Yardsale re-use and re-fashion

Izod Jeans floral shirt
At the yard sale, I bought a great man’s shirt for only 25 cents. As soon as I saw all the shirts on the rack, I thought back to some recent shirt refashions I had seen on the internet. Could I make an adorable retro shirt from this instead of having to create one from scratch or another untried pattern? Hmmm…

It’s not long enough to make a dress so I want a shirt/tunic with probably an empire waist and tiny gathered sleeves; taking a cue from the fabric and making it very feminine.

These are the projects and tutorials that I’m looking at as research:

Cap-sleeved shirt by Paperdaises at Craftster
Clevergirl's shirtdress from one shirt
Clevergirl's shirtdress from two shirts
An empire-waist idea on whip up
Man’s shirt into woman's skirt at Label-Free

Then here are a few tutorials for adapting the sleeves or collars of any refashioned garment:

Wiksten’s gathered cap sleeve
Flour pleated collar tutorial on Sew, Mama Sew!

If you see any more tutorials, please let me know. However, don't expect to see a finished shirt project anytime soon as the temperature here has dropped drastically and I'm now all about corduroy and flannel!

Image: clevergirl.org

Jewelry from your jewel box dregs

I gave away a lot of jewelry at the yard sale. I didn't even bother putting prices on the pieces I gave up. Almost all of the items were things I had been given for free, other people's leftovers, so I felt fine with it. However, if you look around there are so many people creating businesses out of assembling old jewelry leftovers into new pieces.

Maybe I can inspire you to make some magic happen in your jewelry box before you become thoroughly fed up with everything you have.

This is a necklace clipping I've had in my scrapbooks for years. Unfortunately, I can't remember where it was from or how much the maker wanted for it. However, you see this necklace is just a grosgrain ribbon with D-ring belt attachments, like these, looped through it. Yes, the same kind of ribbon and buckles you can get at your local fabric store. I keep meaning to make one in silver but forget all about when I'm actually in the fabric store. Let me know if you make one though, ok?

Then there's this article by Justina Blakeney at Venus Zine, on making a necklace from excess jewelry that you have, the one earring from a set you keep holding on to, that broken necklace pendent, and those loose beads from that split bracelet. By the way, Venus Zine has a great DIY project section, you should check it out.

Other jewelry that shares this hod-podge aesthetic:



Images: Life is Examined, Venus Zine, Glamour, and SELF magazines.