little thriftshop of horrors

So for my birthday, my boyfriend and I went thrifting all day. I was hoping to find a crazy skirt or some old jewelery, but the thrift stores around here are mostly lame.
We did however go to the new Plato's Closet, which to be honest was in some respects more expensive than the mall, but I found a cute tank for only $3!

The colors look really good with my skin tone and it has a racer back! I love racer backs. They are so comfortable and I think they're sexy while maintaining modesty.

My boyfriend picked this purse out for me. He loved the guns; some revolutionary, huh?
I love the inside fabric. I think the purse is actually reversible. Or if it wasn't meant to be, then it definitely could be anyway.
$8!

I love love love this necklace. It's by a brand called 1928 (found at JC Penny's). All of their jewelery looks like it's from the 20's. I want the entire line. So gorgeous!
But for some reason just this piece was on mega sale, and when I pointed it out to my boyfriend, he insisted on buying it for me. Mostly because I wouldn't buy it for myself - I'm really cheap. And this necklace was only $6, if that tells you how stingy I am with my money. To be honest, my boyfriend fronted the bill for all of these items. He loves to spoil me. But I try my best to be a cheap date.

For those of you who are magic fans:
Today we went to Clearwater Beach to see Criss Angel escape from a building that was about to implode. I wasn't that impressed. Just watching the building fold in on itself was my favorite part. But it was fun just to say we went. Just to be a part of history.
Personally, I thought the trick would've been much more entertaining if it had been David Blaine walking out of the cloud of dust at the end instead of Criss Angel, but that's just me.

let's celebrate me.

It's quite possible that I'm addicted to the idea of wearing a new outfit every time I go out dancing. This week I'd like to blame it on the fact that today is my birthday, so on Sunday I had my birthday dance at The Zendah Grotto. I was the center of attention, so naturally I had to create a new cute, yet still functional, look for myself.
I made this shirt-dress from the scrap of fabric leftover from the suspender skirt I made a couple of weeks ago, some stretchy white fabric from who knows what, and a button I took off of a jacket.


front / back

asymmetrical straps! yay!

button detail!

Sorry about the boob shots. The front of the shirt just doesn't look right on my dress form.

For anyone wondering, I had a lovely birthday.
I went thrifting with my boyfriend and scored a couple of really good finds. But more on that later, I'm sleepy.
Goodnight world!

her first job

So my friend from work hired me to make her a dress for her and her boyfriend's one year anniversary. She wanted a tube-top with lace and such, I think I captured what she wanted.
The top is made out of eyelet fabric and the bottom is white cotton with that stuff that they make veils out of on top (hah, anyone know what that's called?).

without the flower

with the flower

the back

Also, a couple of my friends wanted to see the dress I made for senior prom.
Haha, gotta love my date's crazy hair.





And no, Jimmie, black jewelry is not just for old ladies.

the not-so-new girl in town

Creeping through the online fashion kingdom in the quiet hours of the night (c'mon, you know you do it too), I came across this ridiculous article about the tiny tween fashionista Tavi. Naturally I slinked over to her site to check out what all the fuss was about. All I can say is wow. Being much closer to 21 than 12, I'm not sure if I should be a little embarrassed to admit that I found her fashion sense inspirational. I'm still having a difficult time adjusting to the idea that people were actually born in the 90's, let alone admitting that one trumps over the online fashion community.

photo taken from Tavi's blog

On a more personal level, today a hostage situation was resolved.
Last night I searched high and low for the little flower brooch that could, hoping to wear it to my friend's birthday party, but it was no where to be found. I finally gave up my search, resolving to the fact that one of the kittens (probably bart, he's such a little brat) had stolen it and hidden it away somewhere with the other dozen toys the kittens seem to have "lost." I approached the kittens as they lounged lazily by the window and demanded that they return the brooch at once or they'd never be allowed in my room again. Being kittens, they just ignored me. However, Bart's resentment did not go unheard, and in the middle of the night he came into my room, jumped on my desk, and spilt a bottle of water all over my power strip. With a firm spank on the tush and a loud NO, I sent him away and refused to pet him this morning. Then, when I came home from work tonight, what did I find lying on the kitchen floor but the little flower brooch that could? A little worse for wear, but there just the same. I gave Bart a little pat and a thank you and hid the brooch in a place where I'm hoping he'll never get to it again.

the little flower brooch that could...

I was suddenly inspired to try to make my own flower brooch,
so a strip of old polka-dot fabric and a little bit of elastic turned into

with or without leaves (made from the same fabric as the messy patchwork skirt)!

Hope everyone's having a good night!

scarves in the summer

I went shopping with my mom a couple of weekends ago, and found this fabulous scarf on sale at The Dress Barn. I was so excited, because I hadn't seen anything like anywhere before (Dress Barn isn't exactly the prime shopping spot of the typical trendy teenager) , and I'm all about creating a unique style. Right after, I went over to Target and found almost exactly the same scarf...

The rest of America now has access to my fabulous old lady scarf.
The good news? It'll continue to be above 80 degrees here in the sunny state of Florida until late November, so perhaps no one else will see the sense in buying a scarf mid-summer.
The bad news? It'll continue to be above 80 degrees until late November, so I'll have to travel out of state to show it off.
But! I don't want to wait, so I was trying to come up with different ways to wear it that make sense in the summer heat.


+ =











flower brooch (Goodwill), jean skirt (so old i can't remember)


And a thank you to to Dana from MODAna for the recognition on her blog!

tied up in knots

A very simple reconstruction.
My brother had a pack of medium undershirts that were too small for him, so he gave them to me.

Cut the sleeves off, cut a wider neck, and then cut up the middle of the back and tied it back together.

shirt (hand-me-down hand-altered), pink tank (target), skinnies (sears), hat (walmart), bracelets (a present from my best friend keith, passed down from his grandma)

Simple, but I dig it. It makes me feel like I'm about to work out in the 80's.

a skirt and an attitude

New skirt!
I got this fabric last summer from Walmart, only $1/yd!
It's white with dark green pin stripes. I originally picked out the fabric to make sailor pants, but there is plenty of it left for pants still, even after making this skirt.
I cut the fabric into a bunch of random shapes and then sewed them back together using a light pink thread that shows. Kind of going for a scruffy, rebellious teenager look.
The waistband is made out of a stretchy white fabric that's been hanging around for longer than I can remember. I like the fact that the clean, smooth waistband contradicts the rough, patched-together skirt.

front/back. It's actually a circle skirt, and has no real front or back.

close up on waistband/patchwork.

The waistband looks uneven in these pictures, but it's actually a fold-over waist band, and I was just too lazy to straighten it out completely.
:)

I also wore this one out dancing.

tank top (target), patch skirt (hand-made), pink tights (target)

what else is new?

Two more pieces almost finished! I've got a taste for the long-baggy-shirt-with-a-low-fitted-waistband recently. They're easy to pair with leggings or tights and terribly comfy. Plus, they can travel with you through seasonal weight fluctuations...

Exhibit A: brown and blue stripped dress/shirt with racer back.



The edges on the top of this pieces aren't finished and I'm afraid they might fray. I don't have a serger (yet), and I think it's a little late to add a lining, so I'm not sure what to do next.

Exhibit B: A pink shirt/dress with a waterfall front.
Inspired by this top from Forever 21.


This blog hates me right now, and refuses to allow any pictures of the garment other than this one, so perhaps I can try to add more detail shots later.

Fixed it!


back view.


front detail.


Happy Humpday!