TIE DYE DIY!

A couple weeks ago, I got together with two lovely ladies, Voss and Terris, for a little DIY sesh. We conjured up a few afternoon bevvies (AKA mimosas), turned on The Craft, and got to work!

These girlies are two-thirds of Neon Nightmare Vintage, a super-rad online vintage store that just launched. They are just getting the site up and running, but between you and me, it's gonna be pretty freakin' awesome.  All three girls have very different, distinct, and amazing styles which is going to make for a huge array of goodies on the site! I got to preview some of their treasures, and OH GIRL it's goooood!

With these ladies constantly hunting for wares for their online store, and with me just being a general clothes hoarder, we had a slew of vintage slips lying around.  Great minds think alike because we all have been wanting to tie dye said slips. 

The boxes of RIT dye said to only use on cotton and natural fibers...these slips were definitely NOT cotton. Polyester? Rayon? Some sort of blend? The info on the fabric content tags were worn away so who knows! We took a chance and went for it, wondering whether or not these mystery fabric slips would even take the dye. 

And, oh hell yes, they did!

Terris' / Mine / Voss'

AH-MAZE-ING.

We went in for round two and did more slips, but I don't have pictures of those.

This makes me want to tie dye pretty much everything I own. Everything. All of it. I also want to try some dip dye action once I get more confident with dying techniques. 

Thanks to the ladies of Neon Nightmare Vintage for hanging out! And check out their blog posts on our DIY day here and here! There are a bunch more photos of our day on their posts, I got really into my crafting, was a bad blogger and forgot to take photos. Whoops!

Dress Recon: Sexy Secretary

My friend and co-worker, Carmel, found this amazing vintage dress at Value Village and asked me to 'sass it up' a bit by adding a lace deep-v inset.

The original dress:

I just used my clear ruler to trace where I wanted the inset to be and cut it out.

I used the pieces of the original dress that I cut out to use as a pattern for the lace.

I added a half-inch all around the pattern piece for a seam allowance. 

And I repeated the same thing on the back inset.

Added a half-inch again for a seam allowance. I sewed the inset in with a quarter-inch seam allowance....if you aren't sure why I added a half-inch, it can be kind of confusing to explain, e-mail me if you have questions!

I sewed the shoulder seams together and since I used delicate lace, I finished neckline of the lace with black bias tape. 

I then sewed the inset in and finished the seams with my surger.

Ta da!

 

Pretty sassy, if I do say so myself. And it only took me a little over an hour! I can't wait to see Carmel rock it!

Holy stud action!

'Bout to get my craft on. Who's coming over?!

Studs purchased from Studs and Spikes...located right here in Seattle

Crochet Shorts?

shorts via Top Shop

Anyone know where I can get a pattern to make a pair of shorts like these?  I think I must have them for summer 2011, but I'm having a hard time coming to terms with the price tag...especially since I can probably make a pair myself.

Help!