Everyday Vintage: 2.22.18

February 22, 2018February 21, 2018 nicole2 Comments

Welcome to Everyday Vintage, my ~~weekly-ish~~ ~~monthly-ish~~ random roundup of how I incorporate vintage finds into my everyday life.

I haven’t done one of these posts in a while, so I’ve got a bunch of photos to share today. We’ve had quite a variety of weather lately – cold, dry winter to warm, dry spring and now back to below freezing temps – but NO RAIN! (We need rain.)

So this edition of Everyday Vintage has a mix of warm and cold weather outfits. Hope these posts inspire you to find vintage and/or thrifted finds to incorporate in your wardrobe.

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Love this vintage vest I found recently – a combination of tan canvas (with quilted stitching!) and cream faux-shearling and wood buttons. It’s SO 70s!

I found this vintage necklace at an estate sale – a mix of bold blue and green beads.

Two-for-one vintage! A vintage men’s Levi’s gingham button-up and a vintage down vest that’s SUPER warm.

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Cleaning out my closet (ignore the clothes piled on the settee)! This chambray tunic is vintage, and the vest is thrifted faux fur.

I like this vintage navy slip dress paired with a turtleneck and cuffed jeans. I haven’t worn this yet (need a little bit warmer temps), but I like the layers.

I was still cleaning out my closet/playing dress up (our bedroom was a DISASTER). (Shall we play I Spy? Faux fur? Check. Multiple pairs of shoes? Check. Old prom dress? Check. Bathrobe? Check. Giveaway bag? Check. Pool noodles? Check. (Those are great to put in boots to hold their shape.) It almost never looks this bad. In fact, all of our clothes have been put away every day since I did the clean out. But it was BAD for a little bit. Husband doesn’t get it, but when I clean stuff out, it always looks MUCH WORSE before it gets better. Anyone else like that?)

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I thrifted this vintage coat a couple of years ago, and it’s been getting lots of wear this winter.

I paired this summer maxi dress with a vintage turtleneck to make it wearable for winter.

I added these earrings that I made from vintage beads. (I’ve got more like this coming to my shop soon!)

This was the sweater I was cutting shoulder pads out of a few weeks ago on Instagram. A long cardigan with pockets – perfect!

I found this crisp white Dickie’s oxford in the boys’ section at the thrift store – it fits perfectly, and I added my favorite 70s down vest.

Apparently this is the puffy vest edition! I love them in the winter, and I usually find them for less than $5. This thifted red one is paired with my favorite vintage blouse – “Country Sophisticates” by Pendleton. (I love those vintage labels.)

(Bandaid not thrifted. ;) I almost lost the tip of my finger chopping basil last weekend. Still don’t have complete feeling back yet, but it’s healing up nicely.)

And, I saved the best for last:

Collages

I found an orange vintage boy’s puffer vest for The Boy while thrifting last weekend. It matches MY orange vintage men’s puffer vest that I thrifted years ago. He wanted us to take a matchy-selfies to post. It wasn’t until I looked back at my photos later that I saw what he was up too. Love this goofy boy. ♥

(I’m linking up with The Pleated Poppy.)

before & after · Style · Thrifts

Before & After: Denim Dress Makeover

February 20, 2018February 21, 2018 nicole3 Comments

denim dress makeover

Back when I started this blog, I spent a lot of time doing clothing makeovers. I took pieces I had in my closet or found thrifting and changed them to make them better. (I even did an entire month of projects like this (for 31 Days), modifying thrift store finds every day for a month.)

I haven’t done many projects like this lately, focusing more on home projects and things going on in our day-to-day lives. But I have a closet full of “to-do” projects to complete, so this weekend, I decided to dive in.

denim dress makeover

First up, this dress. I bought it years ago, and I’ve worn it a bunch, but it hasn’t gotten much wear lately. I think it’s because of the puffed sleeves (there’s elastic in them) and the ruffles. I’m getting a little older (ahem), and the style of the dress seems a little too “cute” for me.

denim dress makeover

If I take away both of these elements, I think I’ll wear this dress much more.

denim dress makeover

I used my trusty seam ripper to remove the elastic from both sleeves and the front ruffles. This gave the dress the less “sweet”, more minimalist look I was hoping for.

denim dress makeover

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Here’s the dress after the ruffles were removed – complete with loose threads and tiny holes left from the threads used to attach the ruffles. The easy solution for getting rid of these? Toss the garment in the washer and then the dryer. The holes will magically disappear.

denim dress makeover

The front of the dress is left with small, distressed lines from where the ruffles were. I like how this tiny detail looks. The sleeves look better with the elastic removed, too.

denim dress + striped turtleneck + ankle boots

It’s the perfect dress for layering – here with a striped turtleneck. I paired it with leather ankle boots – and super pale winter legs!

denim dress + striped turtleneck + ankle boots

I’m so happy to put this dress back into rotation. It’s an easy basic that works year-round.

DIY · Sewing · Style

DIY Modern Patched Denim

February 16, 2018February 16, 2018 nicoleLeave a comment

DIY Patched Denim

Last week, I showed you my top 5 things to do with thrifted jeans.

One of my favorite things to do with thrifted (or just old) jeans is to cut them up to use for patches.

Last year, I did a tutorial on DIY distressed denim and how to use patches on the inside of the jeans to reinforce the holes. You can check out that tutorial here.

Today, I’m showing you how to add patches to the outside of your jeans. I was inspired by these images I found on Pinterest:

boyfriendjeans-ankleboots-frenchconnection-coat-madewell-tote-graphic-sweatshirt-3-684x1024 — (source)

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset — (source)

Here’s what I used for this project:

a pair of jeans to patch
another pair of jeans or denim scraps to make patches
scissors
needle and thread (I used white)
pins to hold patches in place
sewing machine (optional)

DIY Patched Denim

This is what the jeans looked like before – saggy knees that have lost some of the elasticity of the spandex threads that give the jeans stretch.

DIY Patched Denim

I wanted the patches to be different colors, so I cut one patch from a thrifted pair of jeans, and I cut the other patch from an old pair of jeans that I had already repaired. I thought the ripped and resewn part would add some fun texture.

DIY Patched Denim

Place the patches where you want them to be sewn.

DIY Patched Denim

Pin patches in place. Now you will begin to stitch the patches to the jeans. For the top and bottom of the patch, I used my machine, but I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to do the left and right side stitches that way, so I used needle and thread to finish.

DIY Patched Denim

I used back stitching for this part. (Here’s a great illustration of how back stitch works.) Start with the needle and thread inside the leg of the jeans. Poke the needle through at least 1/4″ away from the side of the patch and about 1/2″ from the bottom. Pull thread through to the knot.

DIY Patched Denim

Insert needle about 1/4″ toward the bottom edge of patch and guide it to about 1/4″ past where the thread is sticking out.

Pull thread tight and insert needle at the end of the previous stitch.

DIY Patched Denim

Guide needle through the inside of the jeans and poke out about 1/4″ past where thread is sticking out. Repeat until you have a full line of stitches, stopping at about 1/4″ from the opposite edge of the patch. Tie off the thread on the inside of the jeans.

I made a little video (my first on the blog!) to show you what this looks like in action:

And there you have it, how to add patches to your jeans.

DIY Patched Denim

I had forgotten how much I love hand-stitching. I find it super relaxing. Maybe it takes me back to my childhood cross-stitching days, or maybe it just makes me slow down and focus only on what I’m doing. Either way, I think I need to find some things to embroider, or at least find some more things to patch. I’m sure BB and BG have some holey jeans that need fixing!