Binning, Winning and Buttoning up for Easter

Hello Re-fashion Co-op readers! This is my first post and I am so happy to have been invited to join!

Over the weekend I made my second ever trip to the Goodwill Outlet, a.k.a - "the bins."   For those of you who are unfamiliar, the bins are the last stop for unsold Goodwill items. Everything is dumped into large blue bins, to be sorted through by bargain hunters. While some items have set prices, clothing is sold by the pound!

My friend, Tatyana, and I have found some really great deals in our two trips so far!

Binning!

On Saturday's trip I ended up spending $8.65 on 10 items, which averages to just under $0.87 per item. So today's refashion cost me under $1.

I found this lavender men's dress shirt, (Van Heusen, I believe. Forgot to take a pic of the tag) in perfect condition.

I needed an outfit for Easter dinner at my dad and stepmom's house and knew that this shade of purple would be perfect. 

After proper laundering (machine washable..score!!). The first step was to get rid of the sleeves. This was a job for Jack the (seam) Ripper!

The color varies throughout my pictures, based on lighting conditions. 

This was a long and tedious process. Especially when dealing with large men's shirts, it means a whole lot of arm seam to rip. Seriously, it took me a couple hour-long television programs to get through it all.

Following the removal, I hemmed the hole, using the folded bit of material left over. No pins needed.

Men's collars are much too big to look properly feminine on a dress, so that needed to be removed as well. I used nice sharp scissors to cut at the fold.

Then, with arms and collar removed, it was time to put it on "The Body" inside out.

After getting it properly straightened out, I pinned to fit The/my Body.

Once pinning was complete, I stitched along my pinned lines:

I tried it on to assess fit, then took it in just a little more on one side. Then, I tried it on again and it fit, so I removed the excess fabric with my pinking shears:

Easter Sunday, I added a cute belt, aubergine leggings, and my Gucci jellies. The result was not bad for a shirt that cost less than a dollar!

Yes, I should have ironed this. I was being lazy. 

Check out the extended version with more after pics and some online bargain hunting advice on my blog at: www.hemsandhahas.com 

Thanks for reading!