This is the dress I finished last weekend, made from 2 sweaters I bought at the Salvation Army. I still want a burgundy belt to pull the waist in a little more. I'd like it to look at little more tailored, without having to put a zipper in the side seam.

My hubby the talented photographer wanted a subject to shoot while trying out some new lighting ideas, and I volunteered... I figured his experimental shots would definitely look better than pics I shot of myself in the mirror!


I'm calling it a dress, but in the tradition of early and mid-century fashions, it's actually 2 pieces that are meant to be worn as a set. I always wondered how they could refer to 2 pieces as a "dress"; I always think of a dress as a single piece... Whatever the nomenclature, this is it from behind so you can see the shaping at the waist a little better:



I even left the labels in both sweaters, so the inside of the top says "Eddie Bauer" and the underside of the collar says "American Eagle Outfitters." I even left the sideseam tag on the skirt that says "American Eagle."


The bodice was made from a vest, so there were precious few scraps left from that. There are some small scraps left from the solid burgundy sweater; enough to save for making felt roses for a hat or something...they fit in a ziplock bag. I love getting the most out of my $4 sweaters!

This is my new haircut, without much done to it. I bought a 1-1/2" diameter ceramic-surface curling iron this weekend, so I'm going to start playing with it. I just watched "Chocolat" with Juliette Binoche, and her hair was PERFECT...sigh...

"Up-cycled" L.L. Bean Dress

Lately I've been haunting the local Salvation Army, buying things that I think can be altered and made into something more interesting. Last week I found a blue rayon dress that was *very* long (almost to my ankles) and had a very boring round neckline. I loved the fabric and the dress "had good bones," so for $3.99 it was mine!

I shortened it and used the cut-off fabric to make a new neckline with a collar. Here's how it turned out:


I think it looks a bit 1940's-ish. Sorry for the wrinkles - I wore it at work all day. For more pics and details, check out my blog.

Vintage Necktie Purse

In my spare time I when I'm not processing orders for my company: 

I  altered a graduation robe for my son for Halloween.  He wants to be Darth Sidious- add a hood to a graduation robe - one Sith costume to go :) 

For the holiday fair for my son's school I am sewing purses from vintage ties. 

Outside view of the purse

Inside view 

I have to make about 25 of them for the fair.  They are pretty quick to make. (about an hour). I got the ties from tag sales over the summer and added vintage buttons.   I have a giant box of ties sorted by color.  The challenge is come up with something that isn't completely hideous, and that a pre-teen might like.  It uses half of a tie for the purse.  I use one of the spare tie halves for the shoulder strap.  I think it looks cute with jeans!

To make this purse you need a minimum of 3 ties.  I either use the narrow end pieces from other ties, or the narrow ends of the tie to fill make it a little wider.  One half tie is used for the shoulder strap. I use a wide zig zag stitch to join them and slightly overlap them when I'm sewing them.  You can sew them with invisible thread or a complementary thread color.

Vintage ties tend to sell for $.50 - $2 depending on what your thrift store wants to sell them for.  I bought a GIANT box lot of them on ebay for this project.  Better yet, ask your Dad, Husband, and Grandpa for their old ties.  

I'm created an etsy page to sell them.