My Mother's Attic: March

Here's this month's installment of My Mother's Attic with my girl Ashley!  I'm just LOVING the piece she scored from her mom's closet and cannot get over how it turned out.  Check it out...

It's only JUST beginning to feel like spring here in Vermont, but that hasn't stopped me from dreaming about warmer, sunnier days, and the glorious spring outfits that accompany the change in season.  Heck, I'll rock flip flops and a sundress if it hits 50 degrees.  (OH PLEASE LET IT HIT 50 DEGREES!)  I'm positively obsessed with the fabric and pattern of this vintage dress of my mom's.

It was a gift from my Grammy to my mother back in the 70s when my mom had just graduated from college and was a young schoolteacher.  It's a Pierre Deux piece (a fabric and furnishings company known for its quintessential Southern French textiles that sadly closed its doors in 2011).  The dress has that characteristic pattern of country French living.  Totally swoon-worthy.

Unfortunately, I couldn't button that crazy neckline or the cuffs of the sleeves, and it was speckled with some holes and stains to boot.  It hadn't been worn in years and it was definitely time to change that.

To spread the wealth, I decided to make TWO garments out of the one dress.  I ripped the seam of the lower half of the dress and used that bottom fabric to make a simple skirt for my almost-4 year old to wear all spring and summer.

I followed a tutorial by Dana Made It which is perfect for a newbie sewer like myself.  I then cut the cuffs off the end of the sleeves...

...and used those to create pockets on the skirt.  I like that they showcase the beautiful fabric buttons from the original dress.

With the top part of the dress, I cut the neckline and hemmed a v-neck which was more comfortable and fit my size and style.  I also cropped the sleeves and re-hemmed to make a short-sleeved top and added two buttons to the top so that I wouldn't risk flashing the public when I ventured out in the ensemble.

Once I was done, I had a spring top to compliment my oldest daughter's new skirt.

Matching, but not too over-the-top.

We had fun running around our farm property snapping pictures of our new looks.

Granted, there's still snow on the ground and it was a rather brisk afternoon - so we'll have the wait a bit to really rock these looks together. They'll be perfect when the spring weather really sets in.

See you next month, preferably with no lingering snow!

To keep up with Ash online, find her over at Blog a la Cart and here onTwitter, Instagram, & FB!

Thursday Giveaway!

How is everyone's week going so far?  How are my snowed in friends doing??  Is it feeling like spring yet?? In honor of those spring breakers (*I'm not talking about the movie, however did anyone see it?) and those who want to be on vacation somewhere (me!!) I'm giving away something tied in to just that.  Up for grabs is a Kimchi Blue woven wallety-clutch with Paris embroidered on the front of it.

I've been dreaming of Paris lately and thought this would be something fun to enjoy no matter where you are!  I love the little leathery tassel too.  (Oh and just to see the size of the clutch, check out the pic below as I hold it towards my ceiling.  My mini chandelier says bon jour!)

To enter, leave a comment of a place you've been dreaming of going to lately.  Maybe it's Paris, maybe it's NY, maybe it's a trip to the spa, or maybe it's just an afternoon by yourself with a cup of coffee and a good book at the park.  A winner will get randomly chosen next week!  (PS, the past few giveaway winners will be announced later today along with two potential Easter outfit before shots that I need help with deciding on - stay tuned!!)

Wednesday Remake

As much as I loved the knit of this piece, I even questioned my one dollar purchase.

The amount of holes were astonishing!

The size of the holes were astonishing as well!

This was going to be a little game of "will this purchase really turn out a'ight?"  Who wants to play??

To start off, I decided to dye this piece!  There were some discolored areas that needed a bit of TLC so I added this into a hot water dye bath with some RIT Dye and it went from ivory to this lovely shade of blue...

After dyeing, my next tweak was to trim off the skirt part of the dress right where the big hole started!

With the bottom cut, I began to pin all the newly trimmed edges under...

...before stitching the edges.  I went around the bottom of the piece a few times just to secure the knit.

It was time to work out the top of the piece next.  Because of the multiple smaller holes that were in full effect, I first thought I'd go the asymmetrical route.  After playing around with the piece and seeing that my first idea might not work completely well, I decided that I'd try to mend the holes by sewing each edge together.  Guess what??  It worked like a charm!

I stitched up all the holes and had a brand new top ready to be paired with my grey jeans!!

The sweater is pretty sheer, so I added a grey tank underneath as well as a pair of blue Roxy heels, a vintage floral purse, and some floral rimmed sunnies from Urban Outfitters!

Even I was impressed with the outcome!!

I knew I'd make it work, but I just wasn't completely confident on this one.  I think the massive amounts of hole-age really started to give me some doubts.

I prevailed, yippee!!  Plus it just added to my spring fever, with all the floral touches!  I still have the leftover skirt to work with...I'll keep you posted how that turns out.