Take that, J. Crew!

If you know me, you know I'm frugal to a fault.  Most things I will not consider purchasing if they're not on sale.  Even if they are on sale, I need to feel like I'm getting an excellent deal.  Unless it's something I absolutely need, of course.

This sweater from J. Crew is not something I need.

I especially don't need it for the $88 they're asking for it.  It's sold out, anyhow.

This is one of those things that I saw and immediately thought, "I could make that!"  So that's exactly what I did.  For $1.25, I made my version of this sweater.

I started with this sweater.

I bought it at a thrift store for $1.25.  

Then I used one of my husband's old t-shirts to cut out a heart.

I pinned the heart to the front of the sweater and sewed around the edges.  The whole process took about 15 minutes.

That was it!  Once again, really simple and totally worth the effort.  

You should try!

As promised

The remainder of the better sweater.

Everything is pretty straightforward and simple.  For the boot socks (really, leg warmers) I just measured my leg and cut two pieces from the sweater.

Then I sewed the individual pieces lengthwise and did a zig zag stitch along the bottom so it doesn't fray.

I finally had an opportunity to wear them on Sunday.  It wasn't necessarily cold, but it was cooler AND it was windy so that drops the temperature a little.  Either way, I just needed an excuse to wear these things.  Before we left for church, my husband said "Aren't your legs hot?  Are you itchy?"  Absolutely not!  

As evidenced by these pictures, I was perfectly comfortable and happy to be wearing my new boot socks.

On to the next!

The mittens were quite simple as well.  I used a folded piece of fabric and cut along the side of it so that part of the work was already done.  I just cut around my hand, leaving room to sew.

Then, like the others, I sewed along the seam and turned them right side out.

I'm not sure how one displays mittens for a picture.  I tried a couple of awkward poses and landed on this picture of my mittened hand against the wall.

Now, mittens are not terribly functional, so I imagine myself wearing them for about five minutes and taking them off in frustration because I can't scratch my nose/ open a door/ eat a sandwich.  They're still fun to have though. And it probably took about 10 minutes to make them so, why not!?  

I hope you all have enjoyed learning how to make awesome stuff out of a sweater.  Now go do it!

Things don't always go as planned

A friend gave me a bag of clothes quite a few months back.  When I saw this sweater, I knew something cool would come out of it, but I wasn't quite sure what that would be.

It was obviously much too large to stay a sweater so I started trying different things.  I imagined making a skirt but my hips chose otherwise.  I wish I'd remembered that when I decided to make it into a dress/ jumper.

It was quite possibly the most unflattering piece of clothing I've ever made for myself.

On to plan B...

How about a nice, knit hat!?

I started by using another knit hat that fits my head well.  I cut around the hat, leaving room for the seam.

Good thing I had my furry helper to supervise.

Then I sewed the two pieces together with the right sides facing one another.  I turned it right-side-out and removed the three flowers from the sweater; adding them to the hat.

These results were way, way better.  I love this new hat and can't wait for an opportunity to wear it outside.  Unfortunately, the daytime temperature hasn't been below 70 degrees in about three weeks!  What month is it, for goodness sake!?

I also made some mittens and boot socks from this lovely sweater-dress gone wrong.  I'll be sure to post again soon to show you those cozy things.

Best of 2011

Everybody else is doing it, so why shouldn't I?!

I'd like to present to you the top 11 posts of 2011.

(Where did the time go???)

In January, I turned a couple of leftover pockets into a heart-shaped pillow.

In March, I thrifted an old picture frame and turned it into a hanging display for my earrings.

In May, I embellished three tank tops for myself and my girlfriends to wear to a Prince concert!  We had so much fun and I'm pretty sure our tank tops had something to do with it ;)

During the same month, I also made a few adjustments on one of my favorite thrifted dresses ever.

In July, I turned a men's dress shirt into this fun little dress.

In August, I was very busy! I have three favorites from the month of August.  First, I rolled out my Etsy Shop.

Then, I thrifted and refashioned this work outfit.

Finally, I made a fun summer dress out of an old-lady dress.

Actually, I think I did all of those things in the opposite order, but oh well.

In October, I made you all jealous by showing you the amazing chair I thrifted for $15!

In November, I made a frumpy old sweater into a hip, happenin' sweater.

And finally, in December, I had a happy accident and dyed a pair of jeans pink.

Thank you all so much for reading my blog.  This hobby of mine is way to fun not to share, so I truly appreciate that you all are interested.  I hope and pray that the new year brings joy for all of you.

Operation: Christmas Pants

It's been a month since I blogged.  Holy moly.  Well, it's certainly been an eventful month, to say the very least.  Some stressful things, some amazing things, some very sad things.  All in all, this has been an extremely difficult year.  However; I still stand firm in the truth that God is good.  As crazy as it seems sometimes, I think I believe it more now than I ever have before.  God is really, really good. 

Now let's switch gears a bit.  You've all seen those really adorable red, skinny jeans, right?  They're everywhere lately.  I love them.  I wanted some.  So I decided to make some for my Christmas Eve outfit.

I started with this pair of black jeans.

I got them a couple of years ago at the Banana Republic outlet store.  They're great jeans but they faded so quickly.  They'd started to look old.  The bad kind of old, not the worn-in-and-perfect kind of old.  

I put the pants in the sink with warm water and a lot of bleach.

I know. It looks gross.

I had to bleach them twice, and after the second time they became this really cool color of gray.

I considered leaving them gray but remembered how I wanted red pants way more than I wanted gray pants.  So, I proceeded to dye them.

After running them through a rinse cycle in the washing machine, I started the dyeing process with scarlet-colored Rit Dye.

I thought I was sure to get some seriously red pants using Scarlet.  I was absolutely wrong.  I got pink pants.  Actually, they're more of a salmon color.  And you know what...I love it!  I totally owned these salmon-colored Christmas pants.

Lucky me!  I want to wear them everyday, but I'm sure I'll get tired if them if I do that so I'll space it out for now.  Maybe once a week.

I also wanted to thrown in a picture of my trusty side-kick, just in case you forgot how cute he is.

Merry Christmas, friends!  A few days late, but I'm sure you'll forgive me :)

T-Shirt

I took my husband's old t-shirt

used this tutorial

and created this shirt:

I love it!  It was quick, simple, and cute.  Once I finished the first, I immediately made another.  Way fun.  Try it!

Big, black dress.

That's all it was when I bought it for $1.25 at the local thrift store.  That's also what drew me to the dress.

Big: No problem.  When has that ever stopped me?

Black: Perfect!  That means there are a million accessory possibilities.

Dress: Well, dresses are my favorite thing :)

I love that it's got texture, too.

I got to work by taking in the bodice, arm pits, and arms.

Then I took off a foot of length from the skirt with the help of my fashion consultant.

Now that it's finished, I can imagine myself wearing this dress lots and lots this winter.

Like I said, the accessory possibilities are endless!  I could wear it with legging or tights, with a coat or a sweater, or just a colorful scarf.