Refashion: XXL Coral-ness to Cute Sundress

Almost didn't pick up this bright little number, because I usually don't like pink. But as it was only $6 at the thrift store....

So anyways this dress was originally a XXL Xhilaration dress. It had 2 boning channels in the front. But  the boning was already bent. At my lowest rib it pushed out; it had already conformed to a much larger boob shape than mine. So buh-bye boning! The dress had no type of closure because the back was all shirred. And that meant when I took in the sides I didn't have to add a zipper or buttons. Yay! And I noticed when I took the sides in that the skirt had pockets. I LOVE POCKETS. I shortened the skirt and with the remnant made straps. Voila cute sundress.

DIY: A Rectangle into a Swimsuit Cover Up

I was inspired by the DIY swimsuit cover up projects these two lovely bloggers did. http://glitternglue.com/2012/07/17/diy-swimsuit-wrap/  and  http://laviediy.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-20-minute-beach-cover-up.html .

So I decided to make my own. In essence the project requires a bit over a yard of very drape-able cloth (There is probably a technical term for that). And you attach straps. And you cut some fabric off. Done.   Super easy. 

I'm not going to write a whole new tutorial. But I will sum up what I did. 

So I kinda followed both tutorials. I didn't cut a 'C' into the corners like the lady at La Vie En Rose did. And didn't want to mess with grommets and fragile fabric so I braided the straps like the lady at La Vie En Rose did. Although I didn't knot my ends. Here's what I did: got a 4.5'' strip that was about a yard long (way too long of a measurement 18''-20'' would probably work better). And I cut this into 3 strips lengthwise, BUT I didn't cut all the way down, I left one end with about an inch where the strips were still joined. As for the other end I just sewed it closed when I sewed it on to the rectangle.

Not quite sure how much fabric I used for the big rectangle. Kinda just wrapped it around and cut off the excess. Click on either of the links for actual measurements.  If you find that the back is sagging too low (mid bum level), you have too much fabric. Tighten up the distance between your straps and the back should go up. I did angle the cut on the bottom corners. It looks prettier that way.

Picked up the fabric (soft cotton knit) for $2.11.

Not bad considering the one at Victoria's Secret is the same design and selling for $40. Follow the link, see for yourself. Then go buy fabric and make your own....

http://www.victoriassecret.com/

Refashion: Hoochie Dress to Not-so Hoochie Top

So I bought this dress a while ago. And never wore it. You can see why: it's hoochie! And it's got way too much going on at once: shirring, bows and ruffles.

 Bum ruffles are terrible! And the back bow fell off, right after I put the dress on! Less work for me.

So I decided to make a cut! And removed the bows! Here's all the pieces:

Snip snip snip

Snipped and hemmed it a bit longer than hip level. When I wore my new top I played around with wearing it with a high waisted skirt or hip level skirt. 

Liking my new top!

Now I just gotta figure out what to do with the bottom and the oversized bows.

Organize them Threads (DIY)

I was getting tired of all my spools of thread falling out of my sewing box. And I was getting tired of losing the bobbins that went with said spools. So I wanted a thread organizer.
This one on the interwebs was round $30. And it looks flimsy.

I've also seen ones at Jo-Anns for more. But I wanted something under $10. So I went on over to Michaels and got a finished board measuring 11"x 14"and a bunch of dowels at 3/16". Board was marked down to $6 (with a coupon!) and I ended up getting 6 dowels at 49 cents a pop. The rest was all elbow grease.

Supplies: wooden base, dowels, a drill & a saw

Drill, Baby Drill!

Drilled, Baby Drilled!

I spaced out the holes to be anywhere from 1'' to 1.75" from each other. And cut/sawed my dowels down to 2.5" to 3.5". Keep in mind about half an inch of the dowel will go into the wood base. Because I used a 3/16" drill bit with 3/16" dowels the dowels are pretty securely wedged into their holes. Some required a little tapping to get them down to the bottom of the hole. When I measured the length the dowels would have to be I took into consideration that I wanted my bobbins to rest on top of my spools, to keep them organized. I managed to get 55 pegs.

See, bobbins & threads together

All DIY projects have to pass the Dog Inspection

Oops it's all filled up already! All 55 of 'em!

So there you have it a thread organizer for under $10.