Remake: Vintage Black Floral Dress

I gave a little teaser of this dress yesterday - the waist is loose and it just doesn't fit well. It also had a very musty scent, which is never pleasant, even after a thorough washing!  Everything else was perfection, though. I loved the print, the draped V neck, the length... New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

I couldn't let this one leave my hands! (And on the scent front, after another more serious soak/hand washing/more soaking combination, the smell vanished! Thank goodness.)

I love easy fixes that take a piece from an "eh" status to one that puts them in the front of the closet! For this, the elastic needed to be adjusted, so I started by opening up a few stitches at the waist with my seam ripper.

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

The elastic was still in good condition, which meant no need to replace! If it was completely stretched out and starting to crumble (old elastic is not my fave) I would have just done a full, new elastic routine.

I measured the amount of elastic that needed to be removed and made a knot to secure its place. I snipped the excess elastic and then restitched the seam that I opened.

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

That's it! One basic tweak and I've got a brand new dress!

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

It's really amazing to see how much the shape changes just by removing a few inches of elastic.

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

It was the perfect little dress to wear on this bright and shiny day to enjoy a bit of vino with some friends. It's still Earth Month and one of my favorite California vineyards, Estancia, is one that is committed to sustainability. I had NO idea until I started doing a bit of research, but 75% of the winery's energy demand comes from solar panels which is basically the equivalent to planting 27,000 trees. Because of their efforts, 1.5 milion pounds of greenhouse gases stay out of California's air. I'll cheers to that!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

Or cheers to that by myself while I wait for everyone to arrive! (I promise that I didn't finish the entire bottle...)

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

One of my favorite parts of the dress are the cute little ties at the end of the sleeves! The little details are the icing on the cake sometimes.

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

I paired the dress with a pair of Moschino heels that I scored at Crossroads along with my Urban Outfitters sunnies to complete the look.

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

This is made from a thin, sheer polyester, so wearing a full slip, or half slip and cami is necessary, fyi. I must say that it's super breezy for being polyester! That, however, has no bearing on how much I'll still sweat :)

Uncommon Goods Giveaway!

I'm so excited to be partnering up with Uncommon Goods again for another giveaway!! Woo!! It was awesome to see how many of you guys were fans back in November, so when they reached out again to give a $50 gift card to a lucky reader, I couldn't say no! With Mother's Day right around the corner, this will be a nice little present for yourself or for your mama...

New Dress A Day - Uncommon Goods Giveaway - DIY - Potholder Loom

I love the DIY goodies that they have and tried out this Potholder Loom to test out my retro crafting skills. It's been a while since I've made these - I was a camp counselor over 10 years ago - so it was fun to pretend I was back on Long Island wearing T-shirts with "STAFF" written on the back!

New Dress A Day - Uncommon Goods Giveaway - DIY - Potholder Loom

The kit came with all the supplies needed to craft a potholder and the fabric strips were in awesome colors unlike the not-so-pleasant ones at camp. It felt like there was always an abundance of browns and oranges when all I wanted were blues and greens!

New Dress A Day - Uncommon Goods Giveaway - DIY - Potholder Loom

Since mom is getting this sent to her, I picked a few of her favorite colors to play around with.

New Dress A Day - Uncommon Goods Giveaway - DIY - Potholder Loom

I won't show you the after shot yet, just so Mom is a little surprised, but I'll have to have her take a photo with it to share with everyone on Mother's Day!

To enter, head on over to Uncommon Goods and leave a comment of what you'd love to get for yourself or what you'd like to give Mom this year! The contest ends a week from today (5/5), giving the lucky winner time to go shopping! There are these gorgeous Mother & Child necklaces or this super earthy Tree Root Votive Holder that are totally Mom-worthy!

PS, stay tuned for this remake tomorrow…

New Dress A Day - DIY - thrift store shopping - vintage black dress

The waist is no bueno, but the fabric?? Oooh-eeee!! Stay tuned.

Belle's NDAD Creation

The love that I have for this remake is endless. Maybe because it's bringing me back to a happy, childhood place - you'll see what I mean in a few sentences - or maybe because it's super easy and something that turns out so cute at the end. Check out what Belle made her own...

Hi Marisa, I've been following your blog for over a year and it's totally inspired me to re-purpose of my old clothes. But today I decided to do something different! Instead of a clothing piece, I found this Smurfs pillow case at a garage sale for 50c.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage skirt - pillowcase skirt

I loved the print so I decided to craft this into a garment!!

Yeah girl!! Turn that Smurf print into something awesome!!

I decided to make this a simple elastic skirt. I tore apart the seams, made a casing, threaded my elastic through the casing and I was done!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage skirt - pillowcase skirt

 I also decided to put some lace trim on the bottom that I nabbed for 20c.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage skirt - pillowcase skirt

It's now my new favourite skirt! 

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage skirt - pillowcase skirt

Um, it's now MY new favorite skirt! The love that I have for Smurfs is endless.Check out my collection from the 80s:

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage skirt - pillowcase skirt

Seriously, I am on the prowl for a pillowcase now to craft the same thing for myself!! Way to go, Belle!! Now I want to watch Smurfs episodes!

For more from Belle, click HERE!!