Flower Power

It's a really lame title, but titles are tough.

So I got this beautiful dress a couple of weeks ago for $3.00 at a thrift store.  It was actually during the same trip where I had foil on my head.

It's a little bit Blossom.  Imagine me wearing a denim hat with a big, fake daisy on the front.  Pretty sweet, right?

I started by removing the sleeves.

Then I hemmed the raw edge and took in the sides a little bit.  That actually didn't create as much shaped as I thought so I created a couple of darts in the front, as well.

After I was done with all the bodice work, I cut almost a foot off the bottom.  I was tired at this point, and because this fabric doesn't fray, I just left the edge raw.  I may hem it later so it doesn't start to curl up, but for now it's fine.

Now the dress is way fun!  It makes me do lots of dance-y poses.

In the last picture I was falling forward, but I think it's a good shot of the dress, so I decided to let you see.

I also get really excited when I can wear those mint colored shoes. 

I wore my new dress on Saturday for a little BBQ with friends.  It was perfect for the 100 degree weather we had that day, which came after the previous weekend when it was in the 50s and hailing.  So strange.

Almost forgot!

My blog was featured over at Green Issues by Agy.  

Check it out!

Potato Sack Pillow

You all know burlap is kind of a big deal right now.  People are putting burlap on everything.  Which is totally cool with me; I like burlap.  It's so earthy and full of texture.  

While I was shopping at my favorite produce stand a few weeks ago, I spotted some burlap up on a shelf.  It turned out there was a pile of potato sacks for sale.  Score!  Cheap burlap with added print and color.

I bought one sack for $2.99.  When I got home a threw my burlap on the floor of my craft room/sewing room/ office and totally forgot about it.  Then one day a naked pillow form was staring me in the face, begging to be covered.  So, I obliged.

I folded the potato sack in half before I started stitching.  That way the pillow cover is double-layered and you can't see any of the white pillow form.  

I didn't use the sewing machine at all.  I pushed the pillow down into the bottom corner of the potato sack so that half the stitching was already done.  Then I cut around the excess material, folded over the edges, and used hemp to stitch it all together.

You can see in the back it's a little ragged.  I already know of a couple of things I'd like to do differently next time, but this one turned out nicely, in my opinion.

It's a perfect compliment to my favorite chair.

So, if you like burlap and/or you like contests, check out these two sites where you can buy or win some burlap.

http://www.adventuresindressmaking.com/2012/04/burlap-fabric-contest-giveaway.html

burlapfabric.com 

Another blue muu muu

I got this dress yesterday at a thrift store half-price sale (one of my favorite things).  It cost $3.  It also cost me a little dignity.  I was getting my hair done at the salon next door and it just so happens that my hair dresser is one of my closest friends.  Somehow she convinced me to go to the thrift store while my color was processing.  This means I was walking around with foil in my hair and a plastic bag over my head.  Oh yeah, and a towel around my shoulders. I'm going to go ahead and say the strange looks I received were worth what I got with this little number.  Look at the pretty colors!

No, I did not gain 50 lbs. since the last time you saw me.  The dress just managed to have that super poofy effect that many muu muus were designed for.  I'm pretty sure the creator of muu muus didn't want anyone to know that the wearer bears any sort of female figure.

The colors drew me in but the details sold me.  

To give this dress the shape it needed I had to make a few more adjustments than I expected.  I actually started with some serious pleats on the back of the dress.  You know, to get rid of some of that poof we were talking about.

I took in the sides quite a bit and took off a few inches of length.  I hemmed to skirt up to just below the detail at the bottom.  

This dress really just wouldn't work without a belt so I brought out an oldie but goodie.  If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know this belt well.  It just goes with everything!

Now that it's warming up, I can actually work on more of these cute little dresses.  Dresses really are my favorite.

You might notice in the pictures that the sleeves are gone.  I didn't remove them.  I just tucked them under.  That way I have options.

Boy do I love the detail on this dress.

Thanks for stopping by friends.  I hope you all are enjoying warmer weather as well!