Refashioning

I enjoy refashioning for a number of reasons. First, I just enjoy the thrill of a good bargain. Second, I enjoy the lack of pressure when fooling around with a Salvation Army purchase. If I ruin it, I haven't just spent a ton of money on it. Third, I like limiting my carbon foot print. That's tied up a lot with my faith. I think God put the world's resources on the earth for all of us, so I try not to use more than my share. The less I buy and the less I strive for material success, the more I look at God's gifts to me with thankfulness. I haven't purchased a piece of clothing for myself, other than stuff like bras, socks, and underwear, in a store in, I don't know, seven or eight years. Oh wait, there were two brides maid's dresses. That almost killed me both times, since not only did I buy the $200 polyester dresses, but I took them apart, altered them, and put in Bemberg linings. I could have had silk dresses for way less money and less work. (Lately I've been thinking of ways to refashion them.)

I feel so blessed by all God has given me that clothes from a store just seem unnecessary. By not buying clothes I get a fun hobby and a faith in action. It's a win/win.

I bought this dress for maybe four or five dollars. I loved it in the store and had a plan to refashion it. It was going to be quite a transformation, but after a few months, I couldn't remember my plan. I could not, for the life of me, remember what I saw in this dress. I'm standing there with my arms up to show the low armscyes. Man, I hate that. Plus sizes cut low armscyes to make up for bad fit. I just hate it. I'm fat. Do I need my armpits to show, too?

Notice how big it is? That's because it was dry clean only, and I planned to wash it. It's 100% rayon, but it didn't shrink one bit. I feel bad for whoever was dry cleaning it!


It had this bizarre double tail thing in the back. It looked weird left hanging, and it looked cute but was uncomfortable sitting when tied. I lost interest in my forgotten plan and made it into a skirt. I used my TNT skirt pattern, Simplicity 8001 (OOP).

I hung onto the scraps. If I find a nice cream colored sweater at the Salvation Army, I might try sewing a collar onto it to go with this. I haven't sewed much with sweaters, but I've been wanting to try. Seems like a project that might pay off.