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.
Inspired by sites like Magnolia Pearl, Steampunk outfits, and pirate wear, I just had to have myself a pair of bloomers. I started off okay a few months ago. I got some
old sheets from a thrift store that had a nice wide lace border, and I sewed me up some bloomers. I left a lot of fabric at the top so I could decide later how much I wanted to hitch them up, oh say about knee high. They looked lovely. Only I couldn't get them over my hips. No way, no how. So I knew I was going to have to slit each leg down the side, and sew in more fabric. At least there was plenty of sheet fabric left. And I tossed them on the pile of unfinished projects. Most things that land there, die there. But because of this wardrobe challenge, I picked them up today determined to wear them or burn them.
After I added the piece to the side seam and tried them on, I had another 'oh no' moment. The extra I added at the top was not going to be extra. Based on the crotch length and the amount of fabric it took to go over my tush and tummie, I was going to need all that extra top fabric and these were going to be ankle length pants, not the cute bloomers I had in mind. Of course I could cut them off an the knees and do even more alterations, but at this point I just don't feel like it.
My goal was to have these done before dark so I could get good photos. As you can see in the gallery, I didn't make it.
And after all this hassle, I'm not sure I like them. Unless I go back into clowning. That is, I don't like how they look. I love however the way they feel. And I can use it as a pattern to make black pants.
My boyfriend said I can't say anything else bad about myself today so I won't.
The cherry print halter top I made a few summers ago and it's one of my favorites.
I'm a little anxious that some of those 'never wear this' sites will visit my blog and make fun of me and post the photos everywhere. All I can say to that is all the photos are copyrighted, and I have the right to enjoy getting dressed even if I'll never make the cover of Vogue.
I am withholding judgement for a few days. I may come to love these. Or they may come in handy to wear under gypsy skirts, which is one of the uses I had in mind when I designed them.
I always loved the little flute player Kokopelli from the petroglyphs and he shows up time and time again in my arts and crafts.
I had painted kokopelli on this brown t-shirt many moons ago but he was about to fade into oblivion. I love the cut of this shirt and it was still in good shape. Oh what to do, what to do. I decided to go over all the white lines with embrodery in a pale yellow embroidery floss. I love the way it turned out, but it was well after dark when I finished it.
So I used the dress I wore a few days ago and wrapped it as a skirt. You can see the whole outfit on the photo gallery page.
While I was working on the shirt I tried to remember what I used to wear it with. Then I remembered I had a brown tulip shaped skirt that had worn so bad I tossed it. So I thought just maybe I'd swing by M & L Fabric in Anaheim and see what they had in the way of brown fabric.
I'm glad I went because the whole store was having a 20% off sale. My original plan was to go with cotton, but I wanted the skirt to be more durable than that, so I was quite happy to find some nice brushed courdoroy in a rust/brown tone for under $3 a yard. I got three yards to make an A-line skirt. Hopefully enough will be left over to make a vest or something too.
It seemed like I remembered them having some plaid fabric for $1. a yard in flannel, which I thought might make good underwear. Well, I had misremembered, and it was plaid, but more of a woven textured fabric. The catch was you had to buy the whole piece, and there was 5 yards, so I may get a skirt out of that.
I found some flesh toned fabric for panties that feels like tricot, though it was in the t-shirt fabric flat folds. And I got some matching lingerie elastic, which is a bit hard to find at most fabric stores. I couldn't resist some purple camo flannel to make some boys shorts out of either. And I also got a t-shirt fabric printed with beige lace.
I got a few more yards of print fabrics too. I'm happy to say the fabric I got will make about 2 skirts, 2 vests, 6 pairs of panties, and still have some to spare, all for about $33. with the discount. Now I just have to find time to sew. I'll take photos of the fabric tomorrow when it's light out. I generally pre-shrink everything so there are no unpleasant surprises later.
Hope you are enjoying my fashion journey so far.
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.
Today I got to reclaim one of my favorite skirts that had a big rip in it. It feels so satisfying to be wearing it again and I didn't have to spend a dime. Plus I finished my Plarn hat and I'm wearing my green embroidery project. See the photo page.
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.
It's the wee hours. Tonight I embellished an apple green t-shirt with embroidery. It will take a long time, but I think I'll wear it in my photos today. I haven't figured out what else I can wear. I definitely need to sew some solid color skirts and pants very soon. But right now I have to get some sleep.
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?