Sunday 17 August 2014

Serious City Clothes

A couple of weeks ago I headed off to the 'big smoke' for a week.  Having lived in the country for almost 10 years now, when I head off to the city these days I always feel like a bit of hick in my casual country/beach garb.  So on the morning I was supposed to be driving to the city, I instead had a bit of a sewing frenzy and whipped up a couple of quick refashions so that I would feel like I had some new clothes for my week away.



The first item was this dress, which I felt when I bought it was pretty highly priced for a second hand item at $9.  But I thought the off centred layed front and unusual pocket were kind of cool, so I splashed out on this 'big ticket' item, even though I had no vision for it at the time.



Still not knowing exactly where I was going with this dress, one thing I did know was that I could take a few inches off each side.   The dresses style didn't really lend itself to being too fitted, so I decided not to make it very figure hugging.



By the time I had taken in the sides, I had worked out what to do with the hem.  I decided I liked that front 'flap' thingy too much to mess with it, so I figured it could stay its original length, and I would only alter the length of the under layer of the dress.  This would also allow me to have an asymmetrical hemline.  So I turned the dress inside out and turned the hem up so it would sit at an angle.  I then pinned it in place so I could try it on.  After I found a hem angle and length I was happy with I cut and hemmed the dress.



I was quite happy with the end result, and I liked the fact that this dress lent itself to the layered look.  

Dress: $9 (thrifted), Leather Belt: $2 (thrifted), Cardigan: $0 (hand-me-down),  Yellow top: $6 (sorry, fast fashion item from SES), Dr Marten Boots: $180 (last year from ebay - as new, second hand item), Jewellery: Presents from family  (Pirate Dreaming, Byron Bay - recycled cutlery).

I thought for something new, I will start putting pricing, and purchase information about each item of my complete 'after' outfits at the end of each blog post (kind of like they do in magazines).  While I love a bargain, you may notice that I don't mind an occasional splurge on expensive shoes, but I figure if  I choose these well, I tend to get years of wear from them, so price per wear ends up being pretty low in the long run.  I also try keep my shoe purchases green by finding specific styles I like in good second hand condition online rather than buying them new.



Friday 1 August 2014

THE Muumuu

Well, what can I say... This photo is just not good.  The weather was pretty cold on the day this photo was taken, so I just couldn't bring myself to shed any layers (or uggboots) for the sake of displaying this dress - dubbed by my husband who was in fits of laughter as 'THE Muumuu'.

But I was sure this item could become something I could wear in public with a few tweaks.




First task, remove the shoulder pads, which were described by my 6 year old as making me look like I had 'man' shoulders :-)



This dress had no side or back zip, so I guess it could be described as a tunic.  But this meant that when I pinned it to size on my dress form I couldn't get it off again.  So I got a rough idea of sizing on the form, took it off again, then marked with chalk where I thought the new side seams would go, and then pinned along these chalk lines.  I followed this seam all the way through the arms so the sleeves would also be more snug.



Once I sewed the new side seams I trimmed off the excess fabric, and zig-zagged the raw edges.  I also shortened the dress a couple of inches while I was at it.



I made a waist sash from the spare material that was cut from the hem when I shortened the dress.



Being one of the coldest winters I've lived through in quite a few years, I didn't expect I would have the opportunity to wear this for quite a while.  But thanks to an unseasonably warm winters day, I got the chance to wear this sooner than I had expected.