Category: Fashion

Sewing Projects: Clothing I’ve Recently Chopped, Tailored & Changed

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!

My Style: July 2025

UGH, it’s been so hot and humid here in Maryland. I only went into the office one day this month and the rest have been spent working in my home office. With that being said, I did have a variety of fun plans, including a 4th of July party, girl’s day out with my friend, a double-date for dinner, a niece birthday party at a splash pad, and various errands. So, let’s take a look at what I wore this month….

Office Style

As I said, I went into the office once, so it was the perfect opportunity to wear a new-to-me thrifted vintage skirt. I love this skirt SO MUCH with the fitted waist and roomy skirt. It’s a thick cotton blend, which holds its shape without wrinkling and has some super deep pockets. I’m already planning to style a witchy look for the fall with black tights and black heeled booties.

As for the rest of the outfit, I went with a gingham linen cropped blouse (Poshmark), cardigan (thrifted) and some sweet and comfortable Rothy’s Mary Janes (Poshmark).

Weekend Style

All the Stripes: First up, I have my 4th of July outfit, which is red, white and blue adjacent with coral stripes and a teal skirt. I love this combo and everything in this outfit is secondhand, including the silver Birkenstock sandals. For the second outfit, this was for running some errands and I paired a black stripped tee-shirt with my marigold linen skirt for an easy and comfy look.

Also, now that we have an extra dog it is quite hard to take outfit photos without at least one photo bomber…

Cropped by Me: All three of these tops have met my scissors. The blue top previously lived life as a caftan/dress and I thought it might get more wear as a flowy top. I was absolutely right and I have been wearing this once a week since I made the big chop.

My husband thrifted the Guns N’ Roses top and it ended up being too small for him, so I chopped the bottom and it is one of my favorite throw-on-and-wear tee’s right now. In fact, it spurred on a whole viral-ish situation over on Threads, since my son seems to think I look mean and intimidating when I wear it.

As for the green top, I thrifted it on one of our trips (I think Tuscan?) and it was always very oversized. I took in a few inches on the sides and cropped the length and now I love it so much more.

Out and About: The Popflex by Blogilates running dress was the perfect choice for a 2 year old’s splash pad party, especially because it was soo hot and humid outside. Ironically, my sisters all loved this dress and one said that she ‘wished she could pull it off’, which I find hilarious since she’s much more fit than me (and 13 years younger). So, here’s a reminder for you all… you CAN pull anything you want off. You just put the clothing on your body, wear it, and give no thought to what other people think.

The middle look included my FAVORITE thrifted skirt for a day around town (and the consignment shops) with my friend. And then last look was what I wore for a double-date at a delicious Mexican restaurant.

One last outfit… yesterday morning I had the opportunity to meet BK Borison at the grand opening of our local Barnes & Noble. If you follow along with my Book Lists and mini reviews (you can find them on the right sidebar), you’ll know I love everything she writes, so this was pretty awesome!

New vs Secondhand Tally

This month, I count 8 items that I purchased retail and 14 items I purchased secondhand!

3 Necklaces, Endless Options: My Gem Miners Show Creations

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…