Momma Art

I have to tell you, I'm having so much fun refashioning these clothes! I love the fact that I am helping our planet. I love the fact that I'm creating cool projects, and I think most of all, I love that I'm learning new things each time I sit in front of my sewing machine. Ok, here we go... I found this dress at Goodwill for $1.23. I wasn't sure about it, but for $1.23, I knew I could chance it. I can always use it for fabric if all else fails right? It fit great, but I couldn't just leave it as is. Pretty, but yellowing. First things first...I snipped out the shoulder pads! Yuk! Buh bye. I knew I wanted to dye it, but I was unsure of what color. Blue...I like blue. In the deep blue ya go!!! I soaked the dress in hot water for about 45 minutes. Out it came....blaarg!!! I didn't like it. Plus the dye showed some previous stains or cleaning marks. See it? See the blotchyness?  I wasn't thrilled. So I decided

Things are going really well with the No- Off-The-Shelf-New Clothes thing. I'm really starting to love the hunt for something that was once loved by someone else and turning it into something updated and wearable or usable again! My amazingly strong and wise grandmother is almost 94. She has given me so many wonderful pieces of advice and interesting vintage jewelry, buttons and treasures, that she once loved, and now she passes those treasures onto me so I can make new memories. I hope I can turn her cool stuff into more cool stuff, and pass it onto my daughter, so she can have that cool stuff.  I'm sure you will see parts and findings in this blog from Grams. Thanks Grams, love you! Today is about this dress: It was about $5.00. It's more than I wanted to spend, but I loved the print. Too big. Too long. Does nothing for me. I needed to do something about how big the top was. You can't tell from the photo, but the top of the dress came almost to my chin.

I found this cute little purse at the SA for about $2.00. I brought it home. Looked at it, and felt it needed something else. It was boring. I need to spice up my handbag selection.  I am in the market for a wristlet that can actually hold more than 3 quarters, and a stick of gum so I snipped off the handle, and all it's findings, and got to work. See. All clear. Then I re-attached the clasp to the zipper. Like so..... Then I threaded the handle through the clasp and tied a knot big enough for my wrist to fit comfortably. I snipped off any extra. Tie the knot! The purse had these metal bendy things as decoration, so I bent them back around the end of the snipped edges to create a finished look. My Grandma gave me these rad gold and white vintage buttons. I thought they would be perfect to add a little flair to this navy beauty. I started hand sewing them on. Close up. My Favorite one! All Done! I think it looks much better. Whadya th

Remember the sneak peak I gave you on May 5th ? It's a shapeless mess, but the print is awesome! Lovely selfies, waaaaay too big muu muu, and a whole lotta sass! I forgot to take pictures in the sewing process. I was just too excited about refashioning this thing! I hope you can forgive me, I will try to NOT let it happen again! The neckline of this was huge, but I liked the tiny V detail in the front. I cut the back of the neckline at the seams and separated the dress in two. I also cut off the sleeves. The front part of the neck went around my neck with room to spare, so I put the back half of the neckline in the scrap pile. I took a dress that fits me nicely, and traced that dress on the inside of the muu muu. I attached the back of the dress to my new neckline, sewed it up, and cut off the extra fabric. I hemmed the bottom, and I was all set to wear it for my daughter's flower themed birthday party! Ready to party!                                    

So here's a quick fix for a thrift store find: I found this cute hippie looking skirt and thought I could wear it as is. Cute right? Well.................look a bit closer.............A STAIN! After a good washing and another, I still couldn't get it out. See it? Riiight in the middle of the photo. I think it was rust. I'll never know..... No fear, I knew just what to do....Dye! I liked the black and tan feel of the skirt, but I wanted to cover that stain. Brown it is. Mmmm. Cocoa Nice dark brown and black skirt!  And no stain!!!! Even, Juan the foreign exchange student thinks so!  Thanks Juan!   Much better!

     Almost one month into my no new clothes for a year thing, and I have to say I feel good about it. I feel good about re-using things, and making something that would have gone in a landfill into a part of my wardrobe. I have way too many clothes anyway, and I am finding new ways to use things. I have a crush on fellow friend, and bloggers: Cassie Stephens   and Jill the refashionista They have been my motivation to start this blog and to try something new. Thank you to Cassie who, without her asking me to do a DIY on a scarf  I made for my class lesson, I never would have done this. She gave me the bug...thanks for the cooties Cassie! Check out my DIY on her awesomely amazing blog HERE  ! And this T-Shirt re-fashion from Jill I decided to try it myself : Old T-shirt I haven't worn in a loooong time GO CUBBIES!   The next thing I did was turn the shirt inside out, and sew up the bottom of the shirt.  There's no going back now! Not a perfect job,

11 Months, 7 days, about 15 hours...... until I can buy new clothes.  (Think of all the cash money I'll save)  I think this is getting harder because the season is changing, and BECAUSE I CAN"T. ( I have an issue with people telling me I can't do something), but I told MYSELF this one.  Luckily, Goodwill is having a 123 sale. All clothing is $1.23! YES!!! I can find some new-to-me clothes to re-fashion and all will be right with the world. Find a Goodwill 123 sale in your area HERE .  I'm finding things in my closet to change around and turn into amazing new stuff too. Pictures coming soon. Resale hunting I go! I satisfied my need to outfit my daughter in the latest fashion, from a huge resale extravaganza! (Leg not included) So my girl is set for summer! (I only spent $40 bucks!)

I am really enjoying this whole refashion adventure I put myself on. I'm getting creative in ways I didn't know anything about. Today, I got the urge to go shopping, but since the hubs and I are on a no-new-clothes- for-a-year-why-did-I-do-this challenge, I decided to take a long sleeve t shirt that I never wear, (It was too big, and just didn't look right) and turn it into a cardigan. Super quick, and it satisfied my urge for something new. Not a good look. So I cut it right up the center and pinned the sides down. A few spins of the machine.... Yay! I think I'll actually wear it now! ***If any of you find a truly magnificent "treasure" at your local thrift store, and want to see me re-work it and become part of my wardrobe, I'd love the challenge!  Here's a sneek peek into the next fashion adventure: Isn't it lovely?