Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Much Better and a Few Projects

I am myself again. A good thing to be oneself. A bag of peanut-butter M&M's and a little bit of a Hershey's 1/2 lb. chocolate bar didn't hurt, either.

SCORE! I found milk yesterday for $1.85/gallon at Sav-A-Lot! I have not been terribly impressed with Sav-A-Lot because I am such a fan of Aldi. But then again, I have to drive 30 minutes to the closest Aldi, so Sav-A-Lot is the next best thing. And it's a brand-new store, very clean, very nice. These were a "red-tag" special. I probably should have gotten every gallon they had (I freeze them), but I limited myself to only 6. Into the freezer they went.

Also, I've been doing some projects around here. I'm trying to take things that are tired or old, and give them new life. My Etsy shop is starting to be things I basically "upcycle," or "refashion."

So I took an old poly chiffon dress that was very tired and dated, found at our Union Mission Thrift Store --





And turned it into this scarf!




AND NOW FOR THAT RARE BREED, THE SEWISTS AMONGUS:



Initially, I cut away all the chiffon from the dress -- poor thing, it looks like it's been skinned -- and experimented. First I tried a french seam, and that didn't work. Then I tried pintucking on the slant, and that didn't really do it for me either.


Finally, I just started stitching about 3/4" folds, like tucks, on the slant. I say slant because the chiffon was cut initially on the bias, so every square piece I got was bias cut already. I was using embroidery thread, since it was all I had that matched, and the stitching was puckering. So I got the first one done and kind of liked the ruffle effect. I tightened my tension a bit, and made some more stitched folds/tucks. The end result was this lovely ruffled piece of fabric -- not quite wide enough for a scarf. So I put ties on the back, like this:




And now I have a very nice accessory piece!

The teenagers all wrinkled their noses at it, so I posted it up at Wardrobe Refashion. They all loved it, proving that my crew has no fashion taste whatsoever.


I betcha that if my girls saw it in a store, they'd love it. Especially if they knew I had nothing to do with it! (by the way, it's for sale in my Etsy Shop)


At a local garage-sale-fundraiser, I also scored some fabric, two green glass goblets, two Beatrix Potter big books to use for decopauge (or something else), a copy of Norton's Anthology of Literature, and a full copy-paper box of old vintage patterns! All for $10! And the $10 went to buy shoes for kids in Haiti!


Speaking of Haiti, let me direct you to This Ain't New York today. Although we are always struggling to save money, and we regularly tithe, I was compelled. Haiti has been ravaged by hurricanes this year. The need there is great. And I had been shoving this particular need aside for entirely too long -- I believe in the work of Compassion International and have for years. Finally I'm doing something about it, thanks to Melanie at TANY.


I'm challenging you to ask God to lead you to your child.


Mine is named Rose (just like my eldest daughter).


Then just start clicking. You're already on the computer; it's as easy as that.


A good day is when you need sunglasses outside. We need them here in NC today.


xox

3 Comments:

Michelle @ Sew-Krafty said...

Neat scarf! I'm giving away a handmade goody today...come by and see.

Melanie @ This Ain't New York said...

Bless you Jen. God always provides for us in abundance when we give back to Him. He has showed it to me so many times. Thank you for letting that "tug" pull you in! :>)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for using your on-line voice to speak for Compassion and the poor.

-Shaun
CompassionBloggers.com