Reposting from Goodwill Fashionista: Fashion Forward: No lace, please

I love this post from Lisa the Goodwill Fashionista and wanted to share with you. As you know I’m all about refashioning vintage and looking beyond a piece that at first appears to have no potential. The jacket Lisa refashioned is uber cute and the removal of the lace really made it hit its mark. Lisa you might consider this as a new talent .

April 4, 2012

Fashion Forward: No lace, please

Fashion Forward with the DCGFTags: DIY, lace, vintage, vintage suit

After a fruitless day of shopping at the Columbia Pike Goodwill store (okay, I got plenty of stuff, but not what I set out to find!), I struck out on my own to peruse the Rockville location. I had to find something to wear to the Fashion Fights Poverty gala!

I did find something: a vintage red suit jacket and skirt that fit me to a T. I loved the color, the puffy shoulders, and the tuxedo-esque back of the jacket. But the lace collar…it just had to go.

When in doubt, text message bathroom-mirror photos to your friends on the Goodwill staff! At least, that’s what I do.

The suit fabric perfectly matched the Jason Wu for Target dress I planned to wear it with, but the lace was just out of place. My black dress had sequins around the bottom, and as much as I do like both lace and sequins, they didn’t need to be anywhere near each other for this event.

I took my sharpest sewing scissors and cut carefully around the collar of the jacket, hoping to remove the scalloped lace in one piece. Success! I am now the proud owner of this versatile piece of lace:

I have received several suggestions that I should use the lace as a collar with sweaters and tanks, and I think I’ll do just that. A fastener and a little starch is all I need to keep this lace looking fresh around my neck!

But I had one last challenge before I could wear the jacket out in public. No matter how carefully I cut, there were still tiny pieces of lace showing around the collar. When two friends suggested I color in the spots with a red marker, I laughed. Yes, I laughed at my friends and doubted them, but I cautiously tried it and they were right. Unless you were getting up close to smell my perfume (ooh la la), you couldn’t even tell the jacket had originally had a collar.

Trying on the jacket at home. I LOVE the back of this vintage piece!

In the end, I was proud of my outfit for the event and proud of the bit of DIY work I had done. Maybe I should embark on fashion projects more often? What do you think, fashionistas?

Fun Times at Modern Vintage: Shop and Social

Wednesday night was a fun time at Nana’s where Lisa from Quarterlife 202 hosted Modern Vintage: Shop & Social. Lisa has some great vintage items and I love just looking through the shoes, skirts and dresses.  She assembled some great combinations on the mannequins and shoppers came by to socialize and browse through the vintage clothing.

I had the pleasure of running into an old friend, Kaarin Moore of Closet Caucus

Lisa and I had a chance to chat and catch up. Great event Lisa!

She served some healthy snacks and drinks to go along

There was even a photo booth set up for visitors to strike a pose

She is wearing a dress and coat from Trash Cat

This G. from Tulle and Combat Boots posing for the camera

Happy shoppers with Lisa

Shoppers milling around Nana's

But the best part of it all was of course the Cand Shoes

Laura from Bits of Threads browsing through a rack of clothes

Beautiful winter white coat with Royal blue sheer dress underneath

Looking forward to Lisa’s next Modern Vintage: Shop & Social

Re-Blogging: Refashioning and Restyling Workshop Part ll

The count down is here. Only 24 more days until 2012. Sew Frugal and Fashionable has some great things planned for refashioning and restyling your wardrobe. We will take 365 days and redo at least 12 outfits. That’s right full outfits. That’s next years challenge. And we will continue to stay away from department and specialty stores to shop for clothing. Whew! What a challenge. In the meantime continue to enjoy some of our favorite refashioning blog post.

Re-post from June 20th 2011

 

On Sunday June 19th, Silver Spring Sewing Sisters met to discuss creative ideas for reinvigorating and refreshing their wardrobes. We had a great discussion on options and unique transformations for clothing that has just been sitting around idle. This was our 2nd class in a four-part series. So far three students have completed their initial projects and are currently working on their next creative masterpiece. Our class will meet informally over dinner every week leading up to Part 3 so that everyone is engaged and being sure to make progress.

In Part 3 of the class we will discuss how to properly deconstruct a garment. There is a right way and a wrong way when it comes to removing seams, elastic and hems. We will cover the step by step process. We are SEW excited about the progress students are making. More to come.

 

A couple of recent vintage purchases….

So lately I’ve gone bananas over cute vintage clothing. Not sure if it was my visits to a few vintage shops during my May tour or what. I’ve found some really creative ways to build vintage pieces into my wardrobe.  For example I’ve found some beautiful vintage butterfly pins to wear on my business suits. They always seems to spark a conversation. Or even a vintage Chas A Steven’s blouse with a Tahari suit really pops out.  For me it’s about adding items that you won’t see everyday.

I really stepped out there and probably paid a little more than I should have for a couple of items. But I don’t care. They look great and I’m so excited and want to share them with you. Besides I picked up a few other vintage pieces over the last few day that I know are worth way more than the pennies I paid. Therefore it all works itself out in the wash right?

These two dresses I purchased last week and I can’t wait to spruce them up and wear them to work or a sorority function. After a get a few wears out of them I will probably sell them in my Etsy store or on Ebay:

Dress #1

This dress was made in the USA for Sears Roebuck & Co. sometime in the late 60′s early 70′s ($15.00). It’s 100% polyester and machine washable. It’s a heavy polyester so I won’t be wearing this anytime soon. I totally see myself wearing this in the fall. I might shorten it and wear it as a shirt with a black belt and slacks or as a dress with some black tights and knee-high boots with some funky jewelry. This dress will rock either way! Of course it could use a bit of altering and I might add a little something extra. This is why I love refashioning and restyling. Can’t wait to show you the final product.  ;-) I’m majorly excited about sporting this retro look in the Fall.

Dress #2

This vintage Victor Costa Navy Blue Polka Dot Dress from the early 70′s is so me and so feminine ($30). It’s also %100 polyester. I just love it! I can’t think of anything I would change about it. I’m thinking either a white belt with navy patent leather shoes or a red belt with red patent leather shoes and matching purse. Either way it’s definitely making a statement. The bottom of the dress has a unique fullness and flair. The ruffles really hit home with me. I love ruffles and trying to do all I can to bring them back

 

Follow @sewfrugal

Visit the first Quarter Life pop-up shop

Visit the first Quarter Life pop-up shop.