I found this dress at the Salvation Army a couple weeks ago for about $4. I fell in love with the colors but was not so happy about the waistline, the elastic cuffs on the sleeves, and the high neckline. it was very unflattering.

So I brought the waist up to empire length (straight below my bust... tends to be a very flattering style on plus size women), shortened the sleeves, and changed the style of the bust to a plunge v-neck. Using a ribbon constructed from the material of the dress, I wrapped around the new waistline and created a buttonhole in the lower center of the bust. Then I threaded both ends through and around and tied them. Hard to explain but its a technique I start using a while ago that seems to draw the eye upward and away from my stomach.

I also love the diagonal lines of the dress and how the lines are interrupted by the flow of the fabric.

The only thing I dislike about the dress is that the fabric is completely synthetic and not very breathable... But the color and pattern are so fun that I forget that I'm just a little overheated!

Much better, although a strange picture of me. I think The Manflesh was getting tired of taking pictures of me.


Here is the unfortunate before--see, entirely unflattering. There needs to be more going on up top to break up the expanse of the lighter pink.



it took me only about 25 minutes to do the alterations. Moral of the story: thrift stores rock!

this is my first one but i know yall have seen about 1000 of them... but its been on my to do list and its a bit hit when i wear this around town so apparently they've never seen one

Made from my Grandpa's old ties

I learned a lot while making these.

Pictures of me in them proved to be too embarrassing to even look at. I also realized I sewed on the back pockets asymmetrically so I will have to change them before I wear them in public. Although, its summer anyway.
The back pockets are the gray fabric with red lace on it. The side pockets are red plaid fabric but they stick out too much and make my hips look ridiculous so I'm going to take them out.
The fabric is a very lightweight denim and I didn't know how to do a real jeans fly so I just did a zipper... the 7 inch zipper was ridiculously long but I was too nervous to shorten it. Afraid I'm going to break my machine needle.
um what else... I didn't use a pattern... and I probably should have. so now I have a pattern and am going to make these again.

like I said, I learned a lot.

Not sure where this goes but I'm sure we all have a little more fabric than our SO's/roommate's preference... I am moving to a new apartment in July and I have a ****ton of fabric. in fact, a lot of it is clothes that I want to reconstruct but there's also a lot of sizeable fabric (not just little scraps). Mostly all of it is from thrift stores as I can't afford to shop at the only fabric stores in my town (Jo Ann and Hobby Lobby) so I have this feeling in me to save all the fabric I can...

But I just have too much. And there's not enough room for it, the rest of my stuff, and the bf's stuff. Getting a storage locker is not possible and my parents don't live close enough for me to store the stuff there.

so what I need is advice on how to make myself part with some fabric.

I'd say I probably have 6-10 large plastic tubs worth of it (although its pretty much all on the floor and in corners and my closet). maybe more.
And I'd say I only have room for a closet's worth and possibly 1-2 tubs.

Thanks for any help

you know those furry seatbelt pads?? My mom gave me her old one because she didn't need it anymore so i cut it up and handsewed it onto my phone case.
i'm always dropping my phone and i'm always worried about something happening to it even with the protective case. so I sewed faux fur on it. still get a bit worried but feel a bit more safe and a "lottle" bit more fabulous!

 
I have wanted a biiiiig slouchy pleather bag forever. pleather doesn't last as long, true, but I didn't want it to get ruined if it suddenly started raining with no warning, and it seems to do that a lot where I live.

made this GINORMOUS bag out of a pair of size 6 pleather pants that I got from goodwill for $6. the bottom is a rectangle made of two layers of pleather and a layer of heavy interfacing inbetween, the lining is bright red, and it has a double pull black zipper. the strap is long enough to be worn cross-body for when my shoulder hurts, but is not so long that it hangs to low if I just have it on one shoulder. since they were only size 6, i had to add in a large panel in the back so the back pockets of the pants ended up on the back side but that works fine for me. All the pockets are still functional, as is the zipper from the fly  but not the button. you know how that front pocket on the right side always has that little pocket inside? well that's perfect for my chapstick

it has 60 pyramid studs on the outside but i am planning to add more. I bought the last two packs that hobby lobby had (only 30 per pack...wtf) and i usually just buy studded belts but there are currently none in the thrift stores and the cheapest one around here is a walmart belt for $8... i might wait for hobby lobby to get more. i'll see. for now, this gets the point across.

I didn't use a pattern--didn't really need one. just sort of winged it. based the size loosely on a messenger bag i have.

I know how to make a basic cardigan, but no experience with draping at all (besides the fact that I love drapey clothing lol)... Halfway decent sewing skills.

I know I would need quite a soft slouchy fabric... (probably would cost a ton at jo-ann... but i'll save up i guess)

Any advice please and thanks?

I saw this shirt on ebay and looooved it. But I have no idea how to make it?? It looks pretty simple, but I am not sure what that technique is...

any help would be greatly appreciated  

Edit: oops i thought i did, sorry!

Some things I've made lately

I altered this long sleeve grey shirt tonight. Used to be a v-neck so I made it off the shoulder, and sewed on these fabric rose petals using some decorative white stitching. The fabric rose petals were bought on clearance at JoAnn just after Valentine's Day


This is the skull dress. Found it as a huge long tee shirt in the night gown section of the salvation army--cost me about $3. Pictures of it on me have proved a little too racy for the internet. I am not comfortable with that. But I look hot in it. It camouflages my worst features (huge stomach, huge butt...well that's impossible but it does draw attention away from my butt which is a start) and highlights my best features (chest, neck, and the smallest part of my waist)... I looove the neckline. It does show a substantial amount of my bra, but I have a red lace bra that looks good with it and this is not an everyday dress. In fact I think the only places it would be ok to wear this dress are concerts and parties. I also love that the way I sewed it, with the black back piece is slightly bigger than the red front piece, so when its on me, you can see the black outlining me on the front of the dress, and it makes me look smaller. It falls about mid thigh and fits me like a glove. The black part is plain stretchy thin jersey fabric. The red part used to be a huge (3x) men's shirt from the thrift stores. I know it looks like an Ed Hardy design but its not... I forget the brand. This dress was a pain in the ass for getting it to fit. Shirring the back top helped. Onto pics! Btw the white piece of paper behind the bust in one pic is to show you the detail. I know it looks like the ribbon is all wonky--it isn't when its on me. Its just not stretched out when its not on my chest lol




This plain hot pink tank top had a huge hole in the bust so I had stopped wearing it till I figured out what to cover it with. Been on a sequin kick lately so when I found this silver fabric in my stash, I got excited (I also used this fabric to cover a pair of flats). I cut out the heart shape and appliqued it on. Note that it is very hard to take pictures of my body when I live alone, so if the shape looks wonky, that's why. :/ Regardless, I love this top and I have gotten a lot of compliments on it. Somebody asked me if it was from Victoria's Secret!


I found a tote bag at goodwill for a dollar. It was purple and had a star applique on the front. So I cut it out and stitched it on this plain gray t shirt that I had. For reference, I also resized the shirt-- It was too big .


So I was about to fall asleep late one night a couple weeks ago and I had an idea for waist/midriff belt. Instead of writing it down like a normal person, I had to make it. I took apart the waistband of a pair of gray trousers, like the type business people wear. I had them lying around. They were a size 22 from the Bitten by Sarah Jessica Parker line and since I lost weight I have been meaning to take them in but haven't gotten around to it in almost a year. And taking in a pair of size 22 pants to a size 13 is not the easiest feat in the world, because of oversize pockets, pleating, and high rises. Anyway, I fit the waistband to my midriff, just under my bust, and then cut long strips from one of the pant legs and sewed them in tight ruffles along the length of the belt. it currently closes with the pants original hidden hook closure. I added a fake flower for focal point. If you're interested, the belt took me about 25 minutes and I used what I had on hand.



Coral/pink long sleeve shirt-- using scraps of leopard print fabric from my stash, I appliqued the word love and added longer cuffs to the sleeves because I adore super long sleeves.

This was a huge skirt I used to wear a lot when I was 50 pounds heavier. It was a size 20 with a drawstring band and the brand name was White Stag, and I had gotten it from the Salvation Army for about $2.50 or $3.00 a couple years ago.

I made it into this cute twirly dress while watching Coco Before Chanel but I didn't start making it till halfway through. Pinning, cutting, machine stitching, and several fittings took about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
With the exception of cutting the waistband off (to utilize the drawstrings, cut out the tag, and construct a bust for the dress), I did not cut any other fabric on the dress. Its all taken in using the center column and using my wide whipstitch.
This middle raised part is hand stitched all the way down the center of the bust and abdomen area.
The straps are made from the draw strings, have 3 little beads on front, and I crossed them over in back so that they form an x on my back.

In addition, I added cups in the bust so that o didn't have to wear a bra with this in summer. When its hot I like as little fabric touching my body as possible.  The cups are from an old bra I never wore.

The only thing I have left to do is put in a hidden zipper on the side because its a bit hard to get on and off, do to the fact that its not stretchy in the least.

Oh well, I am in love with it. Sorry for the shoddy pic

Once again, my obsession with sewing robs me of sleep.

Also, I have no idea how to do non separating zippers. Help?