Week 13: Kira's NDAD Creation

Today's remake was one I thought was fab!  I have like three makeup bags - all freebies from Clinique's gift with purchase thanks to my mom - but this one that Kira did was just plain awesome! "Hi Marisa,

I'm so inspired by your fantastic creations.  I needed a makeup bag in a pinch the other day, didn't have money to buy one and decided to create my own bag from an old shirt I was getting rid of.  The bag turned out surprisingly well, looks sort of vintage/bohemian and and I wanted to share my creation with you!

It was an easy bag to make because the neck of the shirt was ruched...

I used the ruching for the bag opening and cut a circle shape for the bag itself. I simply sewed the one edge seam together and added some ties made from the hem of the shirt.  The hem I cut off with about 1 inch extra material, folded over, sewed, and turned inside out.  

I cut the sewn hem in half, tied one raw end of each tie and then sewed the opposite ends to the bag.  I accidentally put the "wrong" side of the ruching out on one side of the bag, but it actually looks like it is supposed to be reversible!  Sometimes accidents in sewing are happy ones. :)  The nice thing about my bag is that it's jersey knit, with the benefits of being extra stretchy and washable!"

Kira, what a fun way to transform that shirt!  I'm loving this and can't wait to try my hand at one of these!!  Thanks for sharing!

Week 14: Melanie Part II

She's Baaaaaaack!! Hello sweater dress part II!  Refresher of the before...

Refresher of what it turned out looking like...

Refresher of what I was left with...

It's skirt time!!

I took that leftover sweater material and grabbed some elastic.  (For this, I'm using 3/4".)  I measured the elastic around my hips (the area that I want the skirt to sit) and made a mark at that point.

Taking the top raw edge of the material, I folded it over and began to pin the elastic in place under the sweater material.

Once it was pinned, I began to stitch.  I started at one end and went around the material leaving a few inches undone.

This could have been just as easily done without the elastic in place - the sweater could have been stitched and the elastic could have been added after sewing.  I went this route to make sure the edge was stitched as close as possible as well keeping my clumsiness at bay, aka stitching gone awol!  I stitched the elastic together at my marking...

...and then stitched down the last few inches that were left open.  But, that's not all!!!

I found some awesome trim at the fabric store...

...and decided to add this at the bottom of the skirt for a little more flair!

Upon completion, we were working with this...

Some close up skirt action...

It was like I was wearing a blanket!  Paired with my cozy thermal top, opaque tights, and boots, I had a cute ensemble that was equally as warm for a night out with some of my favorite people!  We were inside a theater for most of night, but as soon as we walked outside, it was jacket time.

I even got a glimpse of one of my style girl crushes, Kate Hudson, in a strapless jumpsuit!  I'm not sure if I could pull it off, but she did it in style.  I might have to have a go at that one!

Thanks again Melanie for the great sweater!!

Week 14: Melanie

Miss Melanie sent over this most fabulous piece from Boca.  I absolutely loved the short, yet sweet note: "Two words - sweater dress.  Two more words - shoulder pads.  Sorry, but I just couldn't resist!  Make it work, Mel :)"

It felt very Mona from Who's The Boss...

...but I really can't get away with wearing it as is!!

I started off with some trimming!

I cut the dress in half!!  Leaving about 18 inches below the trim (working on an easy skirt with the leftovers) I decided to keep this a festive sweater.  The striped sleeves were awesome and I couldn't have been more obsessed with the rhinestones around the neck.

In true 80s fashion, there were shoulder pads!!  Shoulder pads in sweaters, why not.  I think that was the thought coming from the Pierre Cardin and Esprit headquarters in 1983.  "When in doubt, shoulder pad it out!!"  (Yeah, I totally would have been on payroll back then if I wasn't three years old...these taglines would have been my goldmine!!)

Because of not wanting the mohair to shed and fray, I quickly stitched around the bottom edge to avoid potential disaster.  There's a chance that I would have left a trail of purple sheddings if I hadn't stitched.

Just a simple adjustment to make this piece workable for today!  I was totally into the sleeves, and liked the billowy, ok well billowy for a sweater, nature.

If I wasn't so attached to the neck stones...

...I would have adjusted the neckline.  Luckily for me, I was off to see two of my favorite children in life (and their equally amazing parents) and they don't judge - tweaked or untweaked neck, they still show the love!!

I was given an awesome dance performance and was schooled in some iPhone app games.  With a 26 year age difference between us, they probably text faster than me and are the duo between "tianarox" who kicks my tush in Words With Friends games.

You can see my shoes above, tossed off to the side...  That was right after this happened:

Elmo pj pants with size nine flats - classic combination!!  This could be the newest trend, thanks to Lil' A :)

The rest of the sweater will be tackled tomorrow.  Knit skirt for a chillier Southern California January day, check!!  Thank you Mel for the sweater dress of fabulousness!!