Sequiny goodness

This is what I wore to a friend's Christmas party tonight. The sequins made me feel fancy ;)

* Paige jeans
* Sequin shrug from Simons
* Bracelet (actually sold in the store as a napkin ring!)

Just an average snowy day in Canada

Rich getting creative for a Weardrobe contest. Fun but a bit chilly...

Gown: Shawn Alexander
Shoes: Guess
Axe: Fiskars

They don't make things like they used to

My mum's new-ish washer just broke (remember when washing machines lasted 30 years - oh, wait, like the one I currently have) so I got a surprise visit from her and her three loads of laundry yesterday morning - talk about role reversal!

It was great. We spent the morning chatting and finishing off two of my five unfinished sewing projects. I now have two new (to me) altered skirts for work, both of which belonged to my gran! I can't wait to take photos and show her how well they've held up. Talk about quality. They look brand new! The funny thing is that, as I was taking apart one of the skirts, I could see where my gran had altered it before me. Three generations in the same skirt (altered by three generations of sewers). These days, you would be lucky to have an item of clothing last a single season.

Yup, they just don't make things like they used to.

Retail Me Not!

Being a huge fan of online shopping, and wanting to buy some of the fun colourful tights that are so popular right now for my sister-in-law for Christmas, I thought I'd hop on We Love Colors to see if they deliver to Canada. They do! They have so many fun colours, it was hard to pick.

I had also heard about this other site that supposedly provides all kinds of promotional codes to your favourite online shops. I was skeptical but thought I'd try it out to see. I searched for "we love color" and a few options came up. I tried one and, wouldn't you know, it worked! I got free shipping!

The site is called Retail Me Not - try it out! I will definitely be checking in before checking out from now on. It's a good retail day.

Upcycling Ups and Downs

My mum just gave me several suits and skirts for me to upcycle - fun!

She and I are completely different shapes and heights (she is almost 5'9" with a slender build and no hips whereas I am 5'6" with a slender but curvier build) so I was stunned that all the skirts fit me perfectly! Just a little shortening required to update them and that's it! Although the shoulders on the blazers are a bit wide, one of the suits is definitely worth the effort to tailor and one of the jackets can be worn as-is, boyfriend style and belted.

I went to hem one of the skirts (red wool) only to discover that there are a bunch of random little holes all over the skirt - moths? Not salvageable one way or the other. Rats.

The suit that I'm in the middle of tailoring (sleeves are off and seams are pinned to bring in - tailoring a jacket is a huge job, btw, and not for the faint of heart) is of incredible quality. When I mentioned this to my mum, she slyly mentioned that this was, in fact, a third generation suit - it used to belong to my gran! Well, now I love it all the more. This also explains the amazing quality of the tailoring to begin with. The suit is made in England, 100% wool and a really classy light chocolate colour . They just don't make them like this anymore - at least not the suits I can afford! I can't wait to finish it! I will definitely post pictures when it's done. Here's the "during" pic.

Stay tuned...

Fun with animated GIFs

I've seen a few of these animated GIFs around lately and thought I'd try it out. Not bad for a first effort, I think. :)

I wonder how annoying this will get...

Liz's almost thrifted instead gifted top

My friend Liz had this top in a bag headed for goodwill. I snagged this and a long jacket that I'm hoping to up-cycle into a jacket and skirt. Thanks Liz!

Update on the shopping moratorium: it's going well so far! It's really gotten my creative juices flowing. I got some nice red wool crêpe to make a skirt suit. So far I've cut out all the fabric pieces but had to let my back rest before cutting out all the lining and interfacing pieces. I think I'll start with the skirt to get a sense of accomplishment before tackling the finicky looking jacket. I'll definitely post pictures of the finished projects!