Category: DIY

Since shopping secondhand is my preferred way to shop, many times I’ll find something that’s close, but not exactly what I was looking for. Or maybe the fit and fabric are fabulous, but the color looks terrible on me. Through thrifting, I’ve learned to look at an item for what it can be, rather than what it currently is.

So, let’s take a look at two items I’ve recently personalized:

My Tiered Skirt Glow Up

I bought this skirt off Poshmark recently because I loved the color, the shape and the swish factor. However, each of the three tiers was lined with accent beads. And to my eye, the beads just made the skirt look dated and cheap. I bought the skirt anyways, because I have free will… and a pair of scissors.

And I cut off Every. Single. Bead.

And yes, it felt like it took forever. But now it’s perfect and I love it so much!

Cardigan Color Switcharoo

This is going to be shocking… but I actually bought this cardigan RETAIL at a Loft Outlet on the way home from Ocean City last summer. I really liked the 100% cotton, chunky stitches and cute cropped length. I tried to convince myself that I would grow to love the color or that it was exactly what my closet was missing. But it just didn’t work for me. The light brown felt like boring sweater oatmeal and it just didn’t look good with my coloring or play well with other items in my closet.

So, I grabbed a bottle of Rit dark green dye, spent about 40 minutes swishing the cardigan around, and BOOM it’s exactly what I was hoping for. A beautiful shade of green that I will actually wear:

The moral of the story? You don’t have to accept something exactly as it’s sold. If a piece is almost perfect, it’s okay to make it yours. Remove the beads. Chop the sleeves. Change the color. You bought it and you get to decide what works for you!

One of the benefits of having a wardrobe that is mostly secondhand is that it’s easier to justify cutting it up. If I had paid full price for a dress, I’d think a lot more before hacking into the hem. However, if I thrifted it… bring on the scissors!

Here are a few items of clothing that have recently hit my ‘Sewing Projects’ pile.

Caftan —-> Shirt

Back in 2020, I purchased this gorgeous caftan off of etsy from a company that hand tie dyes clothing in Bali. As much as I loved it as a Mrs. Roper muumuu when swanning through the house during the pandemic, it wasn’t getting much use over the years. And I LOVED the fabric, neckline and tie dye, so that was a shame.

One day I decided to chop it into a top – within 10 minutes, I had grabbed the scissors, chopped it down, and ironed on a hem. And just like that, the caftan went from being unworn shoved in the back of my swimsuit drawer, to being one of my most frequently worn tops of the summer!

Linen Dress —-> Shirt

I thrifted this linen dress for $7, even though I HATED the color and the shapelessness of the fit. I did love the linen fabric and the neckline though, so I dyed it a rich green, chopped off the length, sewed up the pockets and hemmed the bottom with iron on hem tape.

I absolutely love this as a top now and it looks nice with pretty much everything in my closet.

Oversized Green Floral Shirt —-> More Fitted Cropped Shirt

I thrifted this fern top in Tuscan and it was quite oversized on me (I think it was maybe 2 sizes larger than my normal). It looked fine tucked into skirts, but the armholes were large enough you could glimpse my bra and the body of the shirt was wider than I like for pairing with shorts.

I kept going back and forth on whether to re-donate it, when I decided to give it a last chance makeover. I took the sides of the shirt in by a couple inches, which also closed the armholes a bit. I also cut off some of the length and sewed it a new hem. Now it fits so much better and it’s kind of cropped perfection with a pair of denim shorts!

Embroidered shirt —-> Pillow

I loved the embroidery on this shirt, but I just could not make it work on my body. However, inspiration hit when I was staring at it because the fluffy side pleats looked kind of like pillow ruffles. I cut it apart, sewed on a new back from my fabric stash, stuffed it… and boom, look at this beautiful little pillow!

Last month we went to the Gem Miners Show when it came to a local fairground. I was like a kid in a sparkly candy store and picked out a few strands of beads and some pendants… with no specific plan.

I just wanted to make something that felt both beautiful and wearable. It’s pretty low risk, since I can just cut them back apart if I don’t end up loving them (or changing my mind in the future). So, here is what I came up with for my first few creations:

Beads: Crazy lace Agate (disks) and Rainbow Jade Burma (circles)

Pendants: Shattuckite (left) and Sunstone Iolite (right), both in sterling silver

A set of three necklaces that can be layered together, mixed and matched, or worn alone. I also added a fun detail – the silver clips. I was inspired by a necklace I purchased in Arizona with a small carabineer looking clip that holds charms. For my necklaces, the silver clip can be worn to the front as part of the design, turned around for a more streamlined look, or you can add on one of the pendants. As an added bonus, I have some little clip-on charms from other necklaces I’ve collected over the years, and they can be clipped on here too when I want to mix it up!

There is something really satisfying about making jewelry with your own hands. I love the way these first few necklaces turned out and I have so many plans for what to do with the rest of the beads…