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!

Black, White and Red

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.

Black suit: custom made in Vietnam
Red and black resin necklace: Joan Rivers Collection
White tank: Smart Set
Black patent wedges: Aerosoles

Finished

Kinda looks like suede now I think. I added some awesome ceramic buttons and voila! I might have redyed it again to make the colour really really dark but I kind of like the way it looks now. We'll see.

Shopping moratorium and first dye job

On September 13, I challenged myself to a 6-month shopping moratorium. "Why in god's name would anyone do that?", you may ask. Well, I'd like to know that I'm not that much of a shopaholic and I know Rich is secretly excited that he won't have to worry about my shopping habits for a few months.

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 trench 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 basement 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!