With Thanks to Baroness Maria Von Trapp for the Curtains, Or, Why Is This Silly Post So Long and Blabby?
These days, I only go to about two rummage sales a year. A couple of weeks ago, I serendipitously heard about my favorite sale while I was already downtown and spent several hours there stuffing black garbage bags full of designer clothes (five dollars per garbage bag...really, now). Many of these I'll resell at the consignment shop to plump up our Treehouse Fund, but I was thrilled to find some things that Millie needs. The nice woman who's in charge of this particular sale always gives the girls bags to fill with "whatever you want...for FREE!" (groan), and she was as happy as I was to see the huge mountain of jeans I found.
By the end of this winter, Millie only had one pair of jeans that fit her, and none in larger sizes, so I picked up a slew of like-new jeans that fit her now and more that should fit her in the fall, and because she had only one pair of capris and no shorts, I picked up jeans to alter into capris and shorts for this summer. When I mentioned how happy I was to have found all those beautiful jeans to turn into shorts and capris, the woman was so surprised, and I was surprised that she was surprised. I told her I love chopping up clothes and using them for what we need because it gives the satisfaction of making something without investing the time to actually make something from scratch.
I guess these pictures are the proof in the pudding, huh.
Millie had no suitable outfit for Easter, so I planned on making her a fancy skirt (which she was super-excited about). When I found a gaudy Christmas dress at Kohl's for 90% off, though, I switched gears. It had a gold-sequined belt and glittery gold skirt, was a tad too short, and featured straps that she didn't like (and made her look like a 20-year old). Good thing I saved a lace curtain panel to turn into something, huh?
I covered up the gold belt with a lace one, and then made a lacy overskirt, which lets some glitter still show through without making Millie look like circus star.
A couple of weeks later, I finally got around to using more of the curtain to add cap sleeves to the dress, and I forced Millie to stand still in the hall for a picture.
STAND STILL.
Okay.
Millie loves (okay, likes) the dress.
And we love (no, we really do) her.
8 comments :
Wow... it looks lovely and old-fashioned and MUCH better than a gaudy Kohl's dress.
(I'm trying to imagine getting Deirdre to wear a dress. I can't picture it... I mean, I can picture her looking lovely in a dress, but not convincing her to wear one!)
Lovely.
Cadie,
Millie loves wearing skirts and prefers them above all else. She much prefers them to dresses, even! Dierdre and Millie share the same calmly implacable liking for their mode of dress; it's just blue polos and comfortable jeans for D. and tees and comfortable skirts for M. When I think of Dierdre and clothes, though, I always think of the color blue. (Even, in the long distant past, blue dresses, perhaps chosen for her by bigger folks. One. Two. Three. ) :)
Oh, how beautiful! Especially, MILLIE!
Much love!
I'd love to see the "before" of that dress! It's so pretty now!
Millie, indeed, stunning. And still looking a hair too close to twenty!
Goodness me.
I snapped a picture on my phone to send to McGamma. I'll have to see if I can find it.
And, Millie? Shiver. She's got a bit more than EIGHT years yet before she hits that milestone, thank goodness. (But, yup, WAY too old-looking. I should probably lock her in her room until she decides to stop looking so old.)
Doing it now.
Click.
I'll let you know how it turns out.
Post a Comment