June 22, 2015

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Pom Pom Shorts Teaser!

June 22, 2015

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I hope everyone had an amazing weekend! I was in San Diego for Father's Day and couldn't resist pulling up a little archived Kodak shot of me and my dad.

Here's a little teaser of an easy and adorable tutorial coming later tonight that involve two very special words. POM POMS.

Eeeeee! I can't wait to show you how SIMPLE my new summer staple is.

June 8, 2015

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Remake: Blue Checkered Ruffled Dress

June 8, 2015

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Hi you guys!! Today's piece is SO good. The dress looked like it was straight out of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

I went straight into musical theater mode and gave my best "I'm getting the vapors" look.

But, look at those SLEEVES!

That collar too...

This piece needed some serious help to turn it into something that you don't need to be on a stage to wear!

Before we start, I saw this lovely little tag inside the piece - love when there are little hints of who wore this before me!

If I only had time to tag my clothes too...

I started off with the sleeves! Took them a bit shorter and got rid of the tightly cuffed wrist area.

Next came that skirt!

That major ruffle at the bottom was definitely coming off.

Once the length and arms were shortened, I prepped all of the raw edges before sewing new seams and a new hem.

We're almost there! The collar came next. I just wasn't into the lace trimmed edging...

...so with a seam ripper, I took off both sides of the collar. One side down...

...and now they're completely off!

I pinned the collar back together and stitched a basic seam around the edges to keep it in place before I began to craft a new neckline.

I trimmed a straight line down the center of the piece, using the edge of the square pattern as a guide, then pinned under my trimmed area to form a V, before sewing everything in place.

Ready for the reveal???

From dowdy to fun summer dress!

I paired this with some tan booties, my FAVE safari purse (as I like to call it) that my mom found at Goodwill in Charlotte, a vintage belt that came from my dad's high school collection, and a pair of aviators!

A big patterned piece made super wearable by pairing it with more neutral shades. It was just the thing for a little summer dinner party complete with brownies.

They totally matched my color palette!

So did the rosé. I feel like rosé matches everything :)

I have to say that I really love the fluttery sleeves the most. Now only if the dress came with pockets!

Maybe that will be the next addition to this piece because pockets always make things better!

May 18, 2015

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Remake: White Strapless Lace Dress

May 18, 2015

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Hey friends! I'm here, I'm here :) There's been a lot going on which I'll fill you in a bit on later... But in the interim, I have a FABULOUS new piece to share. Take this lace dress:

See how pretty it is close up??

I scored it at a swap party for nada, but it was originally $25 from Forever 21. So, for a chic cocktail dress, it's really quite budget friendly.

And I loved the look, but just wasn't that into the color. My skin is SO fair and as a short dress, this color wasn't doing it for me like I wanted it to.

So, now comes the change. New color, check!!

I took a brand new shade of Rit Dye's new polyester friendly dyes - Blaze - and got my dye pot going!

(PS, my new dye pot was a score at Goodwill on half off tag day :) I think I ended up getting it for less than $3 bucks. Total. Score!)

I filled up my pot, brought it to a boil, added my dye and about 1/4 of salt, and put in my pre-wet dress. (Just make sure whatever garment you're dyeing is saturated in water before dyeing. This ensures a smooth color job!)

New Dress A Day - DIY White DressNew Dress A Day - DIY White Dress

I LOVE that first part when the piece just starts to absorb the colored liquid!

I was LOVING the color as it look just a few minutes in! I left the dress in to hang out for another hour before I took it out, rinsed it through, and let it dry.

In ONE EASY STEP (sounds totally infomercial, doesn't it??) this dress became something so much better than it was.

I shot this dress in front of LACMA at the "Urban Lights" exhibit by Chris Burden. He just passed away, so the museum has been keeping the lights on all night. It's one of my favorite spots in the city - I turn into a kid swinging on the poles and running through them.