Jammies belong in the bedroom…and NOWHERE else!!!!

I see this all the time when I’m driving through USC’s campus or at the grocery store.  Scads and scads of young women with their hair and makeup done…but wearing loungewear in public!  Color me old-fashioned, but I think we all owe it to the people we interact with every day to look as nice as we possibly can.  By being properly frocked for my day, I’m showing my respect and esteem for the people around me (Keep in mind that most of my ideas/standards are pretty flippin’ ridiculous).  Plus, looking nice puts me in a good mood.  :)

These pants have so much potential!  I’ve gotten over my hatred of the color pink, and actually like how I look in the once-despised hue.  :)  Plus, these loungy pants are made of…CASHMERE!!!!!!!!!  :) :) :) :) :)  Hooray for luxury!!!!

I knew I didn’t want to keep these guys as pants, so I started snipping away the inner leg and crotch seams.

Don’t worry! It’s really tight-knit and it won’t fray! :)

After I snipped, I saw the reason these pants ended up in my custody:  They were riddled with teensy holes.  :/

Noooooo!!!!!!

I put the pants on my dress form, and began pinning them into a dress shape!

Taking shape! :)

Then, I stitched the pinned seams down!

A slightly different whirrrrrrrrrr angle! ;)

I trimmed off the excess material, saving one long bit to use as a sash. I really lucked out with this refash, as all the little holes were only on the fabric that was snipped away!  :)

Now those lackluster lounge pants are a pretty beach coverup dress for an awesome Karaoke Cabana Night!  :)

Loving being encased in Caaaaahshmere! :)

Evelyn likes to go out in style too! :)

Patrick looks like every mean rich guy in every 80′s teen movie ever made!

Buds! :)

BadFoto. :(

Get in the pool!!!! :)

Cheers!  :)

I’m seeing my reflection. I’m looking slightly rough…

I almost regretted purchasing this $1 frock.  I wasn’t quite sure if I’d be able to make it work.  Rather than getting mired in doubt, I got to work!

Pinning those sides!

Whirrrrr!!!

Amputations!

And lookie at that sad, hopeless dress now!  :)

Just chillin’ outside of the State House…like ya do! :)

Cheers!  :)

This is what I look like at 5am with no makeup and bedhead. Now ya know.

…and that’s it!  I didn’t like weird cross-over top of the dress at all.  It felt really stifling!

I got to snipping!

Snip!

I carefully snipped the top part away from the bottom part, right along the serged edge, so it wouldn’t fray.

For some dresses, this would be a totally no-sew refash, but I had to stitch down a couple of things before I moved forward.

Sewing off those pockets!

Stitching down that zipper!

Next, I pulled it under my arms with the bottom hem as the top, and the smaller waist as the bottom and pinned it once…

Riiiiiight there!

Then I began folding it back and forth in front of me, making pleats, like so:

Fold…and fold…and fold…and fold!

Then, I pinned that from the inside.

Riiiight here!

Alllllmost done!  I pinned one of my favorite brooches to the center of the pleated section (both to accessorize and to secure this dress even further) and that was that!  :)

Another one of my grandmother’s awesome brooches!

I wore my funky bubble hem dress to work and for an after-work happy hour showing of an terrific installation by local artist, Eileen Blyth!

Loving that funky bubble hem!

And here’s a few pics of the installation!

At the Adluh building!

This is made from salvaged metal found in the Vista.

I really wanted to take little orange dude home with me! :)

And here’s the artist!

Either Eileen is tall, or I’m short. :)

Cheers!

What’s fun about it????

Bright colors are extremely on trend right now!  But not in the form of ugly frumpy skirts!  I’m not worried.  I have no attention of leaving this skirt as-is.

First, I made a couple of cuts!

Chop!

Chop #2!

Then, I got to pinning!

Pin along the bottom!

Pin a strap!

Time to put it all together!  :)

Whirrrrr!

Attach that Strap!

And will ya look at what I have now?  :)

It’s a Skirt Bag! :)

Cheers!

Has the word “lovely” been redefined recently?

Talk about a BOGO!  :)  I’m a huge fan of this fun tropical print and the lightweight fabric of this thing.  I’m not such a fan of the frumpy cut of the dress or the not-so-hot layering action!

Time to get this dress ready for a warm & beautiful day!

First, I cut the dress off near the top, right where it starts to get narrow.

Making the cut!

Then, I hemmed the resulting raw edge!

Whirrrrrr!

Next, I cut two strips from the back of the jacket.

Strip #1 and Strip #2!

I stitched them both into tubes…

Tubular!

…and turned them right-side out!

Just like this!

I pressed my tubes, and pinned them onto my dress to make straps!

From Strips to Straps!

View from the back!

I stitched my new straps down, getting really excited about how this dress was turning out!  :)

Stitch that Strap!

I hopped into my fab new frock and out the door to catch a performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)!  Thankfully, there was no rain, and the show went on!  :)

At Finlay Park! :)

Lovin’ that drapey back! :)

As you can see, I grabbed a leftover scrap to wrap around my head for a driving scarf (I drive a convertible).  :)

It started to get a bit chilly, so I donned a cozy cardi in a complimentary color (such a sucker for alliteration!), as I began taking notes for my review of the show!

Pen & Paper at the ready! :)

Theatre-Lovin’ Pals! :)

Cheers!

Nothing exciting to see here, folks!

It isn’t very exciting, is it?  It had a little problem as well!

Rrrrrrrip!!!

Oh dear!  The bottom crocheted detailing had begun to unravel and rip!  :/

I grabbed my scissors, and snipped it off altogether.

Snnnnip!

Then, I made another cut to the dress.

Dress No More!

Next, I gave what was about to be my new top a new hem!

Whirrrrr!

Okay, so what was once a dress was now a shirt.  Big deal, right?  But, HA!  I’m not quite finished yet!  :)

I took a piece of the original crocheted bottom and pinned it on the front of my new top in a big loopy pattern.

Loopy!

I stitched right down the middle of the loopy thing, like so…

Carefully stitching along!

…and now that boring, ripped up dress is a fun and pretty top!  :)

Hmmmnnn…what’s over there?

Why, yes.  Those are scrub pants.  Don’t judge me!  ;)

Cheers!

What direction shall I go in?

It was sort of like having Writer’s Block…only Refashioner’s Block!  I eventually decided to stop thinking about it and just start doing.  Any step forward was probably in the right direction!  :)

First, I took it in!

Pinning the sides!

Follow the Pinned Path!

I cut off the extra fabric with my pinking shears (This is to keep the sides from fraying, btw).

I tried it on, and noticed a BIG problem!

How’d I miss THAT?!?!!!

Luckily, this was a quick fix!

Just re-stitch the seam! :)

I decided to make this dress into a top for the day.  I chopped it off, and gave it a nice new hem!

Pin & Stitch!

My new top is light & flowy!  I loves!  :)

I can’t decide if this pose looks cute, or if I just look like I need to pee. :/

This seat is taken. ;)

Cheers!

So very blah!

…is what wonderful blank slates they are!  You can really do just about anything with them!  :)

I decided to go for a quick, but dramatic no-sew refashion for this one!

First, I trimmed off that bottom hem to make my sash.

Snippage!

Then, I folded the dress in half and made a big asymmetrical cut!

Do you see where this is going? :)

Those sleeves needed a bit of a shortening, too!

Short ‘n Sweet!

And that’s it!  Now that dress is totally transformed!

Lovin’ the High/Low Hem!!! :)

I wore my dress to Finlay Park for a production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged).  I was especially excited, as I was asked to review the show for Jasper Magazine and Onstage Columbia!  :)

There I was…poised with pen in hand, ready to take notes!

Let’s DO this! :)

Erin and I were really optimistic…

This play will be great! We just know it! :)

…and then it started to rain.  Hard.  :/

Oh Noooooo!!!! :/

So…the show was called off.  Such a bummer!  Luckily, I’ll be able to catch it/review it on what will hopefully be a bright & sunny Saturday!  Fingers crossed! I’ll be sure to post the link to my review when it’s released. :)

Cheers!

Blah Blah Beige! Yick!

Before I even started with the icktastic shape of this frock, I reached for a box of something fun!

Keepin’ it real with teal! :)

Into the washing machine it went!

So pretty!

I left the dress in its dye bath for about 30 minutes, then gave it a thorough rinse and dry.

Next, I chopped off that bottom hem, and put it aside.

Snnnnip!

I tossed it on my dress form for a bit of lipo!  I had to be careful, as this dress has no zipper or anything.  If I pinned it too tightly, I wouldn’t be able to get it off the dress form or my body!

Take it in!

Each side went through my machine!

Whirrrr!

I cut of the excess material with my pinking shears, then shortened my dress a bit.

Chop!

Pinned!

Hot. Hemming. Action.

I pressed everything, and now that drab blob of beige is now a lovely sea foamy frock!  :)

Barely recognizable! :)

Quite happy to be out of the beige! :)

Cheers!

Aaaand this is why you don’t wear a white bra with a black Tshirt.  :/

I put the skirt on my dress form, inside-out, and began taking it in.

Pinning!

Then, I ran it under the needle, like I do!  :)  This left me with a big scrap that I sewed into a long tube by sewing a line about 2″ from the original seam.

Whirrrrr!

I cut it out, turned it inside out, and closed up the one raw edge (the other edge was fine, as it was the original hem).

No raw edges here, folks! :)

Next, I took the tube, folded it, and stitched it to the front of what was about to be my new dress!

A Halter Top in Waiting!

I tossed on a sash and was ready to dash out the door!  :)

Look! I found my snood! :)

While out and about, I ran into a few fun people, like my beer snob pal, Alisha.   :)

Hi Alisha! :)

Cheers!