Denim Shirt to Denim Vest

I know this is going to come off a little 80's to a few of you, but let's face it, the styles circle round and round, and all that really changes are the fabrics and colors :)

So, here is what I started with: 

This denim shirt fits on me, the way it looks on the mannequin, with weird puffy shoulders, it is short in length, and the bottom has an odd shape, but it is denim, and since denim is the new black this season, I decided not to toss it out :)

The first order of business was to chop the sleeves off. They were so bizarre shaped I figured better to just chop them off and make a fabulous denim vest because I have been wanting one for a while. 

Next, I sewed up the sides to give it a more flattering shape and take in the giant hole left by the sleeves {they really were huge...}

and TADA! I have an awesome vest :) But I didn't stop there:

Denim is very masculine so I wanted to add a feminine touch with some pink lace on one of the pockets.

And here we go :) I paired it with a flowy pink floral blouse, denim pants {would have gone with my gray skinnies but they were in the wash}, and the gray knee high boots that got cut off of this shot by my dear husband...I swear that boy is wonderful at everything...except picture taking :) Ah well, I wouldn't trade him for anything in the world!

This vest would also look REALLY cute paired with a floral dress. Maybe I will try that when it gets warmer out :)

Getting Ready Is My Favorite Part

Ok, so before I rip my closet apart, I went online to do some inspiration shopping. Of course I always stop by Modcloth, Anthropologie and Ruche because they are amazing. {no I don't get any royalties for mentioning them, I just should...you hear that ANTHRO?!}

This turned out to be the best thing to start with, as I just barely got a sinus infection and was out cold for about 1 whole day, with nothing left of my energy bank except the small amount it takes to browse the internet.

I found some decent things to work with including some that I added to my pinterest board here:

http://pinterest.com/rubycfindley/clothing-and-style/

It is always better for me to have some idea of what I want my closet to look like if I want to transform it into something I will wear. Makes sense, right?

So now that I have quite a few ideas, it is time to start ripping everything out of the closet that I have not worn in at least 6 months.

Perfect! See you when that task is complete :)

Ruby

Closet Makeover

So....wow, oops, it has been a REALLY long time since I have posted, but I have taken my vacation and I am ready to get crafting again {ok, I never really stopped, I just got lazy and didn't post em}.

And here is my next big adventure:

Giving my closet a serious makeover.

How am I going to do this, you might ask? Well, I am going to go through and pull EVERY piece of clothing that I have not worn in the last 6 months. Then I am going to start cutting, snipping, piecing, and sewing them into something that I will be a little more excited to wear.

I will be documenting my journey via this blog. Who knows? Maybe some of these ideas will spark a little creativity in your closet as well!

And so the sorting begins tomorrow, bright and early!

tata for now :)

Ruby

Finished Product

I just liked how it turned out, so I thought I would share :) Hope you love yours too!

Have a great weekend!

No Sew Alteration

I am a huge fan of the "no-sew" alterations :) I am also a fan of the billowy cropped shirts that are a little higher in front than the back, like this one:

{Modcloth.com}

So while I was at Goodwill, I looked for a billowy type fabric dress that I could cut and give it this shape, when I found this fabulous fabric! Dresses and purses and all things girly are the design of the fabric, which is perfect, so I took it home to love it and give it a much needed makeover.

Here is the before and after, just so you get an idea of what this alteration is :)

First, start with a dress, or shirt, with a really fun fabric, preferably billowy and with a neat design.

Decide how long you want it in the front and back.

Now layout the dress/shirt so that the tops of the shoulders are matching, like below...

Mark where you want the length in front and back and then cut the fabric. Start at the back, go about halfway, then make a diagonal cut up to the front mark.

Ta-da! That's it! Unless you found a fabric that frays at the ends, then all you need is a quick hem and you are done!

Alter The Way You Wear It

Sometimes alterations can just mean altering the way you would normally wear something. Just because the vintage dress comes with the vintage jacket, doesn't mean you have to wear them together. Just as a vintage top and skirt should not be paired together anymore.

I found this great shorts dress suit at the thrift store, and it reminded me of this Pretty Woman outfit Julia Roberts wears in the end of the movie:

Now, we have just been talking about not necessarily wearing two pieces together just because they came that way. So what happens when we break the suit apart?

Awesome high-waisted modern shorts!

Short suits are a great way to find longer high waisted shorts! Maybe we will have to find a way to alter the blazer so you can wear that separate too :)

Dress to Collar Tie Shirt Tutorial

Matt loves to laugh at my "pioneer" dresses, his term for anything made before 2000. He thinks he is so witty and clever {and don't tell him I said this, but a lot of the time he actually is}, but "pioneer" dresses make the best projects and there are always a plethora at your nearest thrift store because...well, no one wants to look like a pioneer {or polygamist, as Matt also puts it, so kindly and politically correct}.

And speaking of pioneer dresses, here is one that I altered today, along with the tutorial for those who think it fits their style :) This alteration took about 1 hour and 30 minutes in total.

Here's what you start with...

And the prize you get in return!

So first things first:

1.  Cut the dress to make your top. Make sure you do not cut this too short, in fact, leave a little longer than desired because you are going to hem it after which will take up the length.

2.  Hem it. I also took up the sleeves because they were too long. You can choose to do this, or if you chose right, you might not have too. 

3.  Cut your collar and pocket {if you want the pocket}. This can be done with the left over fabric from the dress, or you can choose another fabric to contrast the look. That is what I chose with the stripes fabric.

The strip should be about 5 inches x 60 inches. If you would like to be able to tie it in a bow, instead of just hanging like I have, you should make it a little longer. 

4.  Fold the strip with face sides together and sew all the way down the length of the strip. 

5. Turn the strip inside out.

6.  Now fold the ends in making a slight slope so one side is longer than the other, and then sew it together. 

7.  Now you have your collar! Just iron it so it is flat and will make it easier to sew and will look nicer as your collar. 

Now the pocket:

8.  Bend the top part of the pocket down with face sides touching. 

9.  Fold it over again so that it makes a neat edge, and pin it so it stays while you sew the edges. 

10.  Turn the pocket over to the back side, bend the edges over, and sew them to make a nice and neat pocket from the front. 

11.  I sewed a button on mine, which I took from the left over part of the dress. 

12.  Then sew the pocket onto the shirt. 

13.  Now you are ready to sew the collar on. Place the face sides together and sew them together along the edge. 

Voila! You finished your very own tie collar shirt. Now you are style par with Anthro and Modcloth, congrats :)

Antique Your Own Dresser {or anything really}

So this is what I started out with. I am very grateful for the sweet lady who gave this to us for free. It just needed a little fixin up since the handles were missing, and I thought what a great project to make this really fun and brighten up our bedroom. 

So I dragged Matt to Lowe's. It is rare when a women has to drag her man to a hardware store, but we are very unconventional that way. My mom taught us girls if we wanted it done, we could do it ourselves, we didn't need a guy to do everything. Not to mention my dad is a cute computer nerd who, for the most part didn't really know what he was doing. And now I married a school nerd who is brilliant...except for anything that has to do with manual labor :) Anyway...back to the project!

First you want to sand what you are painting, especially if the original paint had a glossy texture.

Taking everything apart makes it a lot easier to sand and paint.

After you have sanded, paint everything the color of your choice. The pain I chose was from Lowe's, and is called Valspar Indoor Satin Finish; the color is Golden Avocado. {Yes, I am quite aware it is very bold}. I got the smaller container of pain that cost about 15 dollars, and it was able to finish a dresser, mirror and two large bedside tables. If that helps you know how much to get. 

Ok, after it has finished {if you want it to have an antiqued look} you can get an antiquing glaze from Lowe's as well, or probably other places, but that is where I got it. There was only 1 choice there, but it worked really well. 

You can use the instructions on the glaze, but I will tell you how I did it so you can see how easy it is.

This is how the dresser turned out with the antiquing glaze. 

You just wet an old rag so it is barely damp. Then dip the cloth into the glaze and rub it onto the surface in round sweeps to make sure you get it all over. Then you can use the part of the rag that is still damp and clean to wipe off excess if you want it to be subtle. It is all up to your tastes. 

So here is the dresser finished. You can't tell how bright the color is in this pic because I took it inside our room, but I also painted our bedside tables with the Golden Avocado, and this is an accurate picture of the yellow in this pic:

Yay! I love bright colors :) As for the handles on both the dresser and bedside tables, I got them at Hobby Lobby with my 40% coupon {I drug Matt there too to make my coupons go further. What a good sport}.

There ya go! Such an easy process...maybe not as easy on the work aspect, but definitely worth it when I got the finished project. And I was right, it did brighten up the room. 

As for the cost: The paint, cabinet paint roller, antiquing glaze and all the handles cost about 35 dollars. Not to shabby!

Comfy Skinnies Tutorial

This was a question from a wonderful reader of my other blog, and I thought this would be the best place to answer it because I have a feeling she is not the only one with this question :) 

"I was wondering if I could get your help. I am in a RUT. I found you through a Mormon Fashion Bloggers link...so I assume you are Mormon? I try to dress modestly around the house....but it is tough to have casual clothes that are knee length. Do you have any suggestions on this?"

I actually have a really great idea for this {ok, the idea came from J.Crew, but I will take the credit of being inspired by it}

{Jcrew.com}

How great are these sweatpants? Totally comfy and you can wear them lounging {and look hot}, or out on the town with some heels {and look hot}. Win win, and all around comfy. 

So here is the tutorial of how to make them:

1. Grab some sweat pants. I didn't have any that would work, so I got some at Walmart on sale. I put the sticker picture so you could see exactly what I got in case you want to go that route. 

2. Lay them out flat...

Once you finally get them flat with the inside seam perfectly lined up {the outside seam won't line up because they allow extra fabric on the back of the leg for your buttocks region}, it's time for step 3. 

3.  This is the uber easy way to do it, but it does require you to have a pair of great skinnies that you love, and that fit well. You just overlay the skinnies over the sweat pants. I had a line down the front of my sweats so I had to line mine up perfectly so the line is down the middle when they are finished. 

4. Pin along the outside of your skinnies.

Now take the skinnies off and sew along the pin line. 

5. After you have done that for both of the inside of the legs and outside, cut off the excess fabric.

Voila! Try on your new comfy and awesome pants!

Here's how mine turned out. Basically I have to say that I love them because I get to wear sweatpants, but look sexy all at the same time :) 

Now if only my legs were as skinny as the model's in the J.Crew picture...sigh...ah well, as my mama always said, "you go great birthin hips!" I will just learn to take pride in that :)

Speaking of Tie Collar Shirts

I found this awesome shirt at the thrift store just a short while ago:

It was about 5 sizes too big, but since it had great fabric and the tie I thought I should grab it. Plus, never let something that is too big stop you from getting it! One of the easiest alterations you can do is just to take something in. 

Since we are talking about taking things in, we will first talk about how I took this shirt in. All you do is turn it inside out and pin along the seam, however many inches you need taken in. Follow the seams curves so that you keep the shape of the shirt, but making it smaller. 

Follow that seam from the bottom of the shirt all the way to the end of the sleeves {because if the shirt is too big, chances are the sleeves are a little big too. These ones were}. Now because the shirt was so big originally, the sleeves were really long, still, after I sewed it in, so I just roll them up :)