thimbly things

I did it!  And I posted over at Wardrobe Refashion for the first time tonight.  Here are the two shirts I shared, both from Simplicity 3835.

(In that first picture, I’ve gotta tell you that I’m laughing at Emily who was dancing around with her jeans tucked into her socks to keep the mosquitoes off her ankles.  Now there’s some sartorial awesomeness!)

Mind you, neither of these are “refashioned.”  They are made from scratch.  The first is from a yard of fabric I bought about 2 years ago at Hancock’s.  The second is from shirting material I recently bought at Joann’s.  Yeah, and it was about $5 for 2.5 yards.  Yeah.  When I realized that all I need is One Yard of fabric to make a shirt (the first style), well… you can imagine my joy.  Now my issue is narrowing the field.

I wore the plaid get-up to church today.  So that’s a good sign, right?  Though you never can be sure what folks are thinking.  I mean, they’re not going to tell you, “Gee, Kristena, you look sort of frumpy and homemade today.”  But please, tell me if it looks silly.  Otherwise, I might end up with a closet filled with this same shirt.  Because I think it’s awesome.  And that first one.  Because it’s one yard of fabric.

By the way, I forgot to share this one with you in a timely manner:

It’s the shirt I posted about a while ago.  Looks much better on a person than on a hanger.

So I made some clothes!   There ya go.

First off, thank you for all the encouraging words on my last post!  You folks are so kind.  I hope these next 6 months are thoroughly enjoyable on my end and on yours.  And thanks for stopping by!

On my desk today is an almost-finished tunic from the Built By Wendy Simplicity pattern 3835, fabric I’m considering, and the book In Print by Cath Kidston, a gift from Jillian (my sweet sister-in-law).  I had a little trouble with the back of the yoke on my shirt and have been putting it off for a couple of days.  It’s a funny garment–sometimes I look at it and think I could never pull that off.   But when I put it on, it seems to work.  I guess I just need some feedback from The Ladies.  Husband appears to like it…

Wardrobe Refashion doesn’t officially begin until July 1st.  Anticipating this (and ever determined not to break my commitment), I bought some jeans from Old Navy today.  I figured that would be wise since I doubt I can make jeans, and even if I could, they probably wouldn’t fit.  And I don’t want to depend on the thrift store (as awesome as it is) to have my petite size.  It’s hard enough to find any that fit from major retailers.  I chose “skinny” jeans to be trendy and trouser jeans that need some alterations but should look nice.

So now I’m game to make all manner of garment for the top half of my body.  As long as I have a pair of jeans to go with.

Today I signed up for it.  We’re talking 6 months of making new stuff from old stuff.  I’m game!  I got a head start this month as I tried my hand at sewing my own clothes for the first time.  Here’s one shirt I made from an old skirt I bought at the Gap several years ago.  I wore the skirt on my graduation weekend.  It was a size ZERO!!!

I can’t believe I ever fit into it…although, I’m remembering, it smooshed my internal organs quite a bit.  I must have found it on sale.  Anyway, I used Simplicity 4589 for the yoke and kept a lot of the fullness of the skirt.  I suppose it can double as a maternity shirt at some point (but not yet, for goodness’ sake!).

So I may be dressing like a dork for the rest of the year, but I will be a handmade dork!  Somewhere along the way, I hope to acquire a sense of style.  I can tell what’s fashionable when the clothing stores put it on the racks, but I’m not sure that I can make it from scratch.  We’ll see.  Everything I’ve made so far smacks of the country side of “Town & Country.”  I’ll attempt to make more “town” looks in the future, since I don’t actually live on a prairie.

Oh, and expect to see more pictures of me gazing awkwardly out of this window.

The Pledge

I, Kristena Derrick, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of “new” manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovated, recycled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings! Signed Kristena Derrick.