vintage liz claiborne refashion

this is a vintage liz claiborne set, thrown into a five-dollar basket at the thrift store just because I had more space:

I thought the print was cute, and I'm pretty into florals right now.  I just finished making the top into a little tank.

I switched the front and back around, as you can see.  I had wanted the buttons to be in back, and  the front just worked out the way it did - I was originally going to have the front plain, but decided that I liked the idea of having the pleat there.  I didn't have to mess with the shoulder seam, either.  

This type of rayon, sort of a cotton-like weave, is becoming one of my favorite fabrics.  It has the stability of a cotton, but the flowyness of something much more challenging to sew.  This tank will probably be one of my favorites in the upcoming summer - it is so comfortable!  

The armholes are just a little too low to wear without a cami, but I'm thinking of adding a fake cami thing to each side, like what some people do to shirts that are too low.  It's not that big of a deal, but our summers are hot, and fewer layers is GOOD!

I still have the gauchos and sleeves, which I'm not sure about what to do with yet.  Hopefully you'll see soon!

This is something I made from a large shirt that had a mandarin collar and some interesting neck detailing. The mandarin collar worked really well for my neckline - I carefully removed the collar, and topstitched it to the top.  Not too hard, and it makes for a pretty cool detail! 

three finished projects

 

I'm wearing three clothing items - the white blazer was a sort of muslin for a VERY lightweight summer blazer. This is the pattern that I used:

I shortened it and removed the front darts.  There were pleats somewhere by the shoulder that I didn't notice till it was too late to put them in (I'm pretty bad about following pattern instructions) and I think that is why the shape of mine is so boxy in the shoulders.  Otherwise, I'm pretty happy with it, and another in a striped seersucker may be on the way this summer...I say may, because striped seersucker isn't in my enormous collection of fabrics yet!

 

The skinnies were not skinny when I bought them - they were flares.  I had bought them because I was looking for a job at the time and didn't have black pants, and they were practically free.  I just recently turned them into skinnies, and they are much more wearable!

The top was a refashion from an old rayon skirt that I thrifted because I really liked the print.  It was going to be a dress with an accordion-pleated white hem, but things happened - it was too flared, I cut off the pleats, took it in, didn't feel like un-hemming the pleats to take those in, and in the end I decided that it looked a little too costumy with them on.  Sigh...  I'm saving the pleats, though, because they were so hard that I'm thinking of puting them on something else.  Something that isn't navy and white.

You can't see it too well in the pics, but I did something new with the white yoke - I put some piping on the edges that I made myself with red gingham.  It ended up looking like ric rac.  But I guess that's okay!

What happened?

A while back, I went to Joann's to get some Simplicity patterns, which were on sale for a dollar.  I was going to get the same patterns online for eight dollars a piece (on sale, too) but it didn't work out, and I'm glad it didn't because one buck a piece is much better.  But instead of spending only a few dollars, I went home with $35 worth of fabric.  What happened?  

The clearance.  Every clearance fabric was 50% off.  Coat-weight wool for eight dollars a yard...I mean, that's a score!  I hadn't been inside a fabric store in ages.  I wasn't prepared mentally for the clearance section at all, and I had some spending cash on me.  This is what I bought:

for a coat

to line a coat

for pants

I made a tank with this fabric, a stretch cotton blend. This fabric was like $2 a yard.

All I have to say is, those ruffles on the neckline were a pain!  That's part of the reason the ruffle on the bottom was left raw...

Finally!!

Well, I got my casts off, which was nice.  Then we went camping, and I couldn't do too much there!  But here I am now, finally.

In the first outfit, everything I'm wearing is from the thrift store except for the trapper hat, from Marshall's for $20.  Those boots are some men's work boots, and I have to say the grip on those things is amazing for climbing on the rocks!

I know that the dress looks super weird in that picture, I promise it was the wind!  Usually I take my own pics and can check and see how they look, but the battery was running low.  The dress I've had for a little while, the scarf and hat I had just bought at a thrift store in the area where we were staying.

My sister took the pic of Chloe, and it was too cute not to put on here!  She loved camping.  She had been a breeding dog, and she's now in a sort of retirement, and she probably never got to go camping before.  We had so much fun with our doggy!