Experiments with denim--opinions please!

Michelle and I were emailing the other day (before the desert claimed her) about fall fashion, she brought up a blurb from Robert Geller that she had run across in a NY Times article about the very same topic:

"ROBERT GELLER, designer I’m excited to get back to layering. One of my favorite things about cooler weather is that you can build up an outfit piece by piece and put together something really interesting — such as finishing up a look with a nice big scarf. I’m also looking forward to seeing denim used in a non-typical way this fall as well as a return to beautifully constructed coats that are well made and designed to last a long time."

In Michelle's brain, this triggered a thought process which culminated in the utterance, "denim obi!" Oddly enough, the same idea had been bouncing about this illiterati's brain (why don't I read the Times more often?), though I hadn't yet busted out the sewing machine. Thus, out came the denim scraps and now I have a four-panel strip of denim which is about eight feet long and five to six inches wide. 

Enter another problem: How do I pull this off without looking like a girl wearing a pair of pants around her waist?

I will obviously do something to treat the edges of the denim, but will it be a simple once-over hem, or should I use some accent color bias tape? My machine (and needle) can only handle a once-over (that just means that I would fold the denim over once and sew it down--the raw edge of the fabric would still show on the "inside" of the belt, instead of having nice-non-fraying folded fabric--I don't know the technical term for that kind of hem unless "lazy" is technical) hem because the denim would be too thick for it to handle three layers of denim. My machine could handle my ample supply of bias tape, but do I have over 16 feet of bias tape?

I meant in one color, and you know that. *folds arms
So, thoughts? This could be a total bust, but I'm willing to try!

Mens shirt refashions

It might be time for me to throw in the towel and not try any more mens shirt refashions for a stretch. They never quite turn out the way I expect them to and they eat up far too much time. For example, I stumbled upon this refashion in the CraftStylish email and thought it looked pretty cute. 

Not only that, I remembered that Chris had a fun pink striped button-up shirt in the thrift store bag; this all seems like it should make for a really cute summer shirt, yes? Well...

Let me be the first to admit that I didn't follow the instructions to the letter--it simply isn't my style to do so. Maybe I had misplaced expectations, I don't know, but whatever the case that beast shirt is blousey as all get out in the back, making me scrunch my face like you just offered me the headphones blasting your Huey Lewis and the News marathon.

Overall, perhaps the most unflattering thing I've ever created... except for last summer's accidental maternity top. Man, I still shudder to thing of that one.

Stupid mens shirt refashions, wreckin' my day! I think a good number of us can remember the unfortunate tranny-top refashion from last summer, which I'm still trying to make work. Somehow. In spite of the negative shirt energy, I was able to make the necessary alterations to bring two skirts back into the "functioning" section of my life.

No number of refashions will stop me from dancing!

Beth's shirt--Christmas gift

I got the idea for this project from MyMamaMadeIt, specifically the ruffled jersey rosette project. I'm quite pleased with it, I think it is my most successful refashion to-date (apologies to Michelle, recipient of the tranny-top) I found the base shirt at the thrift store a couple of blocks from our house. It is some kind of cotton blend or another. A nice enough shirt, but kind of ho-hum if you ask me.The gathers/ruffles are not jersey in this case, but a polyester type shirt of a slightly brighter red that I cut into strips, sewed up, ruffled, then tacked onto the shirt and (full of frets) sewed onto the complete shirt. It looks really rumpled here because I wrapped it up after I finished but before I remembered that I wanted to take pictures. I get overly excited sometimes.

And here's a close-up of the ruffle once it was sewn on.

Chris voted (and I agreed) to keep the shirt asymetrical and only apply the ruffle to one side. Now I can only hope that Beth wears it!

Fashion "week" re-cap

Fashion week yielded only one new thing for me to wear. No, I didn't take pictures. Why? I can't really tell you that.
But! I did get the new ironing board cover which opened up a whole world of shirts since I could then effectively press them and not look quite as homeless as the look I had been rocking. I finally hemmed the dress into a shirt and have received several compliments on it. I also sewed the basic parts of the ruffle/fuffle shirt (capped sleeves, new neckline, fuffle border), but now I need to tailor the bejeezus out of it as it is baggy in the bust and waist, tight in the hips, and droopy in the sleeves. What a mess! I had to call it quits on that project for the month of December so I could focus on Christmas crafts/gifts.
Oh, and the sister gift theme for this year is "dazzling". Yeah, I'm unsure of where to take that too, there are a lot of viable directions. and my sister is--

Fashion Week!

This week is fashion week in my apartment, I hope we're all ready!
What it boils down to is that I'm disappointed in my wardrobe and I want to mix it up, but I still don't have the kind of money needed to buy new items. Thusly, I'm going to accomplish some thrift store/found clothes modifications that have been on my list for a while.
Today, I stop by Ace to get a new ironing board foam/cover thing so things I iron won't have chain link marks on them. Tuesday night or tonight (if I'm really with it) I start on the (slightly modified?) ruffle-edged shirt I saw on My Mama Made It.
After that, I'm going to finally hem this shirtdress I have into a shirt. I'm doing this because the shirtdress is a touch short and frumpy looking on me, not to mention how I am un-nerved by its uneven hem.
There is alson an old wool plaid skirt Michelle gave to me. I need to make it shorter and a little smaller on the waist--this task is complicated by the skirt's adorable flare at the bottom, meaning I need to make it shorter from the top instead of just sewing in a new hem. It should be worth it though!
Check out this skirt tutorial, too (from Craft Stylish)! The scalloping on it is too much for me to bear, I wonder if I could pull off trying to modify a thrift store skirt with this idea? Not likely, we'll have to see how successful fashion week is.
*These tasks will not all be accomplished this week because I don't have hours and hours to devote to sewing. But, fashion "week" will continue until I accomplish what I listed. Pictures will follow!