Don't Throw It Out - It's Fixable!

This isn't so much a refashion as it is a lesson in fixing something that is "ruined" before you throw it out and buy new. 

I bought this dress (new) a couple of years ago. Maybe it was $20.00 and I love it. I usually wear it with a colorful belt. Sadly, the side seam ripped in a way that wasn't easy to fix. 

I tried to fix this with iron-on seam tape. You can see it here. It didn't work.

Shredded seam. 

 But - I did have this fantastic fabric in my collection. The color match was perfect. I would use it to create a block at the bottom of the dress serving 2 purposes - cover the ripped the seam AND add a about an inch of length, which I felt the dress needed when wearing to work.

I don't think there is any right way to do this. It's pretty straight forward.  You could just sew it on anyway you know how. I decided to be more precise for a change and actually measured it, folded it so it would have a bit more weight and look nicer.

Precision. It's a nice change for me. 

 With my strip of fabric measured, I ironed it so it would be crisp and lay flat when I sewed it.

I pinned it in place and sewed it all around.

And it turned out great. The only bummer? I can't wear a colorful belt with it any longer. I wear it without a belt and it's fine.

Why I buy secondhand clothes

When I started this blog, it was to support my mission of not buying any new clothing for a year (where "new" meant new to me - new with tags previously owned were okay.) And I did it. I may or may not have saved money, but I suspect I did. I stopped buying things based on "So cute! I need this," and put more thought into what I actually needed. And I definitely improved my sewing skills.

Then I pretty much fell back into buying new. I mostly stuck to discount stores -- TJMax, Marshall's, etc, but very much new. I would still hit the occasional thrift store, but it was no longer a priority.

Then I cleaned out my closet in December and discovered 4 pairs of black pants. They all fit differently. I accumulated them over the years in search of the perfect fit -- and never found it. I spent some time tailoring two of them and will likely donate the other two to Dress for Success.

So this year, I'm back to used/previously owned only. My focus will be less on refashioning and more on doing more with less. I have become a huge fan of online consignment shopping -- specifically ThredUp.com. There is another one I recently discovered but haven't tried yet called Swap.com. These sites make buying previously owned easy (almost too easy if you're prone to over-shopping.) And they also allow you to consign your own gently used items which I might try soon. (ThredUp also has a charitable arm of their business, you can read more about that on their site.)

You can search all the reason why buying secondhand clothing is beneficial -- you'll pay less for quality items, it's better for the environment, and if you shop at Goodwill or other charitable thrift stores you're contributing to their overall cause, and if you shop at your local thrift stores, you're supporting local businesses. But making the decision to forgo brand new clothing is a personal one. Luckily, the "stigma" of shopping secondhand has been diminishing over the years.

So in an effort to further diminish that stigma, I'm happy to share with you my recent used clothing purchases.

ThredUp.com -- I needed to add some better basics to my work wardrobe and spent about $104.00 total for all of the following:

1. Ann Taylor Loft Brocade Pants -- NEW WITH TAGS (NWT) - love them, they aren't tapered on the bottom, I'm just a terrible photographer. The second pic is to show the color and detail.

2. Banana Republic Straight Skirt (NWT) - Perfect for work. Love this skirt.





















3. J Crew skirt - (Used) My new FAVORITE skirt. The other day when I wore this a woman came up to me and said "You look exquisite." I haven't taken it off since.) It's cream with light blue and gold pattern - I know it's hard to tell hopefully the second picture helps.

4. J Crew (NWT) blue top, thinking this will be great for work.

 5. Ann Taylor (NWT) green top with gold neckline accent. Tailored this already -- it was too big so I sewed a single seam up the back, taking it in an inch. Wore this for Christmas with the brocade pants above.

6. JCrew (used) - And finally, a casual top the reminds me of one I permanently borrowed (read: stole) from a dear friend in Baltimore back in the day. Loved it then, love it now.

These items, combined with the staples already in my wardrobe allowed me to spruce up my work clothes options for not a lot of money. I also hit the local thrift store yesterday and about 2 items from the $1.00 rack -- those will be refashion projects that I'll share when I tackle them.

I will try to stay more active this year with more refashions, and if you have ideas or questions about how you can do it -- even if you can't sew - let me know!