I was in the mood for a bit of a power suit today. I'm hoping to get as many days of skirt wearing in as possible before it becomes essential to wear tights or trousers to work.
OK, there would have to be some rules. Here's how it has ended up:
1. No new clothing or accessories purchases for 6 months (starting September 13, 2009, ending March 13, 2010)
2. Exception 1: I get to buy a bag I've been watching for on Etsy.com for months, if it becomes available (one must have their limits!)
3. Exception 2: I can spend gift certificates or gifts of cash on whatever I like, including clothing and accessories
4. Exception 3: I can DIY (sew, dye) during this period
That's basically it! So, I'm more than a week onto my challenge and, so far, still holding up fine. I think things will start getting more challenging around Christmas and February sales. Wow, six months is a long time...
This brings me to my first DIY project since the challenge. I have been wanting to try dying something for the longest time and when I noticed my cotton Old Navy trench getting a little discoloured I thought it would be the perfect thing to try.
I got myself 4 tins of Dylon #7 (coffee), mixed those into a pint of boiling water with 4oz of salt. Put water in a big pot on the stove. Washed my tre
nch and left it damp. Added the dye mixture to the now hot water on the stove. Put the trench in and stirred it and poked it with the water on high heat for 20 minutes. Rinsed the trench until the water ran clear and hung it up in the ba
sement to dry. That's it! Easy!
I have to say that I'm stunned at how well the fabric took the dye! The polyester thread shows up as contrast and I need to add new buttons (and I wish I had thought to dye a bit of cotton to make a belt!) but I'm pleased with how it turned out. I can't wait for it to dry so that I can post a picture of the final product!
I decided to try my luck at another Weardrobe.com contest entry - this one's for a $50 gift certificate to H&M (not sure if I'm actually eligible since it's an American site and I'm Canadian - or if the gift certificate would end up being applicable in Canada for that matter) but what the heck. The theme this time is Fall Florals. I have also started discovering more about layers in Photoshop and can now do these nifty montages. Cool eh?
Fall is definitely in the air now and with the cooler mornings comes slightly warmer dress... Time to dig out the pants, tights, layers and boots that have been stowed away all summer!
