very neutral accessories since I had some pretty busy prints here!

It's also fun to mix polka dots with plaid!  You'll see that again, I stuck with the same color scheme.  The polka dot sweater is basically a neutral here.

And of course, a little leopard is always fun!

Sometimes stripes can serve as a neutral as well, In this look I paired white/black stripes with a bright palm print!

Again, it's nice to pair neutral accessories when mixing prints like this.

Or you can go crazy and throw in more prints with your accessories!  This works, though, because the bag is the same black and white color scheme as the skirt.  And of course, leopard is a neutral, so the sandals work, too!

If you are still unsure, you can go with something mild, like mixing in a small pattern with your jewelry or purse.

Good luck and have fun mixing your prints!  I'd love to see what you come up with!  For more of my pattern mixing looks check out my Instagram feed!

Thrifty Thursday - A Plaid Refashion for Fall

Thrifty Thursday - A Plaid Refashion for Fall.  It may be a bit premature to think about Fall here in Texas, but when I found this plaid dress at the Goodwill Outlet, I was itching to make something for Fall with it!

This dress totally brings back memories!!!

First, I had to decide what I wanted to make out of it.  Initially I was thinking a dress, but I landed on a peplum top.  So the first thing I did was cut a bit off of the bottom. I set aside the part I cut off.  I had plans for it!

Don't worry - I removed those pockets with a seam ripper.  Whew!

There was definitely potential, but still quite a bit frumpy, so I decided to use the part I cut off of the bottom to attach to the sleeves to make bell sleeves!

 I cut off a little bit more to make it the length that I wanted to add to the sleeves.  I was sure to save the orignal hem so I wouldn't have to hem the sleeves! 

Pinning right sides together, I attached the bell part to the existing sleeves.

And I got this

Shhh!  Don't tell my mom that the plaids don't match!  

At this point, I tried it on as a top. The first issue was hem length.  I just compared it to another similar style peplum blouse I have and hemmed it to the same length.

 The main issue, though, was that it was too small and gaped open at the chest.  Most things I refashion start out too big.  That's way easier to fix than too small!  However, it was only a smidge too small, so I had a solution.  I knew from the beginning that I wanted to turn it around and have the buttons go down the back. So instead of using those buttons or replacing them with cuter ones (my initial plan), I just cut them off and sewed the 2 pieces together as far apart as I could get them.  That gave me about an extra half inch!

After pressing and steaming it, I was ready to style it!

 

Before and After