A Skirt Makeover: Florida Oranges

At the halfway point in my fall Project 333, I'm realizing that I need to get my butt in gear if I want to finish the rest of the refashions before the three months are over! So this weekend, I finished a refashion of one of my Pin Up Girl Clothing Jenny skirts.

The skirt features a super cute orange boarder print that I feel in love with when I first saw it! While I'm sure the designers had California in mind when they selected this print, I thought it would be just perfect for sunny Florida. Yummy!

The skirt is made out of a great stretch cotton but the fabric is really thick. In it's original state, this skirt was gathered instead of pleated. It had been pretty much gathered to the maximum allowed by the fabric. Kudos to PUG for not skimping on fabric but it meant taking in the skirt wasn't going to happen without removing some of the width or changing to pleats.

Plus, the skirt just never seemed as flattering on my figure as I thought it should be. Now I know that a slimmer skirt that is pleated is more flattering for me that a very full, gathered skirt.

And after I saw Lauren of American Duchess do just such a refashion on her orange Jenny skirt this summer, I knew mine would meet the same fate someday. And I'm so happy that I finally did it!

 Oh, I feel like this skirt is just so much more flattering now! You can check out the original skirt paired with this exact same top here.

I have another Jenny skirt that I can't wait to do the same makeover on. Must refashion all of the gathered skirts!

 Do you prefer a gathered or pleated skirt?

My Konmari Journey Part #2: Books

The Konmari process is going well! The second category in this method is books. Now I am a book lover so I thought this category was going to be very difficult. Plus, I paired down to one book shelf of books from two when we moved from Ohio.

I used to read all the time. No really, all the time. But as I've gotten older and busier and found more hobbies, my reading time has gone way down. On thing Mari Kondo talks about in her book is that you should focus on keeping your Hall of Fame books. This really resonated with me since I do have a few titles/series/authors that I can read again and again and again. And then there are other books which I enjoyed but if I never got around to reading them again, I'd be ok.



So in the end, I was actually really surprised with the amount of books I was able to part with. The ones that I have left really are my favorites. And maybe I'll have to venture out to the library more often. The branch nearest me is pretty small but I can always request titles from other branches and they actually have a nice collection of ebooks that I can check out for my Nook. And now that I work at a bookstore, my list of new titles that I want to read is quickly growing....

Are you a book hoarder or do you prefer to have only your favorite titles? What's your collection like? More fiction or reference titles?

Polka Dot Do Over

I adore polka dots! They are so much fun and can really be dressed up or down. Plus polka dots are a hubby approved print so it's a win win in my book.

White with blue polka dots! Navy and white has become my go to color combo. They look great together and since they are both neutrals, you can pair them with pretty much any other color.

This skirt started out as a very cute polka dot dress. But as with any off the rack woven dress, it had some fit issues in the bodice. Between the fit issues and the fact that my bra always showed under the arms, it didn't get worn nearly as much as it should.

 So I did a quick refashion to turn it into a skirt! I just needed a waist band which I made from the bodice fabric. I was even able to salvage the original zipper so the only thing I needed was some interfacing for the waist band.

I also decided to take advantage of the fact that I was taking this dress apart and added pockets. Everything is better with pockets! The remainder of the bodice yielded the fabric for the pockets. Pockets take surprisingly a lot of fabric so I did end up having to piece one of the pockets.

Pockets and twirling are full of win! I've actually worn this skirt a ton since finishing the refashion. It feels so good to give something new life in my closet.

 And I get loads of compliments when I wear it. I guess everyone else loves polka dots too. :D

I feel like this piece really speaks to my style. The overall shape and length say elegant but the print and pockets are all fun and whimsy! There's nothing like wearing clothes that make you feel like you!

I also added my Star Wars rebel necklace for a bit of nerd flair. While I was at work, it occurred to me that this would be a great R2D2 Disney bound. I just need a pair of R2D2 Mickey ears.

 I'll have to keep that in mind for my next Disney adventure. I have gobs of ideas for Disney bounds. It's such a fun thing to do!

What's your thoughts on polka dots? Are they full of win or just too much?

My Konmari Journey Part #1: Clothes

I've started the Konmari decluttering process! Yay! Mari has you start with clothing which I think is great because most people have so many items of clothing that they don't wear, don't love, don't fit, etc. And while I have done quite a bit of wardrobe purging over the last year, there is still more to be done!

I'm bending the rules a bit for this category since I'm also in the middle of my fall Project 333. I've decided not to unpack the clothing that is currently packed away but I do have some pieces here and there that aren't part of my capsule wardrobe but aren't boxed up yet either so that's what I'm going through. I'll come back to the rest of my clothing later when I'm getting ready to build by winter Project 333.

Project 333 Update: October

Phew! I can't believe it's November already! I have been having a blast with my fall Project 333 so I thought I'd share a little update on how it's going.

Originally, I set out to do 4 refashions. I only completed one but it came out too big (shrinking waist ??) so it needs to be tweaked again. I do have two deconstructed but I just need to put them back together! I've been quite busy with other things but I'm hoping more free time in November to get some sewing done.

There are a few things that haven't been worn yet. One is the green and orange dress. I think it's a bit big now (the belt certainly is!). I really need to try it on and decide if I can alter it or if it is time to part ways. My beach pjs haven't been worn but I knew they weren't going to be worn a lot. My capris are just a bit too casual for work so I haven't worn them yet. Then is the fourth skirt set to be refashioned which I haven't even started taking apart.

 I had one pair of shoes kick the bucket so I'm replacing it with this skirt. I really need more skirts since so many of mine are currently out of commission!

Hopefully, I'll also get to capture more of my November outfits too!

Princess for a Day

I love getting to dress up so Halloween has always been a fun holiday for me but there are definitely less opportunities for dress up events as an adult. Boo. So I decided to dress up a bit on Friday to work just because I could.

Now, we weren't having an office party or anything so I just stuck with something a bit subtle. I pulled out my castle print skirt from Pin Up Girl clothing (even though it's not in my fall Project 333... more on that next week) and added a tiara for instant princess.

I've always thought that this print looked like Sleeping Beauty's castle so I ran with the pink and blue theme. Make it pink! Make it blue!

I'd love a changing color dress though. Someone should really work on that.

When picking out my outfit, I definitely wanted something easy to wear. I also wanted something nice and light since I do work at a church with a school on site. For me personally, it's much easier to over sensitive to workplace dress codes rather than to push the limits.

 Besides, as I like to remind my husband, I am a princess. My name means "crowned" after all.

And as a Christian, I'm the daughter of a king aka a princess. :D It makes the girly part of me want to squeal.

I think every girl deserves to have at least one tiara because they make you feel fabulous. And who doesn't like sparkly things? I'd probably wear one every day if I could get away with it.

This is currently the only one I have. It's actually from my wedding and was a bit on the pricey side but it's really great quality.

It's still going strong six years later and has out lived several others which broke or became dull and tarnished.

Speaking of hanging on, this skirt has almost been purged several times. I went through an antipink phase for a while and I just didn't care too much for it. But I always held on to it because it just needs to be worn to Disney.

Now that I've removed a lot of pink and brown from my closet, I've found that I do actually like pink and blue so this skirt is going to stay. And hopefully it will make it to Disney one day!

Have you ever dressed as a princess for the day? Do you have a tiara?

P.S. A not so princess worthy face I made at my husband when he was taking too long to get the lighting adjusted for his camera.

My Konmari Journey Part #0: Intro

When you've been blogging for as long as I have (over five years! where has the time gone!), it's completely natural for your blog to grow and evolve and change as you get better at what every blog about (not to mention the actual blogging process) and as you discover new things that you are passionate about. And we're at one of those points right now!

My motto for this year is Less is More and it's really sparked an interest in minimalism. I've done quite a few wardrobe purges and played around with Project 333 and capsule wardrobes. And it's time for my next minimalist challenge!

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll have seen that I recently purchased The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Mari Kondo and I'll be using her tidying process called the Konmari Method to get rid of excess items in my house and then organize what's left.

I'm going to be vlogging this process since that seems like a better option for this sort of thing than photos especially since there are a lot of places in my house that don't photograph well! I'm hoping to post one video a week as I work through this process in addition to the regular vintage and outfit posts on the blog. Hope you enjoy!