While strolling around Fashion Island in Newport Beach, CA I stumbled on West of Camden (by the koi pond). Lindsey and her mother-in-law hand make everything in their store using recycled paper that they treat with vinyl so that it’s durable. If you’re in the area, stop by their kiosk and you might even be so lucky as to see them making one of their beautiful bags.
You can also find them at their website West of Camden or on Facebook.
This was a too-cutesy babydoll top with ribbons that tied in the back. I’ve had it in my closet for years but was long past ever wearing it again. Because it was made of silk AND I loved the fabric I kept in my closet “just in case”. Just in case I turned twelve again!
The refashion was so simple. I removed the ties and set them aside for another refashion project. They’ll make great straps for a summer top or ties for a wrap skirt. Note, I ended up tying a knot in one of the ties and using it as an emergency hairband.
Then I cut the top horizontally across the middle of the top two inches below my bustline. Because the fabric is so lightweight it needed something to keep it from riding up every time I moved. I used a zig-zag machine stitch to attach some beaded fringe all around the bottom of the top. This also allowed me to avoid hemming the silk which is a bit beyond my skills. Silk is slippery!
I used a zig-zag stitch on the raw edge of the bottom portion of the top, which is basically a tube. Then I hand stitched five inches along the same edge using black elastic thread, pulling the thread to create a gather. I did the same on the opposite side of the tube. This gather allows me to wear this as a shawl and also around my waist. And when I want to wear it as a scarf the gathered portions don’t interfere with the drape.
I love that I ended up with a three-fer refashion.
I have two pairs of sandals (one in black and one in brown) that I picked up inexpensively and of course I was so happy to add them to my “collection” that I didn’t walk around in them much before deciding to buy them. The first time that I wore them I found that the beautiful beading rubbed against the top of my foot and made them into “10 minute shoes”. Not what I had in mind when I purchased these.
It took me quite awhile to figure out how to fix them but once I had the idea it was pretty easy to implement. I started by placing a piece of paper onto the top of the beading and pressing the paper around the beading to give me a pattern for the moleskin lining.
creating the pattern
I then used the paper pattern to cut a piece of moleskin the same shape as the beading.
Dr. Scholl to the rescue!
I used adhesive backed moleskin and just pressed it to the back of the beading. I carefully trimmed any bits that were visible while wearing the sandal and my sandals are now so comfortable they’re “all day long shoes”. No need for an after picture unless you want to see a picture of me walking in them, which you wouldn’t have been able to see prior to this refashion because I could barely walk in them.
Are Bambi and friends using your garden as a midnight snack bar? Irritating right? Yet you don’t want to harm the party crashers just to keep your garden off the menu. There’s a simple solution to this dilemma. You CAN have a nibble-free garden without harming any Disney characters in the process. Just place a pair of used sneakers somewhere in the area that’s being used as a snack bar. You can hide them under a bush, it’s not the sight of your grungy sneaks that keeps them away, it’s the human scent that repels them.