Itty Bitty Leg Warmers

Itty bitty baby leg warmers made from dollar store knee high socks.

Super easy project.

See the details on my blog.

Cozy Winter Dress Refashion

At the thrift store, this dress went into my cart, out of my cart, into my cart, out of my cart.  And finally into my cart one last time.  I knew I had an idea for this school marm-ish dress but whether or not I could actually get it to look like my vision was anything but certain.  Luckily it turned out pretty much how I had hoped.  

You can see more details on my blog.

Crochet Hoop Earrings

I updated a pair of plain hoop earrings from my jewelry box with a little crochet embellishment.

Before

See the full tutorial on my blog.

Recycled Jeans Lunch Sack

From one pair of thrifted XL jeans . . . 

. . . to a lunch sack . . . 

I've written a (hopefully) easy to follow tutorial for this project - see my blog (part of 30 Days for 30 Dollars).

Pillowcase Apron

Supplies Needed:

1 thrifted pillowcase & 1 thrifted sheet

See the full tutorial on my blog.

Easy & Pretty Hair Ties . . .

. . . from old buttons

These cute hair ties started out as . . . 

99 cent elastic ties and buttons from my stash.  

See all the details here.

Turtleneck to Boatneck Dress Refashion

Hating things that are too tight or high on my neck, I don't wear turtlenecks, not even "mock" turtlenecks.  So the neckline on this thrifted horrible 80's dress (complete with shoulder pads) was definitely going to have to be changed. After removing the shoulder pads, of course, I changed it to a boatneck.  It's really pretty easy -  check out my blog to see the full tutorial.

Anthropologie Inspired: Crochet Spliced Loop

My knock-off version of Anthropologie's Crochet Spliced Loop ($58)

My version cost me 50 cents for the turquoise fabric which was a thrift store scarf.  All other materials were scraps that I had on hand.

Instructions on my blog.

Found In The Costume Dept.: Day 3

I think this might be one of my new favorite dresses.  I made it to wear to a dinner for my husband's company.  Made from a thrifted dress found in the Halloween costume section of my local thrift store.

See my blog for all of the details.

Found In The Costume Dept: Day 2

Day 2:  Prairie Style

This fabulous little number came complete with the bonnet and everything:

Alright, the bonnet got donated directly back to the thrift store.

Then it was really just a matter of removing a lot of what was going on - removed the sleeves, removed the ruffle around the neck, removed a bunch of extra length (hemmed to above the knee).

My new fun, prairie-style sundress.

twobutterflies

Found In The Costume Dept.

I admit I may get a little over-excited when my local thrift stores start to put out Halloween merchandise.  Not because I'm a huge fan of Halloween, or even generally dress up, but because they hide lots of great re-fashioning items in the "costume" section.  I swear they hoard lots of great vintage stuff in the back until Halloween rolls around.  Yes, you have to hunt through lots of dracula capes, 80's prom dresses, and itchy polyester but they hide some really good stuff in there.

So before Halloween hits, I'm showcasing some of my great "costume" finds and how to re-fashion them into something more wearable.

Day 1: 

Bridesmaid dress turned maxi-skirt.

I'm loving maxi skirts and dresses for fall - they keep your legs a little warmer than a short skirt or sundress.

Back

Front

Head on over to my blog to see how I did it.

Patchwork Capris

one pair of capris, fabric scraps, needle and thread, done!

twobutterflies

Pajama Bottoms To Floral Skirt

I spotted this picture on Pinterest a bit ago (sorry I don't know the original source) and thought, now how have I lived my whole life without a flowy, floral print maxi-skirt?  I just don't know.

So I hit the thrift stores looking for a soft floral print.

I found . . . 

 . . . pajama bottoms!

And the pajama skirt was born  - 

and a very poor quality photo of me wearing it.

See a full tutorial on my blog.

Floral Print Skirt Refashion

As soon as I got a peek of this floral print hanging on the rack at my local thrift store, I was pretty sure it would be coming home with me.  Didn't even matter what article of clothing it happened to be.  I was in love with that floral print.

When I pulled it off the rack, it was. . . 

A vintage housecoat.

For $1 - Sold!

This wasn't even going to be hard.

I cut out the zipper and cut off the top portion right below the arms.

Then I stitched up the new middle seam and used elastic thread to create a shirred elastic waist.

My lovely new skirt:

shirred elastic waist

twobutterflies

Ruffle Straps: A How-To

I cannot wear strapless dresses.  It's a fact of life that I've just had to come to terms with.  Until someone out there makes a comfortable, functional strapless bra, I'm just going to have to accept that I will be adding straps to any strapless dresses that I find.

Like this one:

a fun, little, prairie-style, maxi dress . . . but no straps

I bought it anyway, thrifted, it was only 2 dollars.

To go with the prairie style, I created some ruffly, eyelet straps with some eyelet trim that I had on hand.

See the full tutorial on my blog.

Two Tone Leather Bag: Leather Dye Testing

I picked up this all leather messenger bag from the thrift store for a few dollars.  But, the "vintage" bag came along with a few "vintage" stains.  And I have yet to find a good method of getting stains out of leather (if you know of one, please pass along).  You can see a couple of the stains on the front of the bag - there were also several on the back and on the shoulder strap.  

I'd heard good things about the leather dyes that you can purchase online, in a multitude of cool colors, but I didn't have the patience to order and wait for it to be delivered.

So I used Kiwi Leather Dye, which I found in the shoe department at Wal-mart.

After my dying experiment:

You can read my full review of this dye on my blog.

Steel Magnolias Dress Refashion

The Before of this dress (thrifted of course)  feels very 80's, Southern to me, a la Steel Magnolias (of course I could be wrong, having never actually been to the South; my impressions coming strictly from movies):

There was a whole lotta fabric going on here!  The picture doesn't even do it justice - the shoulder/collar things looked like they were swallowing me whole!

But this was such an easy fix.  I snipped off the collar, just cutting as close to the seam as possible.  Then cut off about 10 inches from the bottom and hemmed.

And now:

a great little "fit and flare"

twobutterflies

Exposed Zipper To Let Out A Dress

This little vintage dress, which I thrifted for $1 then hemmed to above the knee, was just a tad snug on me.  I could zip it up, but barely.  So to give myself just a little extra breathing room, I unpicked the zipper, opened up the fold.  And restitched the zipper in place, exposed.  This ended up giving me an extra 1/2 inch on each side of the zipper, just enough to actually allow me to breath when I wear it.  While this trick won't work if you have a dress that is way too small, it is a great way to just let it out a touch.

twobutterflies

Anthropologie Inspired: The Silken Jabot Pullover

Inspired by Anthropologie's Silken Jabot Pullover:

$98

My version cost under $5 - thrift store pullover + thrift store "silk" fabric

See my blog for a quick how-to.

My inspiration:  The Stripe Moss Cardigan from Anthropologie ($128)

My version:  total spent - 99 cents

Made from a 99 cent thrifted cardigan and some left-over variegated yarn that I had laying around.

If you don't have the right variegated yarn, try holding two strands of different colored yarn together.

The flowers are made using lazy daisy stitches and french knots in the center.