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.

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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.

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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 · Style · Thrifts

5 Things To Do with Thrifted Jeans

February 8, 2018February 7, 2018 nicole2 Comments

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve had quite a bit of thrifting luck lately. I found a bunch of great shoes, hit on an “Everything’s $1 Day”, and won the vintage lottery with a dress that fits perfectly.

Those $1 Days are my favorite. Not only can I find great dresses and sweaters (with shoulder pads!) for super cheap, but it’s a great time to stock up on jeans.

“Stock up?” you might be asking. Good question. Over the years, I’ve made tons of things out of old jeans – some good, some not so good. (Check out “jean crafts” on Pinterest to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.)

(Note: I may or may not have made a braided denim rug for our first apartment in Tennessee.)

Here are my top 5 things to do with thrift store jeans:

1.Wear them! Finding jeans that fit well can be hard. Thrifting jeans that fit well is even harder. But sometimes, the stars align, and you find a pair that fits just right, as is – perfect waist, perfect fit, perfect length. This was one of those pairs! I was looking for something above the ankle to wear with boots (or heels) that didn’t have any distressing. When you find a good fit, snatch those jeans up immediately, because when else will you find a just-right pair for less than $10?

DIY distressed denim

2. Distress them. I did a post a year ago about how to distress your jeans. I used a newish pair from Target, but thrifted jeans are GREAT for this because they are usually already showing a little age AND you aren’t out much money if it doesn’t go well. Check out the full tutorial for how to distress jeans here.

3. Crop them. Sometimes the jeans fit pretty well, but they’re too long. Or they are boot cut and you’re looking for a narrower hem. Or you just want to try out the raw hem look. Grab a pair and take your scissors to them. Cut them exactly where you want them to hit or leave a few extra inches to cuff them. Leave the hem to fray. I love the look of “scruffy” raw hem jeans with a pretty, feminine blouse and equally pretty, feminine shoes. I just chopped these up two weeks ago, and I’ve already worn them 8 times – they’re my new favorites.

4. Patch them. Or use the thrifted jeans to make patches. These were my favorites. I found them at Target years ago, and they fit perfectly. (Sometimes Target jeans aren’t that great, but I’ve had more luck with them in recent years.) However, as happens with less expensive denim, the stretchy fibers started to wear out, so the knees got saggy. To give them new life, I used a pair of my old jeans and a pair of thrifted jeans to make patches. They add texture and character, and I can keep wearing these old favorites. (Tutorial for these patched jeans coming next week!)

5. Quilt them. I made this rag quilt MANY years ago (maybe 2003?) and even submitted it in a local county fair. (I got 3rd place!) I called it “Family Jeans” (get it?) because it was made with castoffs from our family – old denim shirt from Husband, pants from me, a dress from my mom, jeans from my brother, etc. I used a mix of pink calico fabrics for the backing and sewed all the pieces together, leaving the edges fray. (I don’t remember where I found the tutorial originally, but here’s one that’s pretty close.) We’ve used this quilt on our bed ever since.

I decided it’s time to make another one, but this go-round, I want to use only white denim. It’s a lot harder to find, so I’m hitting thrift stores more frequently in hopes of collecting enough to get started. (Those Everything’s $1 Days are perfect for this!)

I recently had a conversation with a woman I met while combing the aisles of Goodwill, and we chatted about the joys of thrifting. I told her about my quilt plans, she told me about making coasters. Then she said, “I’m pretty sure you could just buy white denim at Joann’s….”

(insert record scratch sound here)

(Oh, guess what! It’s 2018. I can ACTUALLY “insert record scratch sound here”!)

Yeah, okay, sure. I COULD do that. I could just BUY the fabric to make the denim quilt. But I love thrifting. I love the idea of making a quilt out of recycled fabric, I love the thrill of the hunt, and I love those rare vintage treasures you find when you’re not even looking for them.

So I’ll keep searching and collecting, and I’ll be sure to show you how it all turns out when I’m done!