Ethical Clothing and a Skirt and Top Revamp

I posted last week about some items I had in my sewing fabric box that would be made into a dress. These are the items...

Now it is difficult to see but the skirt is long and has a rather silly ruffle that goes a third of the way down the front and a big bow at the waist.  The top has a small hole in the side and the straps a very low ( obscenely low) at the front, if I wore it as it is you would probably see my stomach! So I had thought of making a dress but as I was unpicking the ridiculous ruffle I thought I would do skirt and top as that way I could still wear the top with jeans if I wanted to.   I chopped a good 9 inch off the top of the skirt and cut the skirt front all the way down the front once the ruffle was removed so that the seam I had to stitch didn't look odd.  I added  quarter inch elastic to make a new waistband by just folding over the top of the skirt, inserting elastic which I had stitched to correct waist size by trying first and then just sewing by zig  zag taking care not to catch on the elastic as I went. ( This is very quick)  The skirt looked better a;already without the bow and ruffle.

I fixed the hole in the top with a bit of invisible stitching, chopped of about 2 inch  off the straps, reshaped the front of the top by cutting then hand stitching on the inside so that the stitches didn't show.  (I thought it was a bit too pointy towards the shoulders before.)

Here it is with a belt and shoes ( it seems strange to take a picture without shoes!)

It is wearable now. I have to say when I first saw it I thought what can I do with that. Then it didn't take much to get rid of the fussiness of it.  Another holiday outfit for free!  (Need some sun on those legs though)

I read The Thrift book over the last two days which came in at the library from my order last week. It covers lots of things most of which I do already and I did enjoy it but I did disagree with her take on clothes buying.  She admitted throughout the book how middle class she is and how fortunate she has been but goes on to rant about people buying clothes at Primark and the implications of this.  

Ethical Clothing

I do agree that people should be paid a living wage and child labour should never be used, her argument was if you buy cheap you are supporting this and if you pay top whack you can sleep easy as you have done your bit.  That is all very well for a middle class journalist/author to say but what she didn't mention is that many of the pricey shops also use workers overseas in this way and I don't feel families on low incomes should be made to feel guilty for doing the best they can to clothe their children or themselves.  

I agree it is obscene to go in every Saturday and throw away clothes just because they are cheap to make way for new, but for a lot of people they shop there out of necessity.  

Just out of interest I think it is quite difficult to determine which shops are ethical or not, I had a look around the internet and found some conflicting suggestions as to which were the best places to shop.  One site put GAP quite high but on two others they were near the bottom, I suppose it depends on the loyalties of the site owners!  I did find a list on Ethical Consumer which puts M&S  at the top, Primark are near the bottom but I might add so are Wallis, John Lewis and River Island so it is not so much about what you pay.

I think the best way to be ethical about your clothing is to make it last, recycle, swap and make your own.  If you need to buy cheap do so when you need to, but not every week! 

I would also like to add my mother in law got me the above skirt (Which is GAP) in the St Lukes charity shop sale last year for 50p! The top also from a charity shop I bought for £2 and it's organic cotton.

Four frugal things today

This week I have been reading 'Divergent' by Veronica Roth  and I'm sorry to say  I'm not enjoying it at all.  Sorry mainly because this is a book I bought and usually I try to get as much as I can from the library ( we do all pay for the library you know through our council tax so get using them!) but his time based on the good reviews I bought it.  It is dull I feel and yes I know it's aimed at the teen audience but so was the Hunger Games and it had  a good story and likeable characters.
So on to frugal thing number one, I ordered four books from the library online this one...

  and this one...

and these two...

                          

The Thrift Book and Fractured are not even in at the library yet but they are on order so you can still reserve them.  So that has saved me some money and using the library is recycling remember.

Frugal thing two is lunch at home we always do this but I know some people like to go out for dinner on Sundays and if it's five pound a head tell themselves its cheap. Well that is fine if that is what you like but it is not cheap, you don't usually get desert with that and there are drinks on top.  I think for a family of four that is still working out quite expensive.  We like to save meals out as a treat but even then I usually feel our cooking at home is better.  I think being a vegetarian also means me and my son don't have that much choice and I'm sat thinking well I could have done better than that.  If that sounds like you maybe you should cut down on the meals out.

Frugal thing three is a walk with the dogs, the sun made an appearance this afternoon and we had a nice walk I actually took off my jacket because I got warm, that has to be a good thing. 

Frugal thing four is after sorting through my box of fabric I found two items that I think I will turn into a dress  this week they are straight out of the box so that is why they are crinkly..

I also had a little bit of red fabric, so after yesterdays post I thought maybe three panels in the dress but looking at the colours in that skirt I think another panel would just be too much.  I have pinned where the straps need adjusting on the top and I will need to remove the big bow and ruffle from down the front of the skirt, it also has pocket but there is a join beneath so I think they will need to stay.  

So that will keep me busy for a few days. I am swimming tomorrow evening so I doubt it will be finished by then.

Spring Fashion Ideas

I had a little look on the desigual website today and found this little dress that I think would lend itself  very well to using up fabric.  You could choose three of your fabrics that are not quite enough to make anything with on their own, or you could look in the charity shop.

 I think I would make it longer as I want to be bare legged in the summer and that is too short as it is without tights or leggings I think.  I also think I would make the top panel a little bit shorter so that when you add darts to the top of the shift dress you don't have an interruption where the two panels meet.  I can't see any darts on the one in the photo but I would want it fitted with a central back zip.
I also think the colours of fabric you  use do not have to be similar you could use contrasting ones.  I think there are lots of possibilities here and I am going to have a look at what I can do.  If you use jersey fabrics there would be no need for fasteners you could just pull it on over your head.
So that dress is item number one I'm going to make for little or no cost ( a small cost for zip maybe).  I did say I had enough clothes for my holiday but that means I won't get to sew anything so scratch that! As long as it is very little or no cost it's ok.
The other item I would like to make is a black jacket casual but ok if I was dresses up, I don't want a formal jacket and I already own a black leather jacket so something more suited to spring.  I saw this but I don't like the shiny parts on it...

My mother in law works in a charity shop and said they are having a sale  around now everything 50p or £1 so if I can just get a larger black jacket in a cotton maybe I could come up with something I like.  ( The jacket above is £48 and the dress £78)  I will put these two images in my ideas book so that I don't forget.

I'm going to go and have a look now if there is anything I can come up with for idea number one.

Spring project ideas

This week has felt more like spring is here despite the strange smog/Sahara sand that has been hanging in the air.  The lighter evenings and less need for heating has had us thinking about holidays and doing the garden.  We have removed the children's trampoline as they did not use it at all last year even though they said they would so we replaced the net.  The net has just perished and left it looking like an eye sore, so my husband took it all down.  They did not even mention it was gone!  We have decided a pergola and seating area will look nice in that corner of the garden but we do not want to pay too much for this.
My husband is very good at building and repairing stuff so he has been weighing up whether or not it is worth making the pergola and bench or buying a second hand one from eBay.  Sometimes the price of wood means it is not worth starting from scratch but you can pick up some good pieces if people are moving or bored with them that might just need retreating and a bit of attention.
I found this gorgeous idea on instructables ....

Follow the link above to see the original and full instructions

How fabulous is that bench!  It is made from ordinary dining chairs that have had their padded seats removed,  secured with batons at the back, arms added and panels across the seat tops.  This is what the chairs looked like before..

I'm sure a lot of people have old furniture in their family that gets thrown out or donated as it is not the current fashion.  If you have something similar it could be something you  could use in your own garden rather buying expensive garden furniture.  If you are not skilled enough to tackle the arms I'm sure it would be fine without and the straight bits of wood you could have cut for you at the DIY shop.  ( Make sure you measure correctly first) It would also need to be treated with appropriate outdoor protection.

I also think this piece of furniture would look good inside the house, you could have thick foam cut  (Dunhelm Mill do this, I've had it for seating before) and make a cover for it.

If you have not looked on the instuctables site have a look now there are ideas for all kind of things.

Alice dress finished

I went shopping for the fabric for my fancy dress costume yesterday and I didn't find any cheap sheets like I thought I might.  In fact the fabric ended up costing me £10 altogether (not very frugal at all!) but I had made my mind up on what I wanted to make and decided I didn't want to be trying to rush something on Thursday evening and then feel stressed about it.
I bought 2 metre of poly cotton and just under a metre of white poly cotton, plus 1 and a half metre of dress net.  I started it last I just measured my chest and from shoulder to waist and marked it out on the fabric then it was just a case of trying it on and adjusting using pins...

I try on inside out then mark with pins if its a bit big, I also mark front darts with pins while I am wearing it and the back ones when it is laid flat.  I left it a bit big around the waist as I want it to pull on over my head without the need for zips and fastenings.  It won't matter when it is finished as it will pull in at the waist with the apron I will make.

The skirt was just two long rectangles at the right length, I pinned the dress net all along it ready for stitching with a few gathers ( it will get gathered further when attached to the bodice). The sleeves I just cut out too big for the arm holes so I could put pleats at the shoulder so they were full and made a band for them to fit into at the bottom of the sleeve.  The apron is just rectangles made up once the dress was finished and I could see how big they needed to be.  Then a band long enough to go across the front with enough to tie at the back. 

I also made a band for my head.  My children think I look ridiculous! Well I'm not intending on going shopping like it so they needn't worry!  I better make sure I don't need anything from the shops on Friday  after work as I want to get out of the car and straight into the house at home time.

Dress up inspiration

I need an outfit for dressing up next Friday, it has to be book themed.  I didn't want anything too outrageous as I have to work in it all day so I have been having a look and thought maybe something like this...

I'm thinking Alice not the other strange characters

(love those stripy tights)

So I'm off on a little trip to the fabric shop tomorrow to see how cheap I can get some pale blue and white cotton.  I may also try Primark because if they have inexpensive sheets it will be a cheaper option.  I have bought sheets from there before when I had to make a large banner it works out better value.  I may come back having not found a thing so then I will have to rethink but I have all week if the plan changes.  I had not planned on buying any more fabric just yet but I need a costume and I figure it will probably come out every year if I make it (around book weeks that is, I don't just randomly dress up as odd characters)

Alice in Wonderland was first published in 1865.

Floral dress revamp finished

I have finished altering the floral dress I showed the other day but I still think it needs something maybe a belt.  I will also probably wear a little navy t-shirt under it as our weather is rarely that warm.  I will see what else comes to mind but my husband likes it as it is now and it is less like a dress for a wedding which is what it felt like before.

I didn't like these little buttons, so they came off.

I added these two odd buttons from my stash, one is brownish grey the other blue.

I carefully cut off the sleeves and made two little bands from the chopped off bottom ( which I shortened quite a bit) I edged around the sleeves then used the bands to pull in the fabric at the sides of the chest.

After

This picture was taken in the evening with lights so colours are not that good.

I do think it needs a thin blue belt I will keep a look out in the charity shop. 

It will get some wear now in whatever combination I decide.  I know some people will probably have preferred it before but it was too dressy for day and too formal for anything other than a summer wedding I thought.  The main thing is to make things work for us I think, if you can't do anything with your clothes then pass them on to charity or friends/eBay, but if you can then why not try something.   I will try and remember to show it worn in different ways.  Total cost = free . Always the best deal.

Before