fitzfabulous

Refashioners, forgive me.

Shopped this weekend in Philadelphia with my best shopping buddy, my sister. On her cue, we went to Gaffney’s Fabrics in Germantown Friday to get her a few yards of cotton prints. The little girl’s ready to learn to sew, and I thought the Anda dress on BurdaStyle would be a simple, rewarding way to get started. I brought her a printout of the Minna dress, too. We’re both going to give that one a try by cutting it down into a tunic top.

To my surprise, she picked giant, modern floral prints. Giant white daisies on kelly green cotton; blue and yellow on a chocolate blend; white loops on a rich, red polished cotton that has a solid red border on one end. I bought myself some red and brown lightweight for Minna tops, a silver threaded black knit for some kind of basic dress and as much of this black, gray and purple jersey as they had:

Right - the forgiveness. We also went to Daffy’s Saturday after a lady date to the opera together. I bought two pairs of jeans, brand new and right off the retail rack. They’re beautifully dark, they fit like a glove and they were on sale. Plus, Daffy’s is different from TJ Maxx or Marshalls in that its overstock is mostly European, so the jeans were made in Turkey and Italy. I felt good about not buying more cheap Chinese crap, and then I felt good that I had to really talk myself into buying these staples. And then I congratulated myself on putting back a pair of dark denim pants for the sole reason that they looked like something (unlike jeans) I could actually make.

I also considered a linen blouse with a lovely ruffle detail, (which shouldn’t be too hard to copy) but it didn’t fit. All the best, since I blew my Get out of Jail on the jeans.

The Wardrobe Refashion really has become a way of life for me. Buying new just isn’t exciting. Buying quality clothes and fabrics I can tailor to my own body are both very exciting. Watching my sister step into this world is so great, too.

My goddaughter who has legs up to her neck and avant-garde bangs (she cut herself, naturally) turned 7 this year. My girl loves a casual dress, and I love sewing for little ladies, so there’s the finished present.

I took this vintage Simplicity pattern thrifted in a packet of old patterns and lengthened the wrap top shown in yellow. The inside facing had to become longer, too, to hide all the denim fray, and I fused interfacing to a teal bandana to do that (pix here). Denim’s from Gaffney’s in Philadelphia, my very favorite fabric store.

Finally saw the little girl this past weekend, handed over packages, watched her twirl (despite the flu) in the dress *and* white on white embroidered cowboy boots purchased for a steal from Alcala’s Western Wear in Chicago.

Sweet!