Changing Your Clothes

Shopping, Sewing, Upcycling, Repairing: Make the most of your clothes!


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Zip It, Part Deux: DIY Pull?

This is the first part of my follow-up on yesterday’s post on fixing a broken/missing zipper pull (Zip It: The Lost-Pull Fix). The next part will include full instructions for making a zipper pull (hurrah!).

When I needed pliers to open my replacement zipper pull, I grabbed the first ones I could lay my hands on, which happened to be in my jewelry-making supply box. They were right next to a package of lobster-claw clasps, and even though I was in a hurry to get that blog post going, it did occur to me at the time to wonder if those clasps would fit on an ordinary zipper pull. Hmm…

This morning, I took a closer look at my jewelry materials. Here’s the result of a quick rummage through my supplies:

Possible make-your-own-zipper-pull materials, clockwise starting with the package of lobster-claw clasps: a fancier brass lobster-claw clasp, a jeweled pendant, faux peridot pendant, faux sapphire pendant, and an old necklace with a pendant that could be repurposed as a zipper-pull ornament.

Zippers are such utilitarian things, why not dress them up a bit? (For all we know, they suffer from a perpetual sense of inferiority, considering the beautiful buttons, frogs, laces, and other closure types that compete with zippers. A lot of zippers are actually invisible! Honestly… how would you feel?)

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Zip it: The Lost-Pull Fix

I just found this cute cotton skirt at my favorite thrift store (Value Village), complete with bohemian print and sequin embellishment, for which I paid the princely sum of $2.50.

Embellished print skirt

Embellished print skirt, found at my favorite thrift store, Value Village.

My general belief is that clothes are given to thrift stores for a reason, whether it’s a fit issue, a stain that won’t come out, or maybe that Bridget Jones-inspired reindeer pullover was a gift you just can’t bring yourself to wear. From what I’ve seen, the most common reason we give clothing away is because there’s something wrong with it that we don’t know how to fix. In this case, my summery little skirt was missing its zipper pull.

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Pillow Talk: Adding a Fab Ruffled Trim!

All right, I know it’s a pillow, not a garment, but after this brief digression, I promise I will show you how to apply this technique to clothing items too, including ready-to-wear fabric clothes, not just knits!

It all started with this pillow, hand-knitted (by me) with Knittique’s Scraplet Skeins. (Click here to go to Knittique’s Etsy shop; the link will go straight to the color shown here. The Entrelac Pillow pattern is also available in this shop.)

Fade to Black Pillow front

The front of the Fade to Black Entrelac Pillow, looking fine, but somehow not quite all there. So to speak.

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Is it just me, or is it my clothes?

I’ve been reflecting on the notion of clothes making us look fat. And it’s my conclusion that, when we see “flaws” in the mirror, it’s a lot more likely to be an issue of poorly-fitting clothes than anything else. Think about it: it’s only when garments are too small, for example in the waist, that our bodies appear to be distorted. But that’s because of the garments, not our bodies!

I’m a big fan of the TLC show What Not To Wear, for a number of reasons. First, it’s not just a makeover in the sense that Stacy and Clinton simply swoop in and re-outfit the makeover-ee (is that a word?); lessons that frequently amount to more than just sartorial therapy are taught so that the contributor (as they’re referred to on the show) goes home with much more than a new wardrobe— they depart with more confidence, better shopping skills, and a positive view of themselves. Continue reading →


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Changing Your Closet: What System Works?

Closet confession #1 (yes, there will be more): I reorganize my clothes regularly, partly to remove the things that no longer work for me, but mostly in an attempt to find the perfect system. Care to make a guess as to my success rate?

The way I’ve generally organized my closet in the past has been by type, i.e. skirts together, dresses together, etc. Here’s how my wardrobe (at least the parts that hang) looked using this plan:

My Closet, Organized by Item Type

My clothes (the hanging ones), grouped according to item type.

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The Accidental Shopper

Today, on my way from one errand to another, I decided to take a different route. (This is common for me.) Well into this exploratory drive, I realized I was going to go more or less right past one of my favorite fabric stores in Portland: Mill End Store, which announces itself as having the largest display of fabrics in America. (I’ve been there. I believe them. How did I get so lucky as to end up in this city??) So, natch, I decided to pop in.

Now, since I hadn’t planned a fabric-shopping foray, not to mention that I had just been in this shop a little over a week ago (and I had purchased plenty of impulse items then, thank you very much), I had no shopping list, no plan, no agenda. Dangerous stuff for a fabric lover. The only decision I made before entering was that I would act as if I was there for the very first time, and simply browse. (This is something I usually avoid like the proverbial plague, since it frequently leads to the aforementioned impulse purchases.) Continue reading →


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Santa Fe Wardrobe, Shopping 2: $49.95 or less!

You know, when I was working on the original Santa Fe shopping wardrobe in Polyvore for yesterday’s post (Santa Fe Wardrobe: Shopping!), I must admit that I didn’t even look at the prices of any of the items, with the inevitable result that some things were crazy-pricey, while others were amazing bargains. While it is certainly a whole lot of fun to “shop” with no regard for budget, it occurred to me that it might be interesting to see what I could do if I only used items that cost $50.00 or less, including accessories, which can be difficult to find with that price restriction (at least if you want decent quality). I’m surprised at all the great options I found in a fairly quick search!

(By the way, for any of you who may not be familiar with Polyvore, it’s a super-fun place where you can shop, follow other users whose style you admire, get inspired, and create your own collections! There’s also a widget to put in your browser toolbar that lets you copy anything you run across online to your place on Polyvore, to add to your own sets and collections. Try it!) Continue reading →


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Santa Fe Wardrobe: Shopping!

As promised: Santa Fe Wardrobe, the shopping edition!

I like to start by “shopping my closet”. I know, I know, it’s much more fun to go out and get new stuff, but hey, it can also be rewarding to unearth something you haven’t worn in (she said with a blush) over 2 years, and find that it works perfectly with your travel wardrobe color palette! So into the closet I go, and find all these pieces that fit not only the color palette but my actual clothing needs for my trip to Santa Fe:

Lightweight Silk/Mohair Sweater Lightweight Silk/Mohair Sweater (hand-knitted by yours truly) Continue reading →


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Santa Fe Wardrobe: The fabrics & projects

Now that I’ve chosen the color palette for my Santa Fe travel mini-wardrobe, let me show you how that translates into fabric. (Yes, it’s true that I plan to sew most of this wardrobe, but stay tuned for the shopper’s version in my next post! I will also show you how I incorporated several items from my existing wardrobe into this travel collection.)

Remember my palette? Here it is again, below the fabrics (plus my turquoise necklace) with the palette colors:

Palette Fabrics

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Santa Fe Travel Wardrobe: Color Palette

Now that I’ve shown you a little about one of my current sewing projects, the bronze matte jersey dress with pewter jersey lining, I want to put this project in context. I’m planning a trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, around the end of August, and decided this was a great excuse (if I actually need one) to make some new clothes. And since I have also been working on some ideas for great travel wardrobes, this is the perfect time to try out my theories!

The first thing I want to do for a new mini-wardrobe (it’s a 4-day trip) is create a color palette. It so happens that I’ve been twice already to Santa Fe, and it is one of my very favorite places, in part because of the beautiful colors there, which are all the more brilliant in the clear golden light of the high desert. I fell in love with everything from the innumerable shades of green and the earthy, natural colors of architecture and basket-weaving to the silver and turquoise of the jewelry you see everywhere in the Southwest. So the inspiration for my Santa Fe color palette was obvious. I headed over to Colourlovers. Continue reading →