ladylike lace skirt

I found this lacy shirt at my local Goodwill Clearance Center on half-off day--that's $0.65 per pound.  I love finding lightweight pieces like this and dropping them into my bin thinking, "This probably only costs $0.10!"

I liked it as a shirt, but I am queen of lacy shirts, and I wanted the challenge, so I decided it needed to become a skirt.  The only problem is that it is totally see-through and I've never made a lining before.

Enter these satin pajamas.  They felt delicious.  And again, I was certain they would only be $0.10 since it was half-off day.  At the time I threw them into my bin I had no idea what they would be, but today they were reincarnated into the lining.

I started by ripping all of the seams out of the pajamas to separate and open up the legs.  Then I hacked off the bottom portion of the shirt right under the armpits.  (I will definitely be making that top into something soon!).

I turned the bottom half of the shirt inside out and sandwiched it with the fabric from a pajama pant leg on either side, with the right sides facing together.  Then I pinned down the sides to fit my curves.  This is when I had a stroke of logic, unpinned the pieces and hemmed the bottom of the satin fabric (the bottom of my lace was already hemmed because it was the bottom piece of the shirt).  Then I repinned, tried it on, adjusted my pins, and sewed a seam up the sides.

 Just to be extra safe, I sewed an extra zigzag stitch outside my straight seam, then cut the extra fabric with my pinking shears.  I did the same thing with the extra fabric at the top of the skirt.

I needed to add a waistband to my skirt, but this was all I had left from my pajama pants.  I had to cut and sew three strips together to make a piece of bias tape for the waistband.

Next I pinned and sewed the satin pajama bias tape over the top of the skirt, leaving a small opening in the back.  I took some elastic from another skirt I fixed up and threaded it through the tube I created with the bias tape.  The last step is to sew the elastic together and the open pieces of the bias tape together.  And VOILA!

i'm boycotting new clothes!

For one year, my goal is to not buy any new clothes.  Instead, I'm going to build my wardrobe entirely on thrifted or handmade pieces.  And I'm going to look hot doing it.

Here's why:

1.  I want the challenge of working hard for my clothes, feeling the pride in how I dress myself.  I've been stuck in the same boring jeans and tshirt forever.  I wear boring, safe colors and very few patterns.  It's time to find fun new clothes, take chances, and get out of the boring box.  I want them to represent who I am.  And I don't want people to think I came from the boring box.

2.  I want to reduce the clothing waste in the landfills.  Do you ever think about what happens to the clothes that no one buys from your thrift store?  They get squished into a huge clothing cube on a pallet, shipped to my clearance center, dumped in big rolly bins for people to sort through, and sold for $1.29/pound.  And when no one buys the clothes at the bottom of those bins, they get sent to the landfill.  Why buy new clothes when there are so many awesome pieces that can be bought for $1.29 a pound?

3.  I want to improve my sewing skills.  I'm starting this project with a basic understanding of my sewing machine.  And by basic understanding, I mean I can basically only sew straight lines.  Hems and curtains.  Through refashioning my thrifted finds, I want to learn how to sew, so I can eventually sew new pieces from scratch (from recycled materials, of course!).

I'm doing all of this with my sweet little sidekick, Olive Ant.  She's the cutest cat, even if she is anti-helpful with sewing.