Jessi's NDAD Creation

I absolutely loved this copycat by Jessi.  I'm a cardigan girl and with fall right around the corner, this piece is something that we all can make for ourselves just in time for the crisper temperatures to appear.  Here's Jessi's piece...

I stumbled across your blog a few months back and have been hooked ever since. I am an avid garage sale/thrift store junkie myself so I love seeing all the inspiration.  I was reading my Glamour magazine a few months back and saw this picture of an Anna Sui cardigan.  I love the new trend of animals on clothing, but can't spend $99 on a sweater so I took it upon myself to recreate.

I had this cardigan in my closet.  I bought it a few years ago at Target and it has a hole in the front that a strategically placed owl will cover.

Let's see how Jessi's owl cardi turns out!

I found some pink felt (since I loved the pink/navy blue combo), got out my jewels ,and raided my mother-in-law's collection.  Once I laid out the pattern, I used a rhinestone glue to set the gems and charms in place.  Once they dried, I went back and sewed them down with translucent thread.

I cut out the silhouette and glued it on the cardigan using washable fabric glue.

After the glue dried, I went back and used a silver metallic thread to add a border. Ta-Da!

I love it and it didn't cost me anything!  Thanks so much for the inspiration!

This is SO FAB, Jessi!  I am loving this and need to add this to my to-do list for fall.  The pink/navy combo is one of my favorites and this looks even better than the Anna Sui version.  Take that, $99!!

Angie & Amy's NDAD Creation

I just sorted through my closet yet again and pulled out a bunch more t-shirts to get rid of!  They would have totally come in handy for this mother/daughter duo project!  Here's Amy and Angie's story...

My daugher Amy, e-mailed me with the subject of...project!  She sure knows how to get her Momma's attention...and in the e-mail was a link to Gypsyrags, a site that takes large t-shirts and recreates them to fit the female figure.  They do some amazing things with tees, but Amy is a full-time nursing student on a really limited clothing budget.  Her ‘boy’ was taking her to the Nickelback concert the upcoming weekend and she wanted to know if I could help her alter a t-shirt to wear to the concert.  I've never done anything like that before, but I'm always up for a good challenge and with you in mind - I’ve been following you for I dunno how long - I figured I’d give it a try.

So Amy went off in search for some cute tees for us to alter.

She scored some real bargains at Plato's Closet, I think getting each shirt about $4 bucks a pop.  We grabbed a couple of coordinating fat quarters from Joann Fabrics with a 25% off total purchase coupon and got to work.

Let's see what these gals came up with!

We took in the sides of the size Large tee first...

...marked the neckline...

...and the back, where we wanted the shirt to fall as we were making it into a halter. 

Post-trim, Amy put it on to see if the snips were in a good place...

...and then we added straps and top stitching in a lime green thread to match the logo.

Here's the final pic of Amy and her 'Boy' at the concert!

The average price at Gypsyrags is $35-$45 a shirt, so for less than $6 we were able to recreate this piece.  Thanks for the inspiration!  We were on a roll after this one! 

For more on Angie (and more tees), check her out HERE!

Friday Remake: Plaid City USA

This dress blew my mind when I first saw it.  My gal KC gave it to me to play with and I really just couldn't get over the theatricality of it.  It had to have been used on a stage, right?

I loved the colors, but I mean...

Can this be salvaged from the wardrobe department of Show Boat?  Just you wait!!

I began with the lace trim first.  I used a seam ripper and went all the way around the bottom of the skirt removing all of the trim.

Look at the amazing remnants I was left with...

I went to the sleeves and removed those guys next.

With the sleeves gone, I pinned the area right at the armpit and then cut along both sides of the shoulders.  I'm making this strapless!

I pinned the rest of the front and back of the dress...

...found a few areas that were ripped on the seams and pinned those in place...

...and then grabbed some thread to begin stitching!

I stitched a new seam on the top of the dress, another hem at the bottom to secure the edges where the lace was removed from, and all the little holes that were scattered all around.

Before it was completely ready to wear, I created a little pinch and cinch action at the bust with a trusty safety pin!

From long sleeved and lacy, to sleeveless and summery!

I really couldn't love this dress any more.

I paired it with some Calvin Klein slingbacks and a vintage straw clutch with flowers that match the plaid striping.  How sweet and feminine, right?

As a redhead, this dress is complete with all the colors that I'm obsessed with wearing now, all in one spot!

It became my "tacos and margaritas" dress as I wore it out to hang with some of my fave friends over delish Mexican eats at Marix.

But before tacos and margies, I took a few more pics to document my new garment.  One shot included my version of mannequin hands...

...that I tried to recreate from the sketches on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  I think I did pretty well.

And I don't even think I need discuss this last shot, other than I really should have tried out for basketball in high school.

Have the most fantastic weekend, friends!!  xo