Style Secret: Tie to Necklace

I saw this upcycle DIY jewelry idea on Pinterest and loved it! The necklaces are made from men's silk neckties. They're fun, quick, easy, and inexpensive to make. Click on the link for the tutorial on the blog Artstar by Aletha.

Here's how my first necklace turned out. I like how it can be worn at different lengths, for varied looks.

Style Secret: Resized Sweater

I’ve been noticing a lot of charming crochet detail in trend this year. I picked up this cute vintage sweater at the thrift store, on sale for 49 cents. A simple, five-minute alteration consisting of taking in the side-seams, transformed a size XL sweater vest into a lovely capped-sleeve top. =)

Style Secret: Too-Short Pants to Capris

On the deck of the Westerdam,
overlooking the Seattle pier.

The night before my latest trip I was last-minute shopping for a pair of navy pants, when I found a rack of twill pants on clearance. I didn't see any in 4R, the size I was looking for, but I did notice a pair in 6P. I decided to give them a try, even though I knew they would be too short. Sure enough, they fit well, except for the length. Having the idea to refashion the too-short pants into capris, I bought them and quickly hemmed them before packing them in my suitcase. Score!

Style Secret: Flower-Power Sandals!

I've never been thrilled with these white sandals--they're just blah. Last summer I wore them only a few times because they're so boring. They definitely need some panache before I start wearing them again this summer. 

To transform these shoes from boring to fabulous, I simply hot-glued two silk flowers onto the strap of each shoe. This refashion cost me $1 for the silk flowers and took five minutes--talk about easier than shopping for the perfect pair of shoes!!!

Now I can't wait to wear my fabulous flower-power sandals =)

Skirt to Blouse Refashion

Before: a full, mid-length, elastic-waist skirt.

I’ve been so inspired lately, reading numerous blogs of other “refashionistas.” Wow, there are countless neat ideas to be shared!  In the words of another blogger, there is a tremendous online community of “creative, crafty, environmentally aware, frugalnistas”!

My newest refashion interest comes from several skirt-to-blouse transformations that I’ve come across recently. My version didn’t turn out like either of my sources of inspiration because I made a lot of mistakes along the way that I had to salvage. I was intending to make the blouse with fluttery sleeves, but after mis-cutting them, I opted to go for a sleeveless halter look and use the fabric from the sleeves to make flowers on the collar. Although the final result is significantly different from what I originally visualized, I’m delighted how it turned out!

After: My new blouse!

Style Secret: Menswear to Maternity

I love clothes and fashion (what girl doesn’t?!). One of my favorite pastimes is refashioning a thrift-store find into a cute new outfit. I have so much fun repurposing something that’s been discarded into something fresh! Since I already have lots more clothes than I need, I recently had the idea to direct my upcycling hobby toward making maternity clothes for friends and the local pregnancy center. 

Here are several of my first projects transforming a typical men’s button-down shirt into a maternity shirt. Men’s shirts are great to work with, because they are roomy and long enough to cover a growing baby bump. I’m so happy how these refashions turned out; I only wish I had taken “before” and “during” pictures to better describe . . . 

This started out as a men’s large shirt. I carefully cut off the sleeves, in order to make the arm-holes smaller and to take in the bust. Originally I was going to re-size and reattach the sleeves, but I loved how the too-large shoulders created a cap-sleeve look, so I just left them. Then I cut the shirt into two pieces, right below the bust-line. I took in several inches along the side seams of the top half of the shirt, to make it more fitted. Then I gathered the bottom half of the shirt, and sewed the top and bottom halves back together. Voila!

This started out as a men’s medium short-sleeved shirt from GAP. I carefully cut off the collar, to give the shirt a different look. I also cut off the sleeves, in order to make the arm-holes smaller and to take in the bust. I gathered the back a little bit, to make the shirt slightly more fitted. Then I used the fabric from the sleeves to make the ruffles. =)