Thrifted wool coat

 

Do you notice anything wrong in this picture of me and the girls?

I’m not talking about how wrong it is that my pants were hastily shoved into my cowboy boots.  Or how wrong it is to wear cowboy boots in the first place with this outfit, in this location, in that snowy terrain. 

There’s something missing.

Shhhhhhh, (It’s the button.)

Winter is a slow season for estate sales, and the market is absolutely FROZEN for garage sales yard sales and general junk thrown out at the side of the road.   However a true treasure finder  (or “thing finder” as Pippi Longstocking would say) is not slowed down by the weather.

My estate sale buddy and I had some downtime in between our actual paying job of sign language interpreting so we headed straight to the best of the local thrift stores, Savers.

I always head for the linens first; she usually wanders through the coats.  Two minutes later, she ran over to me and said, “Look what I found!”  showing me a beautiful grey wool coat.  

“Oh, that’s nice!”  I said, keeping my tone neutral (although I was flipping out over the ruffle detail in my head).  We have very similar tastes in second hand junk, always eyeballing what the other has picked up.   LOL.  

“It’s for you!   It has ruffles!   Try it on!”  she encouraged me.  Now, I need another wool coat like I need to eat another Boston crème donut, but ruffles are hard to resist.   I tried it on, noting the 3/4 length, which I don’t own and apparently is the most flattering length for a “pear” shaped body like mine.   (Says some Kindle book I read recently) 

And I don’t own a gray coat.  

And it was $12.99.

And it looked brand spankin new.

As soon as I tried it on, I realized why it had been donated.  It was missing a button.   “Maybe I can take the top button off and move it to the missing spot.” I contemplated. I’m always willing to make adjustments to thrifted items.  Then,  reaching my hand into the pocket, I squealed and pulled out the missing button.    Could it be that someone donated a perfectly ruffled wool coat because the button fell off and they didn’t know how to sew it back on?   Oh my…it was my lucky day… and my lucky winter with a ruffled coat.

Best thrifted find of the winter, for sure!

maternity shirt into skirt

I wore this maternity shirt to a friends wedding 7 years ago.   Every once in a while I would try to wear it as is, but it’s way too flowery and crazy to wear near my face.   I cut right above the armpits, folded over twice and sewed a hem for the top of the skirt.  It fits just right over my hips, which is not something to brag about, but it made this an easy refashion!

I’ve been wearing fleece lined leggings almost everyday.  They are so cozy and warm, even when I’m walking across campus in the dead of winter.   I have them in black, navy and hot pink, and buy them through Amazon.
Leggings, skirts and boots= my style at age 34.

let them fade…

Most days I put just a little thought into my outfit. Dark tops on days that I’m working.   Clothes that will hide stains when I’m around the kids. 

Some days I pay no attention and just throw anything on.

A few days ago I did just that and it was not good.   By the end of the day, I finally took off my mis-shaped sweater and noticed the tag said “Motherhood”.   Duh…  it was a maternity sweater that I probably meant to alter to fit my non-pregnant body.

This outfit made me feel happy.  I like the three solid colors together, the ruffle detail on the cropped sweater and the longer white tee underneath.  This is a look I should try to copy in other wardrobe combinations.   I like dark jeans and I can’t help fooling around with my clothes.

 

The jeans fit well, but were faded. I asked Brian to take the photos for a “before” of the jeans. Instead of just leaving them alone (like he suggested) I dyed them navy.

And now they have a purplish tint.

 

Interesting, right?  I wish I had left them alone!  

Camisole + sweater re-do

This black cardigan was one of my first "interpreter dress code" items.   I can throw it over any outfit and instantly have the right backdrop for my hands to sign.   It's super warm, but ridiculously plain and boring.   I haven't worn it much lately.

I took a pink camisole from my mom's discard pile, cut it up into strips, ruffled them and added them to the edges of the cardigan.    It's so pretty and feminine!   I added black lace to the inside to cover my messy seam and a little eye hook in case I want to wear it closed.

It's no longer something I can wear to work.
It's retired.
Refashioned.
Recycled.

Grandpa’s Ties

Sometimes I have a great idea....and then it doesn't turn out so good.

Case in point:  Embellished shirt with grandpa's old tie.



I pinned it a whole bunch of ways, but ultimately hung the boring shirt back in my closet and put the tie away in a "someday" pile in the basement.



This was the "inspiration" photo from westermanfam's blog

This is actually a "necklace" made out of a tie, and it looks super cute (on her).   I'm not sure I could pull it off, to tell the truth.  

I asked for all of Grandpa's ties when I saw this necklace from etsy shop, Podged.   I wish I could figure out how they made that pendant because it's AWESOME!  And that's a tie necklace I would actually love to wear.... 

Halloween at our House

When you have friends that love Halloween as much as the Fantastic Foxes, it becomes a day worth getting excited about.  How awesome are those costumes???    Sara's mom made it all, starting with a batman mask as the base to the face.  Then she sewed the dress and mailed it up to NY.   Seriously...that's what I want to be doing when I'm retired.  :)

Tanya put some frosting on her face to go with her clown hair.   Grace called her "Dirty Tanya" all night!   I threw on a blue wig and zebra hat right before heading out the door, and the kids called me a model.   Love that!

Little Lady Bug with Mrs. Fox.

Grace was determined to walk (even though Aunt Sara forgot to put shoes on her little pajama-ed feet) and she was determined to carry her own treat bag.   It was awesome to watch her try to get candy with those mittens on.   Probably frustrating for her, but so funny to us!     "I keep hand up;  I keep hands up!"  she would say every time someone tried to carry her treat bag for her.    It was the only way she could carry it around without dumping all the contents.  (which happened a few times)

After trick or treating, Mrs. Fox read the story "The Fantastic Mr. Fox", charging one piece of candy from all three kiddos. 

 

Brian threw on  a Jedi cloak that I sewed for a Halloween party about 7 years ago.    It never goes out of style, so he keeps on wearing it year after year.

 

We went around the whole block, 5 adults happily watching the ladybug, pumpkin and superman collect free candy.  Such a nice night filled with happy kids, friendly neighbors, and an awesome kid to adult ratio 5:3.    I even held hands with Brian for about 2 minutes as we walked down the street, knowing that 6 other eyes were keeping track of our kids.   What a great way to spend my least favorite holiday of the year.    Fun times...

Ruffle Scarf out of pants

Once upon a time I had a hard day with the kids. I made something lame for dinner, like grilled cheese. When Brian came home from work I calmly stated, "This is what is for dinner. I'm leaving now. It'll be much better for everyone if I go." Then I went to Dunkin Donuts to get the most amazing pumpkin muffin in the world and a decaf coffee. My very first decaf cup...."coffee without a reason" as Brian calls it. I puttered around a nearby store, then texted home to see how things were going.

Me: "I'm doing better now. Want me to come home?"
B: "We're good. Stay out as long as you want."

Smart man.
So I went to a thrift shop called Savers. I guess they are all over the place? I like ours because it's HUGE and the clothes are separated out by size.
I was browsing through the pants, looking for velvet pants to cut up to make plush velvet pumpkins, when I came across ruffles.
LOTS of RUFFLES.
On pants.

I literally did a double take, then laughed and threw them into my cart. $5. Cheap fun....I knew I could do something cool.
But first I had to try them on just to see what ruffle pants would look like.

They were a perfect fit! Comfy too. I had a brief thought, "Maybe ruffled pants is a good idea! Maybe this looks really cute!"
But Brian actually gasped when I came floating down the stairs in my ruffles. "You're not going to wear that to work are you? I mean.... what is that?"  LOL
I cut the legs off and sewed them together to get a long ruffled tube.  Sewed a couple straight lines and
VOILA!
A super easy, super fun, ruffled scarf.

Permanent fix

 

I love dark wash jeans.

I like Rider jeans, and I think this is the pair I just bought. (Slender Stretch Tiffany Bootcut Jean – EbonyRider )  They are supposed to hold the shape, tummy control, and are approved by Stacey London, of “What not to wear.”  

I grabbed some off the shelf at W-mart and was mostly happy when I tried them on at home.  They are about 4 inches too long, but that can be fixed easy.  And they had gold “accents” on the rear. 

That will not do.  I don’t want to call any attention to that area.  Thankyouverymuch.

I got out a Sharpie permanent black marker and started coloring.   The detail is still there, but now it is much more subtle.   Quick fashion fix.  I hope Stacey would approve…Somehow, I don’t really see her coloring on clothes, or buying from W-world either, LOL.  Oh well.

Slip Debut

 

7:24 AM

on route to the bus stop

zero makeup and ponytail hair

a couple sips of coffee

“I think this might be a good outfit!   Can you take a quick pic?” I ask Brian. “Make sure you get an angle that doesn’t make me look pregnant!”

$11 super cute top from Clothes Mentor

$.50 salmon cardigan from a friend’s garage sale

$5 jean skirt from a thrift store years ago

$2 flirty slip that I made

$20 DSW clearance shoes

 

black ruffled sweater

 

I found this sweater at The Clothes Mentor, a couple miles from my house.

Black is good.

Ruffles are better.

1/2 price at a consignment store

You know that’s coming home with me!

I wasn’t crazy about the buttons, and after the first wear, one of them fell off.  I could either sew it back on, or make it better.  (for me)

I don’t mind ruffles cascading down my chest, but a line of shiny buttons marching down the front of me?  No thanks.  I prefer to have a solid top when I’m interpreting or signing, which is pretty much ALL THE TIME!

I snipped the buttons off and then sewed down the front, basically turning it into a pull over sweater instead of a cardigan. 

The baby was screaming during this photo shoot, so I let out a scream or two myself.

Funny, I thought I loved that grey cami with the super chunky lace edging at the bottom….but now that I “see” what it looks like, I wish it was half as thick.    I can fix that…… 

awesome slip for skirts

Have you seen those slips that are meant to be seen?

They can make a semi-short skirt seem more modest, and definitely more feminine and interesting.  The one pictured below is $28 from etsy shop ASlipShop.  

 

Super cute, right?

I remembered that I had a long slip in my drawer, probably from back when I was a teenager or something.   Slips are just not something I need…..ever.   But if it’s super cute, then maybe….?

 

I chopped the slip in half and added a 4.5 inch wide eyelet border around the edge.  (I bought a ton of it from an etsy seller under the “supply” section)

I wish I could say this was easy, but SHOOT!!!  That satin-y stuff is terrible to work with.  I’m not proud of my sewing job on this….sigh. 

It Doesn’t Have to be Perfect to be Beautiful.

I think it may work under this flowery skirt that I hacked apart to make 2 sizes larger to fit me.  I lost some of the length when I did that, so a slip under it makes sense.

I think it looks the best under this denim skirt (which I never wear) because it almost looks like a ruffle peeking out of the bottom. 

I have no idea if I’ll actually wear this little “undergarment”, but it makes me feel trendy and thrifty that I was able to make my own version for about $2. 

It fits now!

You know I love thrift stores, right?   Spray paint, ruffles and thrift stores are separate, yet equally exciting entities.

Once upon a time, I  had 15 min to kill before a manicure-pedicure appointment. My neighbor took all 3 of my kids  so I could have a little time to myself.  (Totally awesome set up: we take turns almost every week, which the kids like just as much as she and I do!)   I could have sat in my car and listened to the silence for 15 minutes, but I decided to stop at a huge "antique/ full of junk and clothes" shop near my house.   (Nancy's Barn)   They have really strange hours, so I had been there only one other time, 10 years ago.


I could not believe the amount of clothing, mostly vintage.   Racks and racks and racks of stinky, old clothes!  The owner told me that she goes to estate sales and buys out whatever is left.   What a fun, fun job!


I picked out a skirt with pretty flower print for $5. But when I got it home, I realized it was 2 sizes too small for me.   I'm not sure how I missed that.....    Instead of putting it in pile for when I lose some weight, or donating it or passing it along to a friend, I decided to cut off the waistband and add elastic. It had a zipper, but I just kinda ignored it and sewed right over it.    Now it'll fit! 


$5 for the skirt (JC Penny label)
$3 for the sweater (Target label)

$8 = cute summer outfit for work.


 

Sweater applique

I found a really cool shop on etsy.com:  paviapavia   She sells some really cool appliques, lace trimmings, brooches and belt buckles.   The prices are amazing so I ordered a few things to start out with.


This applique was $3.75.   Crazy price!  I didn't have anything in mind when I bought it...just thought it looked interesting.


I pulled out everything in my closet that looked like it might be in that color family....


And there was a very clear winner!
This Target sweater that I got on clearance was a PERFECT, EXACT match.   A match made in heaven...





I cut the appliqued piece apart and pinned them in place.   It took me about 20 minutes (at 3 different times) to finish, but it turned out so great!    I love doing something little to make an off the rack sweater just a bit more special.

fabric flower necklace

It was a cold, winter night..........

I grabbed some scraps, scissors and packed up my hot glue gun.   I drove across town in the dark (which makes me nervous....I'm such an old lady) and met girlfriends.   

They also had scraps of fabric...and glue guns.




We made different variations of necklaces (using this tutorial from Little Miss Momma)

We ate lots of (mostly) healthy food.
We told stories...laughed...created.

My favorite way to spend a cold, dark night.