Velvet and Lace - a Quick Dress Re-Fashion

I purchased this little blue velvet dress at a garage sale this summer for my daughter to wear for the holidays.  I pulled it out of the closet yesterday and it seemed a little, well, ho-hum so I decided to tweak it a little.  I pulled out that handy bag of lace trim I got at the antique store (I'm telling you, the best $10 I've spent) and my needle and thread and got to work.

I trimmed the long sleeves up and made them into slightly poofy cap sleeves and decided on one of the lace collars in my bag o' trims.  The collar was discolored around the neck area which I tried to remove but my usual tricks (vinegar, fels naptha, borax) failed so I decided to go with it and dunked the entire in the rest of the morning's coffee to dye it.  I sewed the collar on, leaving a space in the back to make it easier for her to put her head through.  I'll add a decorative button there to finish it off.

And here we go!  I think it looks much sweeter now, and it was so easy! 

(much easier than getting E to sit still for a photo)

Another holiday project checked off!  Yay!

Pillowcase Shopping Bags

A little something I made for myself recently...pillowcase shopping bags.  I found the wonderfully clear instructions on Spider Woman Knits, and being in need of some new bags, thought I'd give it a whirl.  I had a few vintage pillowcases in my fabric stash, so I dragged them out along with my long-neglected sewing machine and gave it a go.  I'm not an accomplished machine-sewist so my bags probably took me 30 minutes, instead of the 15 that it took Spider Woman.  Still, that's a pretty small investment. 

Each pillowcase is doubled so they're quite sturdy, and the straps are wide so they don't cut into your hand when you're carrying a heavy load.  I packed a few milk jugs into mine to see how they'd fare and they held the weight with ease. 

Garage sale season is upon us, and you should be able to pick up some pillowcases for a pittance.  I really liked that this tutorial uses all of the pillowcase...no scraps left over to add to the fabric stash.  Yay!  They'll wash up better than many of those store brand bags, too.  Double yay!  (besides who wants to advertise for some store when they're shopping, anyway?)

I think they'll be great for shopping, for hitting the farmer's market (does it bother anyone else that some of the farm stands hand out plastic bags?), for the beach, or even as a diaper bag.  I'd love it if you'd let me know if you make one.  Spider Woman even has a Flickr group set up for showing off your bags, here.  So give it a try!