Tropical Delight

No I am not dead... just busy.

But anyways I finally felt inspired to sit down and create something new. I have a trunk full of half started sewing projects, I am ashamed to say. I really need to hire a seamstress because I really just like putting the idea together, the whole sit behind the sewing machine and fight with the needle and tangle the thread thing just frustrates me and I am not near patient enough for it. Which is probably why I start so many projects but never finish them.
Anyways, my aunt gave me a bunch of dresses to redo for my blog. A few things came from my grandma, I am not sure if this dress was one of them or not but actually I LOVED the pattern.

 My taste is not for everyone...

 Of course, the shoulder pads had to go. One of these days I am going to revamp a dress BUT leave the shoulder pads in and see if I can make it work. The ultimate challenge!







And here is the final product!

 Hope you like it, even if you don't its ok because I LOVVVVE IT! : )

The MuMu Series Part III-the finale

So I lied when I said I promised to do better... I had no intention of being a more reliable blogger. Well, actually I did but I happen to work a LOT so things have become more difficult. But I know, excuses, excuses...remember though, I not only have to find the time to blog, but I have to find the time to actually re-do these dresses so...ya... cut me some slack.

Back to what is important: Welcome to part 3 of the MuMu series which happens to be my last MuMu. Unless someone wants to send me a MuMu of their own to redo.

Disclaimer: If you send me something to recreate, it officially belongs to me and my wardrobe. I am not going to spend my time making a dress that someone else gets to wear. Unless there is money involved, in that case....holler at ur girl : )


Here are some photos taken by my friend the lovely, Tina, to showcase my last MuMu.

 Just an average day, doing things that people who wear mumus do...right?
Don't worry, mom, I'm just pretending to smoke, it's not even lit.

 That's right, I drink vodka from a plastic jug...what of it?
(not really)

So anyways, it is very light and airy and comfortable. It didn't smell at all, no stains and is actually in perfect shape so it made a GREAT dress.

Here is my remake, let me know what you think.

I asked Marilyn what she thought... she liked it.



Thank you and have a nice day.

The MuMu Series Part II

I know it has been a while, sorry...

but I promise to do better now. I finally got my sewing machine working good and I have several exciting projects ahead of me, including a wedding dress for my friend, Christen....ya, you won't want to miss that one.

So this is part two of the MuMu series and from this point on I will entertain you with some fun "before" pictures. My friend, Tina does photography as a hobby and offered to take some pictures for my blog. So one hot summer day, her and I spent the whole day taking "before" pictures. We got a lot of weird looks, why do people think it is strange to be dressed weird in public places?... this is Shreveport, can't they just assume I am either homeless or filming a movie?

So our first location was the cow pasture by my house... what a way to start the day. Unfortunately we were too chicken to get too close to the cows, mainly because they weren't cows they were actually mean, angry bulls. I mean, would you get close to this guy??!...

I may or may not have photoshopping this for added intensity...but I just wanted you to get how mean he looked.
I guess you had to be there.

So here is me frolicking in the cow pasture in my beautiful Mumu.

 wow what a great, light and airy ensemble for climbing trees. Maybe Laura Ingalls Wilder was on to something

idk




When I bought this mumu I was with Jeff, of course, in Keatchie (I never know how to spell that) and he warned me, he said "now don't go too Amish with this one". So the whole time I was working on this I kept hearing Jeff's voice in my head, "Don't go too Amish".... ahhh

I mean, it is pretty country and you maybe can't tell but it is blue and white seersucker. For those of you who don't know what that word means, here...educate yourselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seersucker

Anyways, JEFF!... does this look like something the Amish would wear?

 My eyes were doing some scary zombie thing in all of these pics so when in doubt.. just cut your head off.

I had to have one homemade in the mirror pic. I hope you like it, let me know what you think.

The MuMu Series Part I

This first dress kicks off my MuMu series. I googled the word and there seem to be several spellings, so we are gonna go with this one....but yes pronounced M00-Moo.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the MuMu, let me enlighten you:

Muumuu

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The muumuu or muʻumuʻu (English pronunciation: /ˈmuːmuː/) is a loose dress of Hawaiian origin^[1]
that hangs from the shoulder. Like the Aloha shirt, muumuu exports are often brilliantly colored with
floral patterns of generic Polynesian motifs. Muumuu for local Hawaiian residents are more subdued
in tone. Muumuu are no longer as widely worn at work as the aloha shirt, but continue to be the preferred
formal dress for weddings and festivals such as the Merrie Monarch hula competition. They are also
frequently worn as a uniform by women working in the hotel industry^{[citation needed]}. Muumuu are also
popular as maternity wear and with obese people because they do not restrict the waist.

(I especially like the last line that says "worn by obese people because they do not restrict the waist")

Ya... you know what a MuMu is

Anyways, Jeff and I found a whole bunch of awesome MuMus at the thrift store mentioned in the previous blog. Yes that was a good day. Thus, kicks off the series.


So we decided to have a little fun with the before photos this time.

 Wow that iphone sure takes a nice picture ; )

If anyone is looking for a great haircut visit Jeff at Avalon Salon on Youree Drive!... there, that was my endorsement for the day.

So my machine is currently broken STILL, but luckily I didn't have to do a lot to this. However, I did have to hand stitch the entire side seam down this dress but sometimes you do what you have to do to get the end result. The thing I like best about a good ol' needle and thread is no matter what, I know what to do with it when it breaks... my machine on the other hand, he and I are still working things out.


So here is the end result of all my hard work and dress #1 in the MuMu series:

 If anyone can tell me where this photo was taken you win a prize!

(not really, sorry)

 My friend, Ashley has now been the photographer on two occasions, my very first dress ever and now this one. Thanks Ashley!

The bad thing about hand stitching the side seam in this was that about halfway thru the night the bottom edge started to come unraveled. Good thing I opted OUT for dancing afterward and called it an early night or I may have experienced wardrobe malfunction.

A Joyous Reunion

This dress has particular special meaning to me because fate had brought us together again after a year. So there is obviously a good story to this one and I am about to tell you.
This story begins about 2 1/2 years ago I guess, when I worked for The Forum. We were doing a photoshoot out in Keachi one afternoon and if any of you have been to Keachi you will understand how exciting it is...not. There is exactly two establishments in the town of Keachi. One is a gas station/convenience store complete with fried southern meat pies, shrimp fried grease patties, fried chicken fried fries, hot spicy balls of fried meat, cheesy fried sticks of sausage, and probably fries. Ok, so I am exaggerating and yes that may have been a little dig to the south. So sorry. Lately me and the durty south cannot relate to each other like we used to.
And the other establishment is a Thrift Store.
Bingo.

I feel confident that the owners of this store will not be reading my blog so it is ok for me to tell you how odd they were. They thought we were celebrities when we came rolling up in there town for a photoshoot. They even made us take pictures with them...it was odd. Regardless we humored them. Poor people of Keachi...if only they realized there is life beyond their city limits.

My good friend, Jeff (whom I have mentioned before), is my thrift store pal and also was our hair stylist for our photoshoot so how convenient that we are there together. So of course him and I HAVE to take advantage of this opportunity to shop and have a quick movie montage.

Yes, he purchases those pants. And swears that there are magical like the sisterhood of the traveling pants because they fit anyone who puts them on. Keep in mind now this picture was taken over two years ago.

So now the story continues, last summer him and I decide to go back to this store for a little outer city limits "shopping". And what do I run into upon arriving at this wonderful store?... the pink and white dress from over a year ago. Sitting right there staring at me on the rack as if to say "here I am, I have waited for you to come back for me".

Of course I had to buy it. It needed me.

So here is another picture of this wonderful dress whom the universe brought into my life again a year later.

check out this belt!...I don't care what any of my friends say, I am wearing this belt, somehow, somewhere.

I didn't have to do a whole lot to this dress, it was fitted for my body to begin with, just a little should pad removal and adjusting the skirt length.

Here is the finished product.

Let's take this baby out on the town...

A little free promotion to the Riverside Warehouse...whoot whoot!

Me and Becca...what a couple of good looking gals

 

I really like this dress a lot and think it turned out great. I think it is simple and will be very versatile in the future.
Feel free to add comments, questions, concerns... : )

Fabric from Hell

This is another Goodwill treasure purchased a while back and actually to tell you the truth, I worked on this one several months ago and have been wearing it ever since. Now I have decided to share it with you...that is how special you are to me, Outfit Project readers. : )

The things I do for this blog....

Yes this fabric was a nightmare and continues to be a nightmare when I wear it because it does that weird unraveling thingy and all day long you walk around with little fabric fibers tickling you everywhere. Of course, I am sure that a professional would have done a better job sewing the dress to begin with. I know there are solutions to that particular problem but they are probably too much for my basic skills. Regardless, I still wearing the dress all the time... I just deal.

Anyways with a few inches off the hem and shortening the sleeves, I came to an end result that I was pretty pleased with.

Made from Scratch Dress #1

So this is something a little different. I actually did not reinvent a thrift store dress on this one I actually went out and bought real fabric and sewed it from there... who'da thought

So maybe this won't be quite as entertaining since you won't get to see me embarrass myself in some heinous old lady dress, I know but let me have a little dignity.

So I have been learning to sew because despite what impression some people might already have, I actually do not have any experience with sewing...I just make it up as I go. I have been learning little by little with the help from my friend, Iram, who is very wise when it comes to all things fabric and sewing related. Picture Mr. Miyagi and the karate kid.... that is her and I.

We found this wonderful black fabric on the $5 table at Walmart and there was a little over 5 yards in it...that is a lot. Which means, if I don't mess anything up, I can have about 5 black dresses out of this. Do the math, $1 a dress. Oh ya...

We also discovered all kinds of other cool fabrics on the sale table, so I will have many more things to show once I figure out with to do with them.

I started this dress a few weeks ago and knew that I wanted something sparkly...go figure I'm a girl. But I really didn't have a plan from there. I did however have some sparkly fabric scraps from a goodwill dress I made into a vampire costume a few years ago...so there, I guess I did get to incorporate my thrift store mission into this particular project. Let me know what you think. And no these pictures were not taken in a bar bathroom!!...ok they were...

 Two lovely ladies in black

Happy New Year!