MIA & SSS

I've been "Missing In Action" for more than a month (I didn't even realize that so much time went by from my last post) for two main reasons. The first is that we've been wihout an Internet connection for half the month, the second is that August means holidays!!! We just stayed at home greeting and taking care of the guests that rented our small cottage and had lots of friends visiting. Therefore, blogging, sewing and crafting were almost not allowed, if only for some scarce exceptions (but this is a surprise)!

Today is September the 1st and it marks the beginning of this new big adventure: Self-Stitched-September.
I woke up this morning terrified by the thought that I have only three or four handmade garments ready to wear and that September will be full of adventures and things to do: my birthday (this weekend, two days of travelling), almonds harvest, friends visiting for a week (maybe a trek on Mount Etna) and, on the 27th, a plane that will take me to Switzerland to visit my mom.
My sewing pile gets bigger and bigger everyday and yesterday, while trying to finish a refashion, I finally realized that the road to sewing is very long... and I have just started it...
Anyway, I will do my best to keep up with this challenge and will use even the smallest refashions and alterations I have in my closet. Isn't this all about sustainability and recycling? Well, the 70% of my closet is made of garments that had been worn before I was even born. And this, for me, is as important as handmade.
This is the outfit for today, a long day at home waiting for the gardeners to come (it's noon and no sign of them...).My top was eventually a dress bought in 1998 in Florence, on a Indonesian market stall. I worn it every summer, it was perfect to go to the seaside. Then, two years ago, it broke in the rear and I was lost. It cherished so many gorgeous and happy memories and was so fresh for the hot days that I couldn't part from it. So, after one year lying in the "pile", I cut it on my lower waist and, with the fabric that wasn't torn I made a ruffle that I handsewn to its bottom. Now, it's something like a tunic top that I keep wearing at least three times a week in summer!

Tomorrow will be better, I swear!

A too simple refashion?

It took me more than one week but in the end I finally managed to post something on Wardrobe Refashion. I knew it was going to be tough... properly speaking I haven't done a refashion like those you can see on the blog... I just overdyed a white jacket that, because of its colour, hadn't been worn once in the last two years.

I bought it on sale at Zara in 2006 for less than 20€. I wore it a few times to go to work but when I lived in Milan boyfriend and I used to ride a scooter which was not the best for a white jacket. Last year, when we moved to the Sicilian countryside white became even more difficult to wear: our car is used both for going out and transporting country things, when I get home my dog is so happy to see me that he loves to put his usually muddy paws on my belly... So the white jacket went at the bottom of my wardrobe and lied there almost abandoned.

In the end, I decided to overdye it. I wanted it to be as black as the night and I also wanted to put a few lacey details in order to give it a more military look. I had a vintage triangular lace that was perfect to put on the shoulders as a fake flash.

I bought the dye and rummaged through all my ribbon boxes for a few hours until the washing machine hadn't finished.... not only the jacket was blue and not black but it is all white stitched. I guess that the thread is polyestere....

Ok, so no lacey black flashes on shoulders and black sequins... I can't believe something so simple went wrong.

So, after thinking of handstitching all the white thread in dark blue, putting a vintage lace on the collar and blue sequins on the shoulders (the last two can still come though), I went for simplicity and added this hand-made brooch that I bought in Madrid in 2006. It looks good to me!

Plus, boyfriend said that it looks like a sailor garment. I hadn't thought of that! I immediately went to my closet and wore the jacket on top of my striped tee... now I just have to say goodbye to this flu and welcome Spring!!!

Wardrobe Refashion

After long hours spent thinking... after nights spent awake trying to figure out what to do... I took a deep breath and got myself in another trouble.... I entered the magical world of Wardrobe Refashion (button on the right)... for the next two months I pledged that instead of buying new clothes, I will refashion what I thrift, what I already own and build new items from my huge fabric stash!

I'm not a goddess when it comes to sewing... hence the name of my blog... I couldn't even understand in the Marie skirt sew-along that one small piece was to be used for the bottom of the skirt... but you learn only from your mistakes and only making things, so what could be best than trying to built up a spring/summer wardrobe from scratch?

It's a huge challenge and I'm really scared and excited at the thought!!!!

Did any of you took the pledge in the past? Any advice?

p.s. in order to start in the best possible way, I went out and bought new bobbins for my sewing machine, a gauge, some feathers (for my embroidery class), tracing paper for patterns, fabric and a small rotary cutter! Believe me... I feel like having bought a pair of Marc Jacobs flats... I'm so proud of my shopping!!!!