4th Annual Women’s Clothing Swap

The 4th Annual Women’s Clothing swap was amazing. I’m still exhausted.

4th Annual Women’s Clothing Swap

The 4th Annual Women’s Clothing Swap is set for Saturday, May 18th from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Portsmouth Public Library. Click on the image above or the animated gif in the right sidebar to be taken to the Facebook event page. Join the event and invite your friends.

upcycled glass jar photo display

Great idea worth stealing. Photographs in recycled glass jars. via Hannasroom.com #easypeasy

wrap dressing

I’m gearing up to sew this summer. I literally have not sewn a complete dress for 12 years. I sewed a Marilyn Monroe white dress for my cousin for Halloween back in 2000. I clearly remember cursing through the whole process. I also remember thinking — no wonder fine clothing is so expensive — this is hard!!! I’m going to start by sewing a version of the Swirl wrap dress. Partly because I love this style of dress but also because there is no zipper or sleeves involved.

Images via SwaneeGrace. Click on the image to be taken to her shop on Etsy.

I bought three vintage patterns from Etsy. I will sew something very similar to the dress above.

I am getting ahead of myself but I already did buy fabric. I just had to. I bought this fabric by Sarah Watts.

I initially thought that I could sew a dress using vintage sheets but when I shopped around I couldn’t find anything I liked. I’ll keep looking. The green dress below is made from a vintage sheet. I found it on Flickr. I love it. I’d live in that dress. Both the dresses below are made by Wendy Hill.

Images via Wendy Hill. Click on the image to be taken to her shop on Etsy.

These dresses below are also made with vintage sheets. I think they are absolutely stunning. They would look especially fabulous if they were worn by a gaggle of bridesmaids. They were designed and created by Naughty Shorts.

Image via Naughty Shorts. Click on the image to be taken to her blog.

And if all that isn’t enough inspiration for you — I’m also thinking of trying to knock-off the tie-front Mociun dress. It has the same ease as the Swirl wrap dress.

There are a lot of sewing ladies on the interwebs doing their best to make their own version of that dress. My favorite version is made by Sarah over on I wish I were Nancy Drew.

One last thing. Remember when I wrote about how Lynda.com is the best new thing in the world? Well — it still is, BUT I have discovered another best new thing — Creativebug. Creativebug is like Lynda.com but for crafters. I’m pretty sure I’ll watch some instructional videos before I start sewing.

xo jam

lotta jansdotter fabric scraps

oops. impulse purchase. i bought a bag of fabric scraps from lotta jansdotter.

patchwork reupholstered sofa

Gah. This is one of those things that makes me wish I could quit my day job and make upcycled things all day.

It is a custom piece by jipsi boho living on etsy.

poly recovery – portsmouth, NH

How cool is this company? I know, right. So inspirational! A representative from Poly Recovery will speak at Digital Portsmouth 7: The Art of Making on Thursday, February 21st at the Music Hall Loft.

UPDATE: Here is an article on John Pelech, Founder and CEO at Poly Recovery. Interesting read.

handmade playclothes

Forgive this collection of bad old photographs. I just found this image in an old file. I don’t have the heart to look for the originals. This was my attempt to make play clothes for my nieces. I bought up old slips and added stretchable straps on top so they could be worn as dresses. I sewed doilies onto the slip on the bottom right to cover up stains. I wish I had tried to hand dye that one. That might have looked fun. The pale pink one on the top right was a longish slip. I sewed folds into it to give it volume and to make it short enough for a little girl to wear as a playclothes skirt. I’m in the mood to alter clothing. Take a look at my upcycle inspo board on Pinterest for more upcycling inspiration.