Day 213. 152 days and $150 left togo.

Already I love where today’s ends, just by looking at this before pic! I’ve been plagued with lots o’ collar and cuff action as of late…Day 211 was another classic example. What’s the dilly, yo?

Day 213 - Before

It’s totes an early 90s dress that if you ask me was found in the closet of a schoolteacher or that of Catherine O’Hara’s character in Home Alone.

Kevin!!!!!

So, we’re going to definitely get rid of this trim going on – first comes the sleeve trim. Instead of leaving the sleeves and seam ripping the cuffs, we’re just gonna cut the puppies in half.

Sleeves-be-gone!

After the sleeves were tweaked, next came that collar.

Really collar??

The seam ripper made an appearance, showed its sharp and shiny face and got busy. The collar came off and the entire neck was free! I stitched new seams on the sleeves as well as tacking down the ends where the collar came out (the collar edge was in between two separate layers of the black fabric, so it had come undone when the seam ripper was doing its magic.) After unbuttoning the buttons to the waist of the dress along with the addition of my dad’s fabu bamboo belt and the black slip from yesterday (see, I told you I just might wear it again), I was ready to hit the Arclight for a flick.

Day 213 - After

The lovely S & MR premiered their film they wrote and shot this fall and we all got to celebrate the completion. We wore patterned dresses…

Pattern Sandwich!

…and cocktailed at the after party.

Vino time!

Comfy dress, glass of Tempranillo, and catch up time with friends = the best way to unwind on a Tuesday night!

Day 212. 153 days and $151 left togo.

Just a little floral ditty to kick off the last Monday of June. Can we just take a moment to discuss the fact that it is almost July already? Where did this month go already? It seems like Memorial Day was last week! We do have the 4th to look forward to this weekend, and you know that I’m already getting my ensemble together

Day 212 - Before

Loved the color and fabric, but boy it was sheer.

See through!!

Definitely couldn’t get away without wearing something underneath, but that wasn’t the only issue. I didn’t like the sleeves or the neckline, so those will definitely be fixed. It’s going to look a bit more femme in no time!

I began with the neckline. I trimmed a few inches down the center to open it up a bit.

New neck!

After the trimming, I pinned down each side underneath and sewed it in place.

Going for a V

The sleeves were next. I just got rid of them completely. Was originally thinking about a mini sleeve, but opted to go completely bare. After I trimmed off the sleeves…

Goodbye sleeves

…I stitched down the edging around the armholes so the fabric wouldn’t unravel. I tossed on a black slip and grabbed a long bit of maroon ribbon to use as a belt and cinch the waist on my new ensemble.

Day 212 - After

Totally looks different now and all it took was a few easy steps to get there.

Kind of reminds me of this fab 30s sheer piece that I found on Mirror Boutique’s site.

Gorge!

Totally not afraid of the completely sheer pieces anymore – with a fab slip (mine even had a built-in bra!) it was like the dress came properly lined. I may just be slipping it again tomorrow!

Day 211. 154 days and $152 left togo.

Sunday’s stitching went much better than Saturday’s…no injuries on the board! Woo hoo! Finger is still working It’s all bandaged up and being given the utmost TLC. I treated it to some Swiss chocolate with hazelnuts which made it very, very happy!

Today’s piece was pretty pilgram-y when I found it, but those gold-rimmed pearl buttons were just delish.

Day 211 - Before

All the white trim business going on needed to be handled, but this one was definitely salvageable. The sleeves came off first.

Going sleeveless!

Then the second half of the dress came off.

Going bottomless!

And then it looked like this.

We're getting there...

I decided to go in the strapless top direction which meant I had to get rid of that atrosh collar.

No more ring around the collar!

Now there was just a square bit of material left over. I gave the bottom of my new top a new hem and a clean top seam to get rid of the raw edges and then took it in from the back. I gathered the amount of fabric that I had to get rid of and I sewed a vertical seam in the back of the top to make it really fit.

Sewing new seams on my new strapless top!

I cut the excess fabric and almost had a new tube topper.

Trimming!

The last bit of detail was adding the white belt that I crafted and used on Day 167 to give my new tuber a little extra bit of sass. Feels super nautical now and the only thing I’m missing is a yacht.

Day 211 - After

It was a hot day so the extra exposure was perfection. Because of my finger, I had lunch made for me and margaritas mixed too! The best way to spend the Sunday. Ooh, and I totally wore this into the evening because of the heat.

Red eyes to match the red brake lights

It doesn’t look any different at night, but I totally look like a little demon in this shot, so I had to include.

And another week begins…

PS, thanks for all the well wishes on my finger too! Made my day reading everyone’s comments and it’s amazing that I’m not the only one!! I mean it totally sucks, but you feel me…I appreciate all the advice/concern/commiseration. My tetanus shot was taken December of 2007, when I sliced my finger last, so we’re all good in the shot department! Will post pics as soon as they’re not too icky. Lots of love friends!!

Day 210. 155 days and $153 left togo.

Okey dokes. Before we get into the post, I’m going to let you know that I injured myself today while sewing. Yes, I’ve had many battle wounds along the way…leaving pins in my completed pieces which jab and stick at the worst (and unexpected) times, tiny burns from ironing-on, pokes from the seam ripper on my fingers…but nothing like today’s sitch. I legitimately sewed through my finger with my machine. I know. Absolutely ridiculous. The even more ridiculous part is that I am (and was when it happened) feeling alright – I had more pain when I sliced my finger cutting butternut squash a few years back that brought me to the ER the next day after severe throbbing. Tonight’s event, as shocking as it sounds, was way more mild. Anyhoo, we’ll get to that in a sec. And, I did actually finish my piece, so I will show you it all and how it all went down…

Day 210 - Before

Love, love, loved this fabric when I saw it. It was made of such a soft and luxe material that I needed to grab it before anyone else was able to take it from me. Issue one was the size. Issue two was the clown neck.

I got to seam ripping the accordion-y/pleated material that was around the neck area. It was random and just didn’t make any sense, so I took it off.

Gettin rid of that fouffy material!

The next step was taking off the patterned panel at the bottom of the dress. I was going to make it shorter, but this panel was on a seam, so it was easy to just remove. Plus I was going to use it as a belt, which would cinch and ultimately bring it up a bit higher.

Goodbye (for now) trim!

Next step was when my injury occurred. Unforch I don’t have any pics sewing the new neck and taking it in, but I do have a pic of the broken needle after it went through my index finger. That little piece at the bottom was stuck in my finger and I had to pull it out, with thread still attached. I know gross, right, but it’s shocking how not horrified I was and how I was rather cool, calm and collected.

The weapon!

I cringe during House, so I was beyond surprised I didn’t keel over. In my hurrying to get the piece ready for DR’s birthday party, I wasn’t paying attention or being cautious which led to this finger issue. Friends, please be safe and use me as an example of safety! No need to rush…ever. I was bleeding on the pad of my finger as well as my nail, so my first instinct was to clean up the blood and bandage up, which I did. Check out the band aid action…

Bandaged wound

It looked just like ET’s finger, no joke. I used two of the knuckled styled ones to patch up my wound.

ET Phone Home

You can imagine how difficult it is to type for me, especially when I’m used to using all my fingers on my computer and at least three fingers on my Blackberry (yeah, I have a super weird typing style on my nerd machine).

There was no real throbbing (which I had felt in my last finger issue), I didn’t hit a nerve, and there was no pain either which led me to catch my breath, call my parents to make sure I didn’t need my finger amputated, and continue on with my night. I will tell you that if something felt bad or weird, I would have most definitely hit up the ER at Cedars Sinai, but it seemed alright. However, I will definitely go at the first sign of uncomfort

After all my sewing dramatics, I ended up with this…

Day 210 - After

I think it came out quite well considering…

I enjoyed my water, the M&M’s that were there to snack on, and people watching with SPR and MY.

Enjoying the scenery!

Felt like a regular eve until I realized that just a few hours prior, I was acting like Dr. Grey as I extracted a half-broken needle from my finger.

Finger Lickin' Good

Seriously?? Seriously??

I can just see my Olive (as in Oyl) nickname making a comeback. Klutzy McGee Marisa does it again!