Years ago I got a free work apron from an art store. Straight away I painted it with roses so I could wear it at my face painting gigs. But it always bothered me that the banner of a paint company went across the top of it. For years I just folded that part over and held it with safety pins, always meaning to cut it off and fix it. That brings me to another fashion rule I should add to the list. If you are going to wear a name to advertise a company, make sure it's your own company that you are advertising.
One of the great things about my project is I'm getting some of the things off of my 'I meant to do that' list. Like this apron. Also, the original apron just had one neck tie and threaded through a loop on the other side. So I cut the banner off the top, folded the logo into the center, and zig-zagged it and made another strap out of the scrap with the name on it. I used that for my other tie.
Remember, your wardrobe isn't just what you wear to the mall or a cocktail party. It's what you wear every day, and I wear this apron a lot. I'm so happy I altered it today.
Some days I don't have the time or energy to do anything fancy. And I think it's unfair to women to have to come up with an all new outfit every day. So here I am wearing the skirt I fixed yesterday, along with a purple t-shirt I silkscreened. After I finished the shirts my boyfriend said, "Those look like our two cats." And sure enough, without realizing it, my shirt design looked a lot like the painting I'd done of our two cats a few years ago.
And that is something you'll never get from a store bought off the rack clothing item. The personal connectedness of having made it yourself.
With the outfit I'm wearing some beads in a long strand I strung, and a hair barrette I made. I have a lot of things in my stash. A lot of them are prototypes I made to sell on ETSY that I never listed. I bet you have a lot of stuff stashed away too that you've forgotten that would look great on you.
My design plans changed directions about six times today. I was getting so frustrated. But I grabbed this dress I'd made in high school in the 70's. During that time, patterns that you could wrap and tie in many ways were all the rage. This was a combo dress/ wrap skirt. It's polyester and I swear that stuff never dies. But it's so slippery I never wore it much. It's kicked around here for years. I've doubled in size so the thing didn't even go around me anymore.
So today I grabbed it and sewed one single seam and in minutes converted it into a flirty little sundress. Hop over to the gallery and see the photo.
I also embellished my sandals with silver metal hearts.
I topped off the outfit with a ribbon headband I'd woven so long ago, I don't even remember the technique anymore. I made the necklace also out of copper chain and wire.
Once I got done being frustrated I had a lot of fun.
It got me to wondering how many clothes could be easily mended but we either can't figure out how to fix them, or we are just too busy to do it, or we lack motivation.
I as watching a video at 3 AM which pushed me into a state of creativity to follow through with an idea I've been kicking around for years. Namely, to use all my artistic skills of sewing, knitting, crocheting, mixed media, fiber arts of many kinds and other skill sets I've gained through home, through college and through the university of life. So I jumped out of bed this morning way more excited than I've been in a long time, and dug through my drawers and clean laundry bag looking for things I've made myself. So here are the rules: Everything I wear for one year must be sewn from scratch, repurposed from already owned items, or embellished by me in some way.
So my first outfit has a skirt I made for a belly dancing costume, a t-shirt I painted for a dance group I wanted to start, and yarn hair ties I made to sell on Etsy but never got around to listing.
I had thrown a pair of heels away yesterday because the uppers were cracked and peeling. So I dug those out of the trash and started glueing beads and baubles to them.
I've had fun wearing this outfit today.
I'm going to give myself a week to make my own unmentionables though. I've knitted socks but I think I gave them all away. I know I have a bra pattern around here somewhere.
And somewhere I have a shoemaking book too. Well, one day at a time, right?