Christina's NDAD Creation

When I saw Christina's piece, it brought me back to days when I used to have ballet class multiple times a week.  You'll see what I mean after the jump!

I've loved your blog since I was introduced to it through Yahoo, and have been a faithful follower since that fateful and glorious day.  I've redone a lot of things, but never usually got good before pictures, until I finally figured out the best place to balance my camera (namely, on the flower box on our porch)!  Here's my first properly documented project for you - I got this sweater from Goodwill for a couple of bucks, and I loved its cozy, baggy, sparkly essence, but wanted to jazz it up a bit.

Time to see "All That Jazz" brought to the table by Christina!  (Yeah, yeah, I can't avoid a good Chicago tie in.)

I wasn't overly fond of the deep v-neck, and I put it on backwards once by accident, and fell in love.  From there, it was just a few hours of sewing on ribbons, which I did by hand...

...a little bit of tucking in places, and tada!  I love the feeling of it, very much like a cover-up for ballet practice or something. 

Thanks for the inspiration, Marisa!  You're fabulous."

You're fabulous Christina!!  I have to say I always had the knit cover-ups that I wore in class to stay warm, and this would have been something I would have coveted.  It's totally dance-apropos and reminds me of lacing up my point shoes with ribbon around the ankles!

I'm so glad you shared this with us, Christina!  I also love how you're in fifth position in the last photo too!!  Can't wait to see the next piece, now that you've got a clutch spot for your camera!

Skye's NDAD Creation

Skye sent me this piece and I loved what she did with it.  It's actually something I need to do with a bunch of the shirts that I have in my collection!

This crazy green and houndstooth top I got from Ragstock in Madtown, WI many moons ago is hands down the one piece that I have the most fun wearing. I do a lot of recreating from op shop and vintage finds, but this is one purchased item I keep coming back to.

I paid $5 for this dress - I live in Melbourne, AU where vintage and thrift stores charge pretty high prices - and I got it because I loved the crazy cameo disco print.  I'm a bit of a sucker for weird prints and LOVE cameos, however the fabric had a bunch of runs and holes in it in different places and was essentially a homemade muumuu.

What does Skye have up her sleeve??

At the same sale I picked up this super cute orange vest and loved the stripes at the waist (I've been on a bit of a vest kick this winter in Melbourne, our weather is particularly suited to them) but it was also $5 so we're at a total of $10 now.

The first time I wore the vest I noticed it had some moth bites at one hip so the first step was to stitch them up, I took some plum coloured thread and stitched up the holes!

I unpicked all the seams on the dress and cut the fabric into the pieces I thought were usable (with no runs or holes). I was musing over this when my fabulous husband suggested I join the vest and dress fabric to recreate my fave green top! The original is this really weird mix of blouse and vest that you just wouldn't think to put together, the red and white stripes in the V neck don't really go with the orange and brown on the sleeves or collar but somehow it all just works. 

So I used my original green top as a template and cut out sleeves, collars, neck inset and facings and got to work. The best luck was that the straps of the dress were the perfect width to use for the cuffs! 

The first step was to make the sleeves and inset them to the vest armholes, a little tricky as the vest is knitted and stretches a bit when worn, so I built a little 'give' into those seams and used a straight stitch on 2 for extra flex.  I created the 'top of shirt' insert for the neckline and sewed together the collars then pinned and sewed as with the sleeves.

Once all of that was together all that was required were cuffs and buttons. I searched my extensive button collection but couldn't quite find something snazzy enough so headed off to the haberdashery section and picked up some 'nanna' buttons in the perfectly matched peach colour (approx $2).  The photo may not show it but they have little iridescent sqaures in them which repeat the square pattern in the dress fabric I used for sleeves. 

I was very pleased with the result and wore it out that night to hubby's band gig (check out his band HERE!)  at a local pub and then to an after bar at a friend's house where it is reported I had a lot of fun on the dance floor ;) I'd like to think it's all thanks to my fab new top!

Thanks for the continued inspiration Marisa!  I was put on to your site by a dear friend almost a year ago and have loved watching you save so many incredible clothes.  Congratulations on a truly imaginative project and I wish you all the very best with your book launch.  if you ever come to Melbourne you should totally let me know, I'd be thrilled to show you around my city :)

Skye, thank you so much for sharing your creativity with us!  It's amazing that you took something you loved and made another version of it with pieces that you thrifted.  That's the best thing ever - I hope you wear this one out because it's simply amazing!  And, PS, I can't wait to come to Melbourne.  You just opened a can of worms with that offer!!

Thank Goodwill It's Friday!

So here's what I looked like on Wednesday evening after the book party got called off because of the weather!  I did heed Mayor Bloomberg's words by staying inside, but I had to document what was going on!

Snow!!  Rain!!  Winds!!  It was totally insane how quickly the storm rolled through and of course, I wasn't prepared with the right shoes or even the right warm coat!  I was able to borrow an umbrella though...saved me from getting completely saturated!

This is what I was going to wear to the event...

...a super fun, quilted skirt that I made right before I left LA.  Here were my steps...

I began by cutting off close to a foot of material from the bottom!  I was in LOVE with the quilted fabric and can't wait to reuse.  I'm thinking covering a clutch or making a kindle case?

I was left with this piece that belongs in a doggie bag...

...and then pinned the new hem in place!

I stitched down the edges and had a brand new skirt ready for a party that didn't take place.  It worked out for the best because I would have been worried the whole night about safety!!  Didn't want people to be in harm's way at all, so we'll just reschedule!

I did head to Boston this afternoon and upon arriving realized the clothes that I brought just weren't going to work without a few more layers included.  I made a trip to one of my favorite places...Goodwill!

I'm putting together full outfits from my Goodwill score to keep me warm during these cold temperatures this weekend!  Sweaters, check!  A wool coat for $8, check!  Jeans, because I only brought dresses with me from NY to Boston, check!

I'm hoping to see all my Boston and Boston-adj friends out at the event this Saturday night!  Decorations are getting put together as we speak and it's going to be a very fun time!!

BOSTON – SATURDAY, 11/10

New Dress a Day Book Signing + DIY Party (with treats!) 6-8 pm  40 BERKELEY 40 Berkeley Street | Boston | MA 02116

Since the NYC signing event got cancelled, we set up a little meet & greet on Long Island this Monday (WOO!!), 11/12 in Bay Shore (my hometown!!)  I will be rescheduling NYC in the new year!  Oh, and my mom just surprised me that she's flying out for that one, so she'll be in tow too!!

LONG ISLAND (BAY SHORE) –MONDAY, 11/12

New Dress a Day Book Signing + vintage consultation 6-8 pm Barnes & Noble 842 Sunrise Hwy | Bay Shore | NY 11706

Also, the next event right after Long Island will be a stop in Phoenix next Saturday, 11/17.  I'm taking a little LA-PHX road trip after the East Coast and will probably leave those sweaters I just purchased at home.

PHOENIX – Saturday, 11/17

New Dress a Day Book Signing + Meet & Greet  (with treats!) 4pm CHANGING HANDS BOOKSTORE 6428 South McClintock Drive | Tempe | AZ 85283

Shoot RSVP's my way to newdressRSVP@gmail.com if you can make it - can't wait to meet you guys!!