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

P.S. I Made This: Retro.

This week I made Butterick Pattern 4790 out of a vintage bed sheet that I think came from my grandmother. The dress is a wrap dress and really confused me for a while while I was making it. "Um... what?!" I ended up not really following the instructions very much and then getting really frustrated. I am the "look at the pictures and not read anything" kind of person so often I mess up, get really mad, and then have to go back and read and fix everything. Overall the dress was pretty easy to make. I don't know if you can tell, but shhh.... I haven't finished hemming it yet. I literally have spent hours hemming it by hand, but since the skirt is so full I am barely to the halfway mark. My only complaint is that I am not a big fan of how the dress shifts when you wear it. I constantly have to make sure that everything is in place or I look frumpy and/or not modest.

Happy Sewing!
Carli

P.S. I love the Monkees. Especially on vinyl.

In The Mirror

You know those times when you are in bed and almost asleep and you remember something and it completely wakes you up? Well that happened last night. I am laying there and all these random things that don’t make sense in context are going through my head and I remember how I wanted to blog about something that had happened over the weekend and that I had forgotten to do so. I freaked out about it. Maybe it was because I was in fact not completely clear minded due to my tiredness, or that I was upset that this insignificantly significant memory had pulled me out of the warm loving arms of sleep into the cold tiresome arms of the night. I contemplated getting out of bed to blog my memory, but I realized it could wait.

So this morning when my alarm went off for the third time (Feel It All, by Feist) I remembered once again that particular memory…

The other day Courtney and I were getting ready to go to the temple and I couldn’t find that particular belt that completes most of my dresses. I searched everywhere and found nothing. So I asked Courtney if I should wear a dress that I hardly ever wear just because I am just not sure how I feel about it. I thrifted it from the Salvation Army in Texas. I bought it because I love the way the top fits me. What I was not so thrilled about was the skirt. It is brown and black and has various fruits such as pineapples and bananas clustered together around the hem. It reminds me of those Hawaiian shirts that tourists so often wear. Speaking of those tourist shirts, why would you wear a shirt like that in places such as Paris, or Egypt? I just don’t understand the appeal… And this is precisely why I felt the way I did about the dress. My intention of the purchase was to take it home and recycle it. Recycling clothing is one of my many favorite hobbies. I love buying clothing that has a good shape and/or fabric but just needs a little updating. Changing the buttons, removing the shoulder pads, shortening the sleeves or skirt, or redoing the neckline. Pretty simple and quick stuff. But sometimes I buy dresses I think I can fix but would take more time and be more difficult. Like my pineapple dress. I planned on removing the skirt and making a new one. Suffice to say, it never happened.

Courtney said she liked the dress and that I should wear it, and so I put it on. As we finished getting ready I kept asking Courtney if she was sure that I should wear it. Every time I asked she said yes. As we were walking up the stairs to leave I asked one more time.

“Courtney. Are you sure I should wear this? I could go change really quick.”

She then grabs me by the arm and pushes me into the bathroom. The realization of what she possibly was about to do to me hits me like a ton of bricks. I got very excited… So very excited. I was full of anticipation. I worried that reality wouldn’t be as awesome as my expectations. 

She then puts me right in front of the mirror. She places her hands on my shoulders, and says these words.

“Carli. What do you see in the mirror?”

I am holding in my excitement.

I say. “Me.”

She replies. “You know what I see?”

I shrug in question.

“I see PRIDE, POWER, and a bad mamajama who don’t take no crap from nobody! Now what do you see!?”

I was so happy to hear those words that my heart filled with joy. I then yelled…

“I see PRIDE, POWER, and a bad mamajama who don’t take no crap from no body!”

We then start laughing hysterically, because in fact that was very funny. Cool Runnings is pretty much the best inspirational movie out there. It was not an exact quote because we are little Mormon girls who don’t use expletives, but I feel as if it had the same effect. I walked out of that bathroom no longer self conscious about my dress. I no longer cared if people thought I looked like a strange tourist in a Hawaiian dress. Courtney gave me the confidence that I needed. I don’t think I am going to recycle that dress. I now love everything about it.

I am just so glad that I have friends that can lift me out of my doubts and make me feel confident.

I think that everyone should be a friend like that, and have a friend like that.

Thanks Courtney. Your the best.

Carli