Thrift-a-licious

Thrift-a-licous!  Makes the girls go what what.

You'll be headed round the block to find what I got

Got this dress! Got these shoes!

By Rachel Abi

Super comfortable which is my favorite part... but I like the frump feel with not so frump look 

That's what happens when you wear a dress with a beat-up old T-shirt

Dress me up

Everyone played with dress ups...ok well maybe not everyone but I sure did!

This dress, believe it or not is actually from my childhood dress up box... it didn't fit me as a child, boy I would have been a large child if it did!

I love retro dresses... but I don't like the price tag that comes with it, well mainly I can't afford it.  I have a "zero" budget for clothes.  Ok, it's not really zero but it is pretty close.  Thus making dresses and begging for hand-me-downs.

By Rachel Abi

What's really funny about it is I feel like my young self all over again when I put this dress on.  A world full of possibilities... I feel like I can be the actor/doctor/model/cashier (yes, I really wanted to be a cashier... at a grocery store) that I wanted to be.  That an hour is a lifetime. But mainly I feel pretty.  Did you play dress up?

All sewn up

From concept to reality (*big announcer voice).  After weeks of hard work? Well, work all the same.  After weeks of putting the pieces slowly together... 

The...

Wait for it...

Dress is done!

By Rachel Abi

Ok, so last I left was the skirt part was done, needing zipper and getting attached to the belt.

So after attaching the belt to the top and the skirt to the belt I noticed it was off a little?  Ok, so it was a bunch.  Decision time: do I undo all that I just do or do I leave it (imagine as I say it a grossed out face)

So I ripped up the dress I thought I had just been close to finished.  BUT only in a section to the left of the zipper so that it would match the right side.

After I ripped it out and I sewed it back, ripped it out and sewed it back... second times the charge?

Then on to pinning in the zipper again!  Ouch my fingers!  Pretty sure I suck them more than the dress

Zipper sewn in now to get the "tags" down

Perfect? I think not

I had extra material round the zipper so I snipped it out!

So here is my dress: ON!

My dress is not perfect... at all!  But I am proud of the first piece of clothes I ever sewed.  What's yours like? Silly yes, and why thanks I do look like I walked out of Sound of Music.  No, it wasn't my goal.  Yes, I am ok with it.  Why?

Wonderful summer day...

Took a vintage dress from my mom's day in the 70's and put a tank under it, made it more casual, added a side bun and an accent flower (from my mom's days in the 80's)

By Rachel Abi

Nothing amazing but a comfy and I feel cute in it!

Further on the dress

Next step.  I ironed the sides because I wanted the side hem to be as small as possible.  

By Rachel Abi

I hemmed the to top pieces together so that the top would be seamless later 

So this is the hem on the side of the top, the one were I ironed as to have the smallest hem possible

I did my top with two small side panels near the back so that the front and side would be seamless

I did the same thing to the side panels as I did for the top: ironed and hemmed

Then I took the side panels and the front and sewed them together

The final process for now...

Date night!

Date night at home with Chris.  We like to do dates at home to save money.  We don't have kids to work around but I do understand that sometimes it is hard to not just fall into the same things, of every day.  We like to set the table, light some candles, some nights we make a rule that the TV won't come on.  To each his own but my rule for dates at home.  Nothing fancy.  I lean towards comfort and something that makes me feel pretty, so that I can be comfortable when we snuggle (yes, we snuggle) on the couch and I still look pretty and feel pretty.

by Rachel Abi

Slow and steady wins the race...

Here is the top cut out.  I will make my top double layered just to make sure it isn't too thin.  I am making mine a higher neck cut but it could be done in many different styles and cuts and still work for the style... besides if it doesn't work well for the style and works well for you it will still work.

It isn't about "being right" it is about having fun and making yourself look/feel pretty.  Who cares if you aren't supposed to do ____.  Do you look good in it?  Do you feel pretty?   Ok, then fine (so long as you have people who will be honest with you).

By Rachel Abi

Taking it slow. . . but here is the dress. . . well part of it.

Step two: Sew together the parts you cut.  For me I did alternating fabrics so make sure you keep to whatever you are doing or make what ever you do look on purpose.  If it isn't perfect?  Great.  Undo it and try again.  Still not perfect?  Awesome: cause it isn't going to be, accept it!

Who wants perfect anyway... what is perfect.  Even the stuff done by machines and sold in stores aren't perfect so what make you feel like you are going to be different?  

How are you going to get better at it if you don't practice?

By Rachel Abi

By Durham Wedding Photographer

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No, not white!

Spring wear!  I don't usually dare to wear white because I am a klutz.  I sit in chocolate, I order marinara. . . You get the picture.  I decided to be adventurous when I got a chance to get a free white dress that was cut so nicely.  I pieced this together once I decided on a lighter whimsical beach theme.  So I put a few braids in my hair accented it with a flower.  But on my braided band bracelet and weaved sandals.  And then but my bright blue purse, I almost always like to have a splash of color.

So say I decided to wear this again, I would put on cowboy boots and a cropped jean jacket

or

Bright cardigan  with a wide belt  with a contrasting pair of flats

You get the idea.  I played it up simple but you can always dress it up or take it down

By Rachel Abi

By Durham Wedding Photographer

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No money but creative

So here is where I start.  I have little to no budget to spend money on clothes and accessories.  So I try to do my style based not based on my lack of money lest I become an advocate of the "homeless" look. ;P

So instead a little cheaper way to get your style: make it.

Now this is not for the weak of heart.  This is not for the people who are afraid to fail.  Have fun is my rule of thumb.  Are you scared?  You can always get a guide.  I prefer to shoot from the hip.  I try and error on the larger side (you can always take in but you can't add more fabric).  I take an idea and just run with it.  So this is the start of a dress.

This is a picture of the fabric I chose to use.
By Rachel Abi

This is the cut of fabric I chose to use for the skirt.

Now I had the benefit of someone giving away fabric so that I didn't have to pay for mine, but try your local Walmart or even Joann's they have clearance sections.  You may not get the exact fabric you would want but more often then not it will turn out better than you had thought.   Contrast are great; play with them.  In the next couple of weeks (in the midst of everything else I will be doing) I will upload more pictures of what I am doing and why.

Do not feel like I know what I am doing.  The only thing that I do know: a basic knowledge of my sewing machine.  I look at clothes I like and look at the threading.  Look at how they are bound.  Do you ever see something in the store and think that looks cute, but it seems simple.  That's because it is.  You can do it.  Start small to not get overwhelmed.

By Durham Wedding Photographer

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