Clothing Revival

I have always had this terrible habit of going thrift shopping and walking out of the store with items that I would't wear without a little to a lot of alteration. Maybe it is because when I thrift shop I try EVERYTHING on. OK, no... not everything... but I grab anything that has at least one good quality (shape, fabric, fit, length, collar, etc.) and then I try it on. Then I buy those things because they have potential. It makes me sad to see something ugly that could be beautiful and unique with just a little TLC.
Once I get home I throw that ugly item into a huge box that is my "To Fix" box. Those clothes sit in there for days, weeks, months, and sadly... even years until one day I dig through the box, try some of them on, remember why I bought them, and then come up with a way to revive them. This dress I bought a year and a half ago. I forgot to take a picture of it before I ripped this nasty ricrac and ruffle monster that was on the bottom. You probably don't even want to see it anyways... After I took that crap off it was a little too short for my liking. I spent some time pinning different laces to the bottom trying to find something that I liked. I really didn't want to have to go to Joanns and buy something since I have such a huge collection of lace at home. As I was digging through my enormous pile of fabric I found a white scalloped table runner that my mom gave me last year. Basically it was perfect! I sliced it in half and sewed it onto the bottom. Then I shortened the sleeves. This project literally took me an hour (if you don't count the removal of the ruffles... that took forever) and most of that time was spent looking for something to add to the bottom.
I just love how easy it is to take something that costs so little, something that no one else saw the potential in, and turn it into something beautiful and not to mention unique.

Carli