Embellishing clothing, with creative and wonderful little details, is a great way to jazz up items from your own closet, or even a found garment (with great “bones”) from a thrift store.  I get design inspiration for embellishing, from many different places, but my favorite thing to do is google “runway designs,” and find something amazing!  These pictures are over the top amazing, but need to be toned down a little for real life.  The following is a picture I fell in love with, the picture following that, is my version.  I don’t get too literal and don’t try to “copy” the picture, they are just inspiration

 INSPIRATIONAL PHOTO

 MY VERSION

 MY VERSION

To create this look, I started with the key element to this outfit, the jacket.  This was originally a very plain, army green, military style jacket that I found at a charitable thrift store.  I began by roughing it up a little.  Any edge that did not have a structural seam, was trimmed, to promote fraying.  I tossed it in the washer and it came out looking ten years older with all the fabulous fraying…loved it! 

I then ordered a gorgeous, black, rose applique from ebay.  When it arrived, I ironed it on and did a little stitching around the edges for extra security.

Next, I popped off all of the plastic buttons, and replaced them with my own.  I rarely pass up a jar or container of inexpensive buttons, I have a nice little stash of them.  For this jacket I wanted vintage, gold looking buttons with an aged patina.  I dumped my hat box of buttons, in the middle of my living room floor, and my twelve year old son and I dug through them until we found about twelve perfect buttons (all different, but similar).  He claims he made this jacket because of all the time he spent searching (playing) with the buttons…cute!

The black pants I used, were already in my closet.  They weren’t leather like the inspiration photo, but they were a high quality cotton blend with a gorgeous sheen.

I narrowed the leg and added five assorted buttons to each side.

Finally, I wanted to make a funky little t-shirt to go with the look.  I found this grayish/greenish t-shirt at the Salvation Army and went to work! 

I first cut the collar off to give it a more slouchy, less tailored look.

Next, two slits were cut.  One near the collar and the other, close to the bottom.

 

Now, I wanted to paint a design on the shirt.  A circular shape was cut from craft paper and pinned to the shirt.  I also, slid a piece of paper between the fabric layers for protection.

 

Orange/red craft paint, mixed with textile medium, was applied with a brush to make the design I wanted.  When the paint is dry it needs to be heat set with an iron.  All the instructions are on the bottle of textile medium.  You can find this at just about any fabric store.

This was a fun outfit to put together and took very little machine sewing!  Embellishing can be a lot of fun and is an easy way to change the look of your clothes. 

Thanks for checking out my blog!

 

 

 

 

 

This dress was upcycled from a gorgeous, vintage corset and two different types of vintage curtains!  

 I have access to a wonderful shop near me, called West Kimberly Market.   It is a huge building that rents out booths.  They have everything…antiques, handmade items, flea market type items, it’s an upcycler’s dream!  Way back, in the farthest corner of the building is my favorite booth.  She has wonderful vintage clothing and accessories at great prices!  This vintage corset and fabric for this dress (curtains!) were bought there  and turned into this edgy, boudoir dress.

If a person is willing to “step out of the box” it is possible to upcycle just about anything!

 

 

Finally!  A use for those worn once, bridesmaid dresses!  Solid, intense colors, with sheen, are saturating the runways.  Now, is the time to finally pull out those unused bridesmaid dresses and make something fabulous and trendy that you will actually wear!  This project uses several dresses that totaled twelve dollars at the Salvation Army.  Pretty good deal, considering this is definitely a unique, one of a kind, handmade dress now .

 BEFORE

  AFTER

 AFTER

One of the garments was a strapless, form fitted, simple red dress that I used as the under structure.  A wrap skirt with a pretty pattern, was used as an accent fabric.  I’m also using a large bridesmaid dress, made of what I believe is a nubby silk.  This dress was handmade originally, and without tags, so I have no way of knowing for sure if it’s silk.  Upon closer inspection of the bridesmaid dress, I realized it had a ton of red tulle tucked underneath…score!!!

 

 HOW I MADE IT

I began by cutting a piece of fabric, in an “A” shape, from the largest dress.  This piece needed to be large enough to wrap completely around the hips.  I finished the edges, pinned and stitched to the waist.

 

I next started tucking and pinning to get a layered, balloon look.  Once everything was just right, I hand stitched in place.

 

Now it’s time to add yet another layer.  Pieces of tulle were added around the waist band and pinned in place.  The beauty of tulle, is that it doesn’t need hemmed or a finish stitch.  The tulle pieces were longer than the dress, this allowed plenty of freedom to tuck, cut and pin.

 

Next, I cut out a piece of the patterned fabric, finished the edges, and pinned to the waist band.

 

Two triangle shaped pieces were cut out and pinned to the bodice.

 

I then cut strips of the bridesmaid dress, about seven inches wide.  The edges were folded over and pinned throughout the bodice.  There are no rules to this, be creative!

 

It was now time to add the double shoulder straps.  I cut long strips of fabric from the patterned skirt.  The strips were double the width I needed, so that I could fold them in half and finish stitch the edge.  The finished straps were about 1 1/2″ wide.  They were pinned into place and stitched to the dress.

 

The final touch was the silk band around the waist.  I found a wide, curved belt in my closet to use as a pattern.  I traced the belt onto the silky fabric, cut it out, finished the edges, pinned, then stitched into place.

 

This dress turned out beautiful from every angle!

 

 

 

 

 AFTER

 BEFORE

Here is a fun and simple upcycling project for an unremarkable jean skirt.  A jean skirt, like this one, may be getting looked over and ignored in your closet, they have a tendency to come in and out of fashion.  Add a little edge to a jean mini, wear it bare foot or with a casual pair of flip flops/sandals, and you will look casually chic!  If you don’t have one, they are certainly plentiful at thrift stores.  I found mine at a thrift store for $2.99.   It was fine on it’s own, but I wanted to add a lot more pizazz!

I started by cutting a few more holes into the already fabulously frayed denim.  The holes are “clean cut”, but will fray in the wash machine.

I then cut two pieces of fabric, about 7″ x 7″.  I decided to use a leopard pattern, that was on a scarf .  Use anything you want, i.e. white lace, black lace, tie dye t-shirt, a fun stripe or floral pattern.  You could coordinate with a favorite summer tank or sandals.  Be creative!

 

I wanted raw edges, but still stitched 1/4″ from the edge, to prevent complete unraveling.

 

Next, I laid my skirt on it’s side and tucked the fabric inside.  It was pinned where I would be doing the hand stitching.  The corners of the fabric and around the holes, were the main area I focused on.

 

Finally, I washed the skirt to release the fraying.

 

This was a fun project that didn’t take long at all.  With just a little effort you can really jazz up your wardrobe and express your own personal style!

 

 

 

 

This isn’t my typical sewing or thrift store styling blog, but it’s definitely about upcycling.

I live in a small house and would be quickly over run with all my wonderful thrift store treasures if I wasn’t organized.  I also need to see, at all times, exactly what I have and I need easy access to my items.  Organizing takes time and thought initially, but saves time and actually money, in the long run.  How many times have you bought something that you may already have, just because you couldn’t find it or forgot you had it?  I certainly have!

SCARVES

In the past, I kept my scarf collection in a tall wicker basket.  This just wasn’t working.  The scarves, stuffed at the bottom, were neglected and forgotten.  I wanted to be able to see what I had.  The basket was big, bulky and always in the way.  My solution was a tall room divider screen.

 

Room divider screens are wonderful from a decorative stand point.  They add interest and height to your decor and are easily tucked in a corner, taking up very little space.  I found mine at a small town junk shop years ago and I have taken it everywhere with me.  The owner of the shop said it was an antique voting booth and even had a little shelf.  I nabbed it for $15…score!  I simply added hooks to the center piece of the frame to hang the scarves.

Now, I am able to drape scarves over the top and hang them on the hooks.  This gives me plenty of space and makes it possible to even color coordinate my scarves.

 

PURSES

My purses were another space consuming item that I needed to find a home for.  My solution, hall trees.  Hall trees are easy to come by and make great displays for all those beautiful purses.  I’ve seen amazing hand bag collections, that are art in their own right.  Bring them out and make them part of your decor!  A hall tree is easily tucked in a corner and out of the way.  I add a few extra hooks to mine for even more storage. 

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NECKLACES

Not having proper storage for necklaces can drive a person crazy.  They are easily lost and tangled.  Again, my solution is a small room divider screen.  When it’s time for me to accessorize an outfit, now I feel like I’m at a quaint little boutique (my dream is to own one someday) with everything at my finger tips.  Other than the screen, all I needed was a package of hooks.

I screwed them randomly into the screen and that was it!

Shine a little light on it and it becomes a stunning and sparkling addition to you decor!

With just a few simple, inexpensive items, that are readily available at thrift stores, you can add practical, beauty to your room, closet, or boutique.

Thanks for checking out my blog!