This was a fun one, when I opened the package from Erin in WI. The color, the country look of it - it was overwhelmingly wrong, but I wasn't quite sure where to go with it. "Hi Marisa - I'm an avid thrifter and have been heading to thrift stores ever since college when I realized I could get more than just my Halloween costume there. I love searching through the racks and finding designer gems or just finding that perfect piece. This piece was, well, perfect. Perfect to send you to work your magic on. I can't wait to see what you do to this!! Thanks for the inspiration, Erin."
The whole dress was stitched with dark black thread and it was super pronounced at the collar.
PS, Saturday Night Fever called and they want their collar back!!
Hmm, what to do, what to do...
After thinking hard about this one, it finally came to me. I began by cutting the dress - cutting it right below all that collar business!!
Once the top was off...
...I got working on that bottom part!! I'm turning this dress into a skirt!! That collar was a bit too much to deal with right now (we'll see how it is later on down the road). With that bottom material, I started to fold the raw edges under and pin them down - I left about 3/4 inch because I'm going to be adding elastic in after it's stitched.
I threaded the machine with red thread and began to sew down the top of my new skirt.
Once it was all stitched, I grabbed some elastic and measured it around the area between my waist and hips. I cut this amount off and put a safety pin at the end of the elastic.
I snipped a few threads out from one of the side seams making a hole to bring the elastic around.
Once the elastic made it 'round the bend, I stitched the two ends together and had my elasta-waisted skirt ready to go!!
I had a date night with my dad at LACMA, the museum that's just minutes from my apartment, and went to a live reading of the film THE APARTMENT that some of my favorites - Natalie Portman, Steve Carell, Mindy Kaling and Ken Jeong - participated in. PS, this is one of my favorite films ever!! Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine are perfection in this Billy Wilder classic, so seeing it come to life, being read out loud, was pretty amazing.
We took shots by the light posts out front and went with a flash and a non-flash option for this one.
The red is so hard to see up close, so I wanted a few options.
Obsessed with the lounge area of the theater covered with classic moments from old films on the wall, I obviously had to make my shot in black and white.
Best part of the night, aside from having some QT with my dad, the two moments of direct eye contact I shared with...wait for it...KEVIN ARNOLD!!
Yes, Fred Savage was on the sidewalk and I did a double take, looking at him first, locking eyes, and thinking that I knew him from somewhere (this always happens - I think I went to college with someone and then I realize that they're on a reality show) and then looking back again and realizing that he was the heartthrob of my tweenage years in 1991.
Oh, how I wanted to be Winnie Cooper and last night had my moment, albeit 20 years later...
Erin, thank you for mailing today's frock!!!
