Remake: Floral Romper from Maggie's Thrift

Today's piece was sent my way by the lovely Sarah who manages Maggie's Thrift in Phoenix, AZ.  I loved the print, but loved what Maggie's Thrift supports even more. Here's what Sarah sent...

I have been following your blog for over a year and have been so excited for your success.  Your down to earth, overly budget friendly, and fun projects are just the thing women need in their lives.  I currently manage Maggie's Thrift in Phoenix. I enjoy finding fun outfits that I can recreate or that I can help a customer imagine recreating.  Maggie's Thrift also serves as a job training program for its main agency Maggie's Place which offers homes of hospitality for pregnant women in need of support or housing.  We look forward to seeing the revamp!

I couldn't wait to get started on this lovely romper!  It was rather large...

...but as soon as I saw buttons underneath the arm area, the wheels started turning.

I was actually quite excited about the size because it's going to help bring my vision to life!

Oh romper...thanks for being you.

Here's a close up of those buttons under the arm area.  This to me felt like it would be something you'd see as the front of a piece, so that's what I'm going to make it!  Old arm area turned new front of the dress!

I chose one arm side to be my new front and then trimmed down the other side, from top to bottom, to completely open the back of the dress up.  I'm making this a halter and using the intact arm hole as where my head will be and the intact strap as the piece that will go around my neck.  This piece also rules because there are buttons on each strap, making it so super easy to open and close at my neck.

I put the piece around my neck and measured/pinned the area in back of where it needed to be restitched.  I wanted to make sure that it didn't fall too low and would be fitted enough when worn.  I also pinned the strap that was going around my neck in preparation for a new seam to thin it out a bit and get rid of some of the fabric to make it less bulky.

I sewed the back and the new strap...

...worked on a little pinch and cinch action at the bottom of each side of the neck strap...

...and had a brand new dress!!

I am so thrilled with how this turned out!!

It's like the buttons were meant to be front and center!  The cinching on each side of the strap not only gives the dress more shape, it also helps with not chafing under my arms too.

It's a fab transition piece because it can go from day to night with just the addition of a cardigan!

Cardigan: Banana Republic //Purse: vintage Dooney & Bourke // Booties: Cotton On // Necklace: vintage

I realized that I didn't shoot a picture of the back of the piece, so I took one after my little street shoot!

Many thanks to Sarah for sending me this piece (!!) and those of you in the Phoenix area, head on over to Maggie's Thrift to score some goodies.

Happy weekend, friends!!

31 Days of Thrift: Day 14

We're back on the 31 Days of Thrift bandwagon!  When I was sifting through the bins at Housing Works, I was constantly finding sports garments - lots of Giants tees, a UVA lacrosse sweatshirt, and even a Nets jersey, from back when they were in NJ and not playing in Brooklyn.  And then I found pieces that were for my teams!! I snagged a Yankees tee and a Jets waffle long sleeved shirt that I can wear when I'm rooting them on.  With the baseball season winding down and the Yanks needing a little bit of help if they're gonna get into a wild card spot, today was the day to rock my tee.

DAY 14/31:

#17 – Yankees T

I'm up to bat.  Time to get into uniform!

I decided to add a skirt to my cheer-worthy ensemble!!

I love faking a game of baseball in my front yard!  (PS, I was always the WORST at softball.  Literally. The. Worst.)

Skirt: Forever 21 //Purse: Buffalo Exchange (tagless) // Hat: Alternative Apparel // Flats: Kimchi Blue // Baseball snacks: Cracker Jacks & Peanuts

This is something that I'd totally wear to a game!  And even though I'm a Yanks fan at heart, I do live in LA and love the Dodgers and would have been very excited to find a vintage Dodgers tee in my hunt.  I shall be rooting for them both, even though the Dodgers are seriously playing like champions!

Do you guys dress in team gear to root on your faves?  The Jets remake is coming soon...even though they're pretty much a disaster this season!

Stay tuned to see the rest of the Housing Works stash of goodies!!

Remake: Floral Romper Teaser

Hi friends!  Just wanted to give you a bit of a heads up...  I'm participating with UGG for a campaign where they will be bannering the background of the site for a hot second.  I haven't done one of these before and I know it's not the most gorgeous thing to be lining the sides of my site, however it's going to allow me to have some EPIC giveaways while it's up there.  That's the one thing that I'm excited about and hopefully you guys will bear with it (and me) while it's there :) Here's the piece that you guys are going to see shortly!!  Who doesn't love a romper??

It's all done, however it hasn't been shot yet.  My usual Wednesday routine is to shoot the piece on the street after my dance class, however as it's been getting darker earlier, the lighting was just off.  You'll see this along with a handful more of my 31 Days of Thrift pieces up today!

It's catch-up Thursday, friends!!  More in a bit :)