Sewing Machine Inspiration from Fellow Bloggers!

Sewing Machine Inspiration from Fellow Bloggers

I found this crazy colorful dress at one of my favorite thrift stores in the Valley. It’s called Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission Thrift Store. They have a special 25% off Tuesdays and Thursdays, so sometimes I like to rush over and shift through their clothes on my lunch break. This colorful dress totally caught my eye. I like to think that my style is slightly eccentric. It’s not too crazy, but I totally LOVE color. When I saw this beauty, I knew I had to give it a try. When I got home and tried the colorful dress on, it was too long. I had imaged myself dancing in it, grabbing drinks and dinner, and wearing it at a playful summer length. I decided to give it a little makeover and cut and hem the end using an old secondhand sewing machine.

I put the dress on and gaged where I wanted the hem to land on my body. I laid the dress down, and cut the dress a bit lower than my perfect length to allow for some seam allowance. I then hemmed the bottom using my grandmother’s 1930’s Kenmore sewing machine. The hem is a little jagged; I’m not going to lie! I’m still learning what stitches and at what speed work best with different fabrics. However with this crazy pattern I don’t think it’s too noticeable.

I paired the dress with a faux-leather jacket and my $7 thrifted boots from my same favorite secondhand store in the Valley. I think the best part of this outfit is how unique the pattern and dress is. As I’ve mentioned in pervious posts, buying clothing in thrift stores is a more playful, less serious form of fashion (in my opinion). It’d be a little intimidating to put a lot of money down for a loud neon dress, but picking it up for a few bucks makes me more confident to throw it on and wear it out without the pressure to make the piece work. Plus, the low cost and low “risk” of refashioning thrifted clothes makes upcycling these pieces fun!

Recently I found this YouTuber, Coolirpa, who takes clothes that’re usually out of style or way too big for her body type. She then cuts and sews them into the most amazing new outfits. She is so incredibly talented, her DIY backpack tutorial blew me away. She’s one of the best DIYers I’ve seen, and she’s totally cute and stylish! If you feel a little intimated or uninspired to try a sewing project, watch a couple YouTube videos from her Thrifted Transformations series and get excited about sewing!

I’ve always used a needle and thread to hem my clothing, and as you can imagine the process takes a while. But learning how to use my grandma’s sewing machine by thumbing through it’s 1934 instruction manual made me feel like I opened a door to a whole new set of possibilities. Plus, sewing gurus like Coolirpa or Sheri from Confessions of a Refashionista make thrifted transformations look so easy and fun!

I recently added some pop to my favorite jean jacket by sewing on some detailing. Stay tuned for that, you guys are going to love it!