When shopping for clothes I like to comb the clearance racks. Similar to thrift shopping I don't worry about seasons or sizes but look for fabrics, patterns or details that I like. My tip? When you find something you like,
buy TWO!
It may sound expensive but trust me, I often get better deals than if I had purchased at a thrift store. For example, I recently shopped the final clearance at JCPenney with an additional $10 off a $25 purchase coupon. I got seven things for $25 - $10=$15. That's a little more than $2 per item... and it's new, and usually more on trend than secondhand. Several items will be altered and a few were sweaters that were out of season for the store, but will be perfect for me this fall.
When you buy new, you can also often find more than one item and there is typically more stock of the extra large sizes, which is perfect for altering/refashioning clothing because it means you have more fabric to work with. It also solves the problem I mentioned in my last post of finding fabric to match the item you are trying to alter and almost always less expensive than buying additional fabric and notions.
For example, I found the following dresses on clearance at Forever21.com in their maternity section. (Tip: if you click on their maternity section and do a search for "maternity" at the top of their site you will get different results so be sure to try both.) Each dress was on clearance for less than $10 so I bought two of each. Compared to the dresses I was eyeing in maternity stores this was a great price.
For many, this first dress would work well as is, but for me it needed to be longer. This is probably the most basic and frequent alteration I have to make.
So from one of the dresses, I cut two equal width strips of fabric, pieced them together and gathered the top to make a ruffle. Then I sewed it onto the bottom of the other dress. Because the fabric matches perfectly, it's less obvious that it was ever altered. Plus, I still have plans for the remainder of the dress... as you will see in my next post.
This next dress needed a little more work. The color was so beautiful and I loved the draping, sheer over-layer. In addition to being too short as usual, it was also cut too deep in the front and the back and a positively shapeless and unflattering top altogether.
I used the bottom of both layers of one dress to add some length to the other dress. Then I used the knit layer of the rest of the skirt to make a cap-sleeve camisole tee (technically a half-tee as it doesn't go over my belly). To do this I just traced around the front and back of one of my SHADE shirts and sewed the two pieces together . I cut the rest of the sheer layers into two long strips and pieced them together to make the sash. To finish the sash I got to use my new rolled hem presser foot.
I liked the effect of the sash both in adding to the draping of the skirt as well as giving some shape to the waist/bust area of the dress.
So, there's nothing groundbreaking about anything I did, and that is exactly the point. Altering an item for modesty or making clothes fit and work for your style shouldn't be intimidating because it's usually very simple and can save you a lot of money and help you feel more comfortable in what you're wearing. Sometimes you just have to get over cutting into that dress and going for it... which I admit, is easier to do the less expensive the item was to begin with. Start with your sister's free cast-offs and work up your confidence to try other things.
Just one more example of using two items to make one that fits the need. I found this shirt/tunic on clearance for $7 and, of course, bought two. Again, I used the bottom half of one to elongate the other. The busy, floral print hides the seam pretty perfectly.
The leftover top half is intended for a dress for my daughter with the pintucking detail that I am looking forward to incorporating into a bodice.
During my first pregnancy I wore my regular pants for a long time using the rubber band trick. Now I find myself longing for the comfort of the full belly panel even before I'm truly showing. There are lots of cute maternity jeans/pants out there... even designer versions, but I also noticed a few DIY tutorials and thought I'd give it a try.
I recently saw a love/hate conversation about skinny jeans on Facebook and I had to laugh because those opposed to skinny jeans in general would certainly be appalled by my pregnant channeling of Tweedle-Dee or Tweedle-Dum here. I say to each his own. Whatever style you like, give your pregnant self the gift of being able to breathe and move without constantly hitching up your pants!
Remember the top half of that blue dress from the last post? Here it is with short sleeves and a new, maxi length skirt. I'd seen the fabric on clearance for a few dollars a yard and just guessed that the color might be close. The material for the skirt is slightly darker and is not knit but a silky, lightweight, polyester blend of some sort. I just sewed the whole piece matching both selvedge ends into a tube and then held it over my tummy draping it different ways and pinning. I decided to do a double box pleat in the front and just slight gathering around the sides and back to avoid too much poof, but still being able to stretch with the knit as I put it on. Then I hemmed it and made yet another sash to help define the "waist" area. Maxi dresses are really popular right now and I have been wanting to find a maxi that actually was floor length on me. To be honest, this is not the most practical dress with my toddler who likes to grab hold and hang on the skirt, so I don't know how often I will wear it but I do like the feel of the silky long skirt brushing against my legs as I walk.
This tunic is from a pre-maternity alteration that I did. I used the skirt from one and added a yoke to top to make a long slip to wear under the tunic so that it looks like a dress. I can also wear the tunic over pants and leggings. I had this leftover top part sitting around along with a bunch of the grey fabric I'd bought on clearance and used for the yoke. I decided to try another maxi dress. This time I gathered the skirt mostly across the front and left the sides and back to hang straight. Without the sash it hangs straight down. As I look at this in the pictures I've decided the top needs a little more work to fit a little better and be more flattering as well, but in a very short time, using leftover stuff in my stash I have another option.
So from one of the dresses, I cut two equal width strips of fabric, pieced them together and gathered the top to make a ruffle. Then I sewed it onto the bottom of the other dress. Because the fabric matches perfectly, it's less obvious that it was ever altered. Plus, I still have plans for the remainder of the dress... as you will see in my next post.
This next dress needed a little more work. The color was so beautiful and I loved the draping, sheer over-layer. In addition to being too short as usual, it was also cut too deep in the front and the back and a positively shapeless and unflattering top altogether.
I liked the effect of the sash both in adding to the draping of the skirt as well as giving some shape to the waist/bust area of the dress.
So, there's nothing groundbreaking about anything I did, and that is exactly the point. Altering an item for modesty or making clothes fit and work for your style shouldn't be intimidating because it's usually very simple and can save you a lot of money and help you feel more comfortable in what you're wearing. Sometimes you just have to get over cutting into that dress and going for it... which I admit, is easier to do the less expensive the item was to begin with. Start with your sister's free cast-offs and work up your confidence to try other things.
I found this cream colored dress at Forever 21. The elastic waist made it a possible to add more room in the front, and the tiered bottom made it ideal for adding the length I often need because I am fairly tall. (I'm accustomed to doing this, preggie or not, but when your belly sticks out making things flare out, dresses seem even shorter.) Often I need to take a larger size in around the bust and shoulders, but didn't need to with this dress.
The hardest part was actually finding a matching fabric to add another tier to the bottom. I found something that was the right color and similar weight, but it was a crinkled texture. It was close enough and the difference is barely noticeable and even a nice detail.
This dress from the clearance rack of Charlotte Russe was already a patchwork style, so I just grabbed a small piece of fabric from my stash that had a floral print in similar colors and added a panel at the bottom. It was an extra large size, so I did need to take this one in just a little under the armpit to the high waist area. Again, the empire waist cut and the adjustable ties make this one work with room to grow.
Disclaimer: I don't consider myself a fashion expert by any stretch of the imagination and am not trying to attempt that with this blog. I do love taking hand-me-downs and clearance rack finds and making them work for my own style. A special thanks to my uber-talented photographer sister who snapped this pics of me while our children ran wild around our ankles. Not only does she really know her craft but she helped get a few normal looking pictures out of me while the whole time I really felt like this:
