Here are some Flickr Favorites for your Friday joy.

1. but i like candy when it’s wrapped in a sweater, 2. New love plate, 3. Dining Room, 4. Ruffle dress, 5. Black Key, 6. ., 7. Patchwork apple, 8. Superior-envelope-#154, 9. Design-7380-sample 5, 10. houses cushion #05- indisponivel, 11. Houses cushion #04, 12. The Vintage Letter, 13. Vintage Silhouettes, 14. Marie Claire Idées - fabric plates, 15. IMG_2393, 16. flor de sempre, 17. Simply Grove Interiors, 18. babette w/all the bedstuff on the bed, 19. mer bleue, 20. proud client, 21. Untitled, 22. Favorite cup of tea, 23. Girls room inspiration, 24. Sew What Skirts, wrap around (tied at the front), 25. Tunic with jabot, 26. raspberry and pink peppercorn macarons, 27. So, here is the dress…, 28. Orquidea Dendobrium ” Olho de Boneca “, 29. Marie Claire Idées 70, 30. Embalagem pra presente

Next week is going to be awesome!  Now go have a great weekend. :)

1) So I found a jumper at the thrift store (actually, I spotted several that had potential, but settled on this one because it was about $1.25 and needed minimal sewing).

2)  I removed the metal buttons (Is that what you call them?) with plyers.  This left several holes.

3) I dyed the jumper in a stockpot on the stove using Rit’s Denim Blue dye.  I used about half the bottle, and I let it soak for about 2 hours.  This might not be necessary, but that’s what I did.

4) Then I washed and dryed it, of course.

5) At this point, I decided to try it on & decide what next.  In order to not look completely frumpy, I decided it would need shape.  But I had to fix the holes & whatnot first…

6) I patched the holes on the straps (but not the sides of the jumper) by setting my sewing machine to zigzag and using the widest possible stitch.  I went across each hole in two directions, as you can see here:

This might look a little sloppy, but my mending will easily be covered by the buttons:

7) For the sides of the jumper, I decided to sew up the unnecessary opening with matching navy blue thread.  I sewed 2 rows right beside the tan stitching, and you can hardly see it.

8) Then I trimmed some of the excess bulk from inside the garment (where the buttons used to be).

9) To add shape to the jumper, I decided to add elastic to the waistline.  I took 1/4″ elastic and wrapped it around my waist to determine how much I needed.  Then I pinned it to the jumper where I wanted the waist to fit.  As you can see, I overlapped the elastic in the back of the garment.  Then I stretched the elastic and pinned it at regular intervals, being certain that the jumper would gather evenly.  (Does this make sense?  I think it should be a separate tutorial…) I used a special zigzag stitch on my machine that is for sewing elastic onto garments, and I sewed the elastic directly to the waistline.

10) I closed the buttonholes on the sides of the jumper by using the zigzag stitch.  You know, since they were no longer necessary.

11) Then I sewed on buttons.  I decided to go with classic, inexpensive, gray buttons and used heavy-duty, tan thread to sew them on.

12) I put on my dress, got some Starbuck’s, and asked my husband to take my picture! :)

They’re called Salt Water Sandals, and they’re awesome.  You may have had them as a child.  Comfortable, leather, water-resistant, available in a multitude of colors, and you can find them used (and cheap!) on eBay.  I got these for $10.  When they arrived, I immediately put them on and took pictures.  That’s how happy I was. :)

See more on Flickr.

Whew, it was great being spoiled for a day!  Church, lunch at Jason’s Deli, thrifting alone, lasagna & carrot cake, and a book & card…  My family rocks.

Emily chose the card; Evan chose the book.  And Emily signed the card with her signature “happy faces.”  Do you see them?

While at the thrift store, I found this amazing dress for $8.98.  That seemed a little steep.  I finally decided (after consulting  Evan) to take the plunge.  But then the kind cashier at the shop only charged me $5!  So that was a nice Mother’s Day gift too. :)

It looks a little maternity, but I might wear it to the VT graduation on Saturday anyway.

Later in the evening, I was relieved of all duties so I could sew.

I never blogged about this, but you may have seen this image in my Flickr photostream:

Note the Orla Kiely dishtowel from Target.  First time I sprayed chocolate cake batter on it, I knew this wasn’t going to work.

So after much deliberation, this is what I came up with.

Yep.  You’ve seen them all over blogland (because they’re awesome!), and now you’ve seen one here.   A dishtowel purse.  (Very Sound of Music, don’t you think?)  I was inspired by this dress designed by Orla, which felt appropriate. :)

So I’d say Mother’s Day was better than I could have hoped.  Lots of mommy-spoiling action from the awesomest people I know.

Thank you, sweet family!

Yesterday I mentioned that my friend Mardel brought me doilies on Wednesday.  A week before that, she brought buttons.  And in the past, Mardel has brought me a colorful thrifted sheet, pretty upholstery fabric, a petite Wedgwood dish…

She’s the Queen of Estate Sales.

And she is an Amazing Friend.  Always thinking about others.  She even listened to me carry on about the various incidents of the day for about 45 minutes.

Thank you, Mardel!   Love ya.

But maybe not as much as this guy does. ;)

Happy Friday!

[Don’t you just love taking really bad “before” pictures so the “after” looks even better?  I get super-excited about a project at 10 pm and don’t have good light and don’t care.]  We have some very kind neighbors - a woman and her two adopted daughters - who bring us hand-me-downs often.  This jumper was in a grocery bag on our doorknob when we returned from a walk on Monday.  It was providential, I tell you.

I made this up as I went along, but I was certainly inspired by this free pattern I saw a few days ago.   I used white muslin for the lining and white knit cotton as interfacing just to give it some weight.

[First, I have to tell you that Little Miss Emily allowed us to sleep in this morning.  By playing in the bathroom.  We found the nozzles off several perfume and lotion bottles, and the toilet seat was mysteriously damp.  She later claimed that she was giving her Pooh Bears “a bath in the toilet bath.”  Um.  It’s only a matter of time.]

I thought I’d taken a good “before” picture of the dress I used for this refashion, but I can’t find one.   So here’s a link.  Honestly, I hated cutting into it because it was without a doubt the most fabulous bridesmaid dress I could ever imagine.  I wore it in my best friend’s wedding nearly 4 years ago.  And then I wore it once more a month later.  Three years passed, and I put it on for a date with Evan last summer.  The boning dug into my side, so I decided not to wear it.  And then I realized that I was never going to wear it.  Unless.

Unless it became something else.

Using a shirt that my friend Mindy gave me (that has moth holes) as a pattern, I refashioned my seersucker dress into a very wearable top.

The shape seems much fuller because the seersucker doesn’t drape like the stretchy knit fabric does.

I changed the back to accommodate a button.

Now I have a fresh, green top just in time for St. Patrick’s Day! :)

New fun stuff in my kitchen.

New to me, anyway.  My dear friend, Mindy, is moving and needed to get rid of this hand-me-down.  It was me or Goodwill.

So I asked Evan and his friend to pick it up on Sunday.  When they brought it home for me, they were both confounded.

Evan: You really wanted this?  It’s so ugly!

Craig: At least you can recover it.  Is that what you were thinking?

Um…

Evan: Did you know it was this color?  You like it?

Um.  Yes.

Evan: Oh.  Well.  At least we have a sleeper sofa now.  

Yeah!  We really needed a guest bed.

The truth is, I like this weird little loveseat.  I like it a lot.  If I have to, I’ll put it in the garage and build a space around it just for me.  Just so I can enjoy my vintage, pea-colored, velvety seat and be judged if I must.

Welcome home. :)

Evan and the babies took me antiquing.  I came away with a few pretties I’ve been meaning to share with you.  So here’s some “Happy Monday” eye candy.

By the way, today there is ice inside our kitchen windows.  Like the frost that accumulated inside our freezer when I was a kid.

It’s very very very cold.  Just another excuse for more of this:

P.S.  I’m trying to wean myself from Flickr’s Picnik tool and actually learn how to use my camera.  And my new tripod.  So things might begin to look a bit different around here (with the exception of some curved corners on occasion - I like them).  I hope that’s okay! :)