Tank top as pattern for Flapper dress

I've been in seriously low depression these past three weeks; it took me forever to get to the sewing machine. With depression I had zero and I mean NO energy at all. A fog of a wet, damp cloud fell inside my head, weighing down my thoughts and exhausting me. After a batch of chocolate chip cookies and a homemade pizza, life is looking a little better!

Walmart sells cut-rate cheap fabrics, some of which I used for the flapper dress. To start, I folded the cloth and used a tank top half for a pattern at the fold. It was so easy: What a discovery!

I used chalk to trace the tank top shape on the fabric fold, then cut. Iced Coffee fueled the project!

You can see the neck and the arms as a one-piece.

Inserts were added to shape the sides.

A good 11" inches or so from the bottom needed to go to achieve my favorite "midi" length.

See the shape of the hemline - it worked! Woot!

Finally - I can smile in the sunlight again!

Muddy colored sheet to sweet pink kimono!

The thrift store sheet had a muddy purplish hue, and I needed practice sewing. When sheet met me, I seized my chalk, yardstick, and scissors and followed the instructions for the retro Magic Reversible Kimono. (Only one sheet meant only one-thickness kimono, not reversible, fyi). Then I made my own bias tape with which to trim the neckline and fill in the too-open back. (Cheap Wal-Mart discount material proved abundant, and the material's creamy shininess actually complements the pink). Yes, pink: I bleached that old sheet with a vengeance, then dyed it with a quick bath of RIT Petal Pink. If you leave it in the full 30 minutes, the pink is too "bubble-gum" and I wanted it a gentle pastel. So I just ran the sheet through the 15 minutes of RIT Petal Pink fame in the hot water cycle. And I love the result!!

Sweater hat

I made a hat out of a scrappy old moth-bitten sweater. Sorry - forgot to take a "before" photo, but in my defense the sweater was pretty ratty. It makes for a lovely little hat, though!

Horrid Caftan to Comfy Skirt

Old sheets from the thrift store were meant for practicing on, right? So practice I did, and attempted to sew a caftan. Each time I wore it, a kitten died, it was that horrid. What to do? Take scissors and chop, of course! And so I did, re-fashioning a skirt from the bottom half. First try, and it feels comfy. Sure, it's not perfect, but I never made a skirt before so I am fairly pleased with the result.

Taking it all off!

It's 85º F. outside and by golly, I need a sundress. This thrifted blue denim dress with the pin-tucks came down to my ankles, fercryinoutloud! And it's been in my closet for a decade, no less than, anyway... so what on earth could be done to improve this Blue Bad Boy? Let me take off the bottom, a full 11", and we shall take it from there. Well, I adore the way it came out! I don't think it needs anything else (though I was considering bleaching a section for the "ombre" effect). What do you think?

Another Happy Hat from old, torn sweatpants

Hats are so much fun to make, so satisfying to collect and to wear. Why is that? What is it about hats that makes them special? My daughter's sweatpants had a huge hole, and it was calling my name: "MAMA! Fix me!" Naturally, I felt compelled to rescue the poor sweatpants. I followed My Magic Mom's 'Cloche Hat Tutorial'. Only now do I realize I forgot to take photos of the pieces I traced and cut out; however, the aforementioned tutorial will show you exactly how I did it.

Fat Me and a Pocket Shift from an old sheet

Fat Me: Thank you, psychiatric meds. You've made my body a blob of yuk and I hate it. Psych meds, you've packed on fifteen or twenty pounds over the course of two months. Salads be damned! And I practically live on salads, greens, veggies... Seriously, I do not know how much less I can eat without stopping eating altogether. Betcha I'd still gain weight if I quit eating. Grrr... How much of the weight gain is due to menopause? The weight gain really bums me out and balloons my bum. No, it is NOT funny!! Grrr... Should I quit the psych meds and be skinny but depressed? At least I'd look good. Oh, Woe Is Me! Woe! And there's Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream sitting in the freezer, a virgin half-gallon, which I yearn to sully.

Pocket Shift from an Old Sheet: I posted about this briefly over at Refashion Co-op. Now here's the deal with the shift - I dyed the old sheet twice. The first time I used only one bottom of RIT Dye Black, and the cloth turned purple not black. Nice, but not great. So the second dye bath used RIT Dye Dark Brown and a half a bottle of black, and POW! The color punched up nice and rich. I'm happy with it. I added large pockets to the shift, plus I hand-stitched a silk tie around the neckline. The inspiration came from Annekata's page on Japanese tunics, which are simple yet adorable.
Albert 'photobombed' a couple times, for added charm.