Thrift Store Treasures #9

It's been way too long since the last Thrift Store Treasure! I was downtown for some errands and couldn't help sneaking in the thriftshop that usually has the best stuff. Beautiful motorcycle jackets, 70's shirts, vintage dresses. Not the shop you buy something for a couple of euro's. I had tried on some dresses (very cool but either white, beige or yellow, they made me look like I had the flu) and then found this jumpsuit. I chuckled and tried it on. The mirror was occupied so I walked around the shop, putting my hands in the pockets. It was so comfortable, I was sold before I'd seen what I looked like!



I've wanted a jumpsuit for a long time and even though I would have made something of a softer fabric, I love this print. It obviously needed some altering, it was at least two sizes too big. I started with cutting off the legs and deconstructing the pockets. I took 4 cm off both sideseams from the waist down, and then reconstructed the pockets. I like altering thrift store finds, but the deconstruction phase usually takes up half the overall project time.



Last, I took in the bodice side seams, starting at the armholes at 6 cm and tapering to the waist. I kept it loose to guard the balance between the bottom and the top. I've been thinking about taking out the elastic and putting in darts. It could make the whole thing a bit more elegant, don't you think? The elastic is a bit on the tight side anyway, and it makes my hips stand out more than they need to.



It took me about 5 hours altogether, but it wasn't a difficult alteration. I haven't changed the garment that much but it's wearable now. I'd still like to do something more radical sometimes, but for now I'm quite happy with my new (and slightly crazy) jumpsuit. I'm curious what you think, is this a bit of a weird clowns costume or would you wear it too?

Thrift Store Treasures #8

The print on this waistcoat drew my attention right away. I snatched it off the rack before they had even put in in the store. It cost me 4 euro's, well worth the money because it doesn't seem to have been worn much. I've never had or worn a waistcoat, but I felt that this one could be integrated into my wardrobe. As far as I can tell it's handmade in India, but nothing turned up when I googled the label.



As you can see it's a men's waistcoat, with two little welt pockets on the front. To make it fit, I started with taking an inch off both sideseams. I widened the neckline by 1cm, tapering to the center front and 2 cm at the back neckline. I also added two small armhole darts. It can be an advantage not to have to make it very 3D at the front, just a little shaping is enough for me. It doesn't sound like much, but it still took me a couple of hours to make these adjustments. I enyojed working on it and being precise. If someone has made this by hand, it feels good to treat it with care and give it a new life.




I tried it out with two different shirts. I'm not sure if the white shirt is a good idea, it makes the white in the waistcoat look a bit dirty. But I love this style, especially unbuttoned. Again, I need to make myself more slouchy blouses!





The back has a little buckle so you can accentuate the waist more. I'm curious what you think of the result. For me this is really a new kind of garment to wear, but I already feel very comfortable in it. What do you think of this style? Do you wear waistcoats?

Thrift Store Treasures #7

I bought this skirt for 3 euros last month in Antwerp, Belgium. There was a matching shirt, but although I like the print, that would have been a bit too much. The thing that fascinates me about this skirt is the split in the middle. Why on earth would you want a split there? That center front seam made the refashion process a bit more difficult.
I had a different skirt in mind, based on a RTW skirt I owned. I loved that skirt, but unfortunatey the mice that we have in our walls tend come out at night. And I happened to have left the skirt lying on the ground, withdog treats in the pockets. Instead of just looking for an easy way to get to the treats the mice just ate right through the fabric. They did the same to two pairs of jeans, including the mustard one. (In case you are reading this, mice, WAR IS ON. Please leave my house or I'll gently catch you in animal friendly traps and put you outside in the cold.) The skirt couldn't be saved, which was sad, but also a good opportunity to take it apart to see how it was constructed. Thank you Sewing for providing a silver lining!


I ripped every seam to get the most out of the fabric. And although it looks as not much has been altered, I barely had enough fabric for the design I wanted. My mom thought I should make the skirt really short, but with winter coming, I went with knee length again.



The original skirt already had in-seam pockets, but I wanted big pockets that stand out from the skirt. The colours of the lining and the ribbed waistband matched perfectly so I recycled them. There's no zipper, the back of the skirt is sewn to a stretched waistband. The front of the skirt is smooth, but the back looks gathered and has the elasticity so you can get it over your hips.



Above pic shows my hip and a pocket. I really like the finish of this skirt. You sew the waistband and skirt together with the seams on the outside, and then sew a horizontal strip over the seam. This way you don't have to finish any seams. There's a lot more to show and tell on this skirt actually, but I'll wait with that for later. It's enough to say I'm happy with this refashion, and it made me discover the joy of wearing fluttery skirts in cold weather!

Thrift Store Treasures #6

I must have promised you the results of this refashion a dozen times already. It's the crazy maxi skirt, that some of you didn't even find that crazy! I bought it in Bergen back in November. A small reminder of what it looked like:

Oh foggy Norway, how I miss thee!

I made it into a pencil skirt by cutting it in half (almost) and tapering the sides. I also adjusted the front seam and the gaping waistband. I did this already in Norway, but I haven't worn it since. I didn't know what to pair it with. I guess my white shirt is an option, but maybe something a bit tighter would be better. I'm also short of occasions to wear it. At work I already stand out by having put some thought in what I wear :) Maybe I should go work in a proper office just to be able to wear it.


























I sure don't look like I enjoy wearing this skirt, but in fact I do :) It makes me feel very adult and businessladylike. I think it turned out pretty well. There's a slit in the back as well, I couldn't walk without it. I also like the V shape of the waistband. I am not sure about the length though, shouldn't it reach just above the knee? And I also think it would be best to make a pencil skirt in a fabric with a little bit of stretch. There's a bit of horizontal wrinkling going on at the front that might get worse should I actually wear it.



So, what do you think? Better than the crazy maxi skirt? Or would you rather wear that one? I have to say, when I see it from a distance like this, it doesn't look all that crazy. What do you think? Enlighten me you fashionista readers! :)

P.S. Don't forget to enter the Giveaway!

Thrift Store Treasures #5

OK so maybe 'treasure' is a bit exaggerated, but it's the only thrift store find I have to show at the moment. And the story is longer than the changes you see here (do you see them?). I bought this shirt in Bergen, together with the crazy maxi skirt (more on that one soon). I found it in the women's section, but I think it's actually a men's shirt (Sidenote: I am totally confused by the use of the ' here. Correct or not?). It was too big obviously, but I liked the length and the buttons on the shoulder.



The first thing I did was fold the ribbed neckband inside to make it wider. The goal was to make it more feminine, but now the neckling falls directly at the bump on my shoulder. This made me realize it shouls fall left or right of the bump for the best fit. Do you see how the shirt sort of sticks out on my right shoulder at the pic below? That's because of the bump. This is not a weird bump by the way, just the regular end of my collarbone :). The idea with this shirt was to make it into a batwing shirt. I wanted to use the excess fabric of the sleeves to create gussets to place under the arms. And I did, but it didn't work out that well. I left it like that for a while, convincing myself that it had worked, but I didn't wear the shirt. So last weekend I ripped out the gussets again and just gave the shirt a slim fit.


Again, not a very spectacular outcome, but it did take me a while to get there! And at least I'll wear it like it is now. Maybe styled a bit differently. Skinny jeans, heels and a pretty scarf, perhaps?

Thrift Store Treasures #4

The title of this post could easily have been 'I wish I made this'. It was a question I got asked a few times actually, and I was sorry I had to answer with 'no'. I found it in a thrift store whose racks I've had my eye on for a while. It's the kind of store that only sells the good vintage stuff, not the place to find 1€ bargains. I thought about altering it at first. Maybe lower that neckline, take some length off the skirt. But in the end, my sewing machine did not come near this dress. I thought I'd share it anyway because I love it so much! I find the shape and the use of batwing sleeves in combination with the placement of the stripes (OF WHICH SOME ARE MUSTARD) very inspirational . It also makes me feel like a woman. Which is OK for someone who just turned 28. The label says C&A, and also: Made in West Germany. Last time I looked, West Germany ceased to exist as such when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. So this dress must be from before that time! Cool :) Our vintage wall paper had the same label by the way, made in West Germany. And my boots are from the 80's, too! I think I've found my time period :)

Thrift Store Treasures #3

This project was probably the longest one ever. This sweater was bought a long time ago in a thrift store back home. First I liked the colour, it was a sort of aqua. After a few months, I grew out of it and decided it was too girly for me. I figured I should try to dye it. Ofcourse, there's no 'before' pic of it. I knew the result would be different because there's lamb wool in it, and wool is hard to dye. And dying something already coloured will always give a different outcome too. But on this pic, you can see the result of an attempt to dye it dark brown. Interesting, isn't it? I did like this new colour, it had turned a little darker and a little greyish. (I miss my pretty flower wall. And my pretty flower pants. And big windows.) Anyway, I also took in the sides a little bit, to give it a better silhouette. (Can you tell I've been watching Project Runway? I'm addicted now, it's so inspiring!)

So now the colour was fixed and it had a slightly better fit, but I still found it boring. I wanted to do something with it, but I just couldn't figure out what. The colour is still a bit twee so whatever the alteration would be, I didn't want to emphasize that. Finally I decided to turn it into a cardigan. You'd think it wouldn't take me that long to come up with something not so spectacular, but it took me at least another half a year! I used SnugBug's method of using interface to stabilize the new edges. It worked perfectly, no wobbles at all! I bought the buttons here in Sogndal. They cost me three times as much as the sweater had cost me! I chose these black and white polka dot buttons because the whole gave me a retro feeling.

Hm, this background it quite pretty too. As you can see the buttons are a bit too far on the edge, and the space between them is uneven. Stef made me think about this as he suggested that it would make more sense to place buttons in places you need them, instead of evenly distributed. In that case, it would make sense to have more buttons at the top as there is more tension on the fabric. I'll definitely take this into consideration next time! My buttons are actually wider spaced at the top than at the bottom, but it doesn't really bother me. Still I consider this a very succesful refashion as I will wear it more often and feel much better about it when I wear it!

P.S. The maxi skirt refashion turned out fabulous, more on that later! And in case you're wondering, I'll be making things from scratch again really soon. Especially because there's a serger waiting for me at home! YAY!

Thrift Store Treasures #2

This find was found in Sogndals tiny thriftstore - a huge men's knit sweater. Unfortunately I have somehow lost all the before photos. You'll just have to believe me when I say it was HUGE! I wore it before I refashioned it because we went on an excursion to a cold and windy island on the coast. One of my classmates said: 'Nice potatosack'. I think I could actually fit in it twice. Normally I like it when things are so big, it gives you room to play with. But resizing a coarse knit? I am a bit scared of the effects a sewing machine can have on that. But, when I was knitting something else and finishing it with a matress sitch, I thought: why not use this on my sweater?

And it worked! Even on the sleeves - they were hanging halfway down my upper arms so I had to do something about that. I took off 20 cm in total on the sides and 10 cm on the sleeves. Next step was to secure the seams so I could chopp the excess knit off. I did not trust a plain zig zag to keep the knit from unraveling, so I took a strip of bias tape, cut it into narrow strips and sewed it onto the seam.

I also took off the weird little collar it had, and finished the edge with bias tape. And I added elbow patches just for fun, I really like that look you see everywhere this fall.

It's still a big sweater, but a tight fit would not match the coarseness of the knit. The new arm seams look a bit bulky, but considering how huge it was, I am fairly happy with the result. Although it's not the most neatly finished sweater you could imagine, I serves its purpose and it looks way better than it did before. Also considering the limited choice I have in this thrift shop. P.S. Braids are very common here in Norway, I think half the girls wear them. We internationals have adopted this, and it's nice to have a few more options when doing your hair!

Thrift Store Treasures #1

My second favourite shop in Sogndal? A tiny thrift store! It's the kind of store you would expect in a village like this: run by a couple of elder ladies, filled with embroidered table runners, ugly candle holders and hand knitted mittens. The ladies are frequently visited by elder men who stop by and drink coffee. They even seem to have a few 'behind the counter sofa's' especially for this purpose. The choice of clothing is ofcourse very limited, so it's even more of a challenge to find something to work with.

What I found so far, is an asymmetric teal shrug, and a pink top. The shrug was ready to wear, so I left it as it was. A week later, I found the pink top which definitely needed altering. Way too many gathers and ruffles at the neckline for my taste, and it was size a L. But I liked the buttons and the shiny fabric (rayon/viscose).


I started with taking the top apart at the shoulders and the sleeves. I took out the gathers, but left some at the neckline and at the back. I then turned the hem over and topstitched it to get rid of the ruffles.The result is a much smoother neckline, and a less poofy back. To create a silhouette, I took the side seams in, and made two sashes with the excess fabric. Sewed them in the side seams, and tied them at the back.

I tried to sew in the sleeves without gathers, but that was a bit tricky. They look a bit strange now, but i think I've figured out what to do about it. At least now I know it's not possible to keep the gathers at the arm seam and get rid of the gathers at the shoulder seam at the same time. I like how it turned out, it's a bit slouchy but the shiny fabric makes it less casual. And I can wear it with my thrifted shrug!

So not only did I manage to acquire two new garments that can be combined, I also stuck to my new colour scheme, using pink and blue! I'm getting there, people.