Upcycled t-shirt becomes ruffles for a blah skirt

I've been working on a little project and finished it yesterday. It's tied to my crazy shopping post.

This is what has emerged:


















It began with a denim skirt that I've had a million years or so. Not sure if I got it at Goodwill or if it was a hand-me-down. It was very plain. So...
I took an Archie comic book from the 70's and scanned a couple of the pages, flipped the images and made iron-on transfers. Then I hand stitched around the images. I didn't really care if the comics were readable. I like the worn look they have. There is also no rhyme or reason in the order I put them on. If you tried to read the story you would get confused.













I placed comic panels on the down the front and three panels on the left bottom part of the skirt.
Yes, I'm wearing TOMS. I love my TOMS.

Now, the skirt has a front slit that wasn't too high, but it was awkward to sit in. It just seemed if I wasn't on constant watch it would gap in very annoying ways. Or, at least, annoying for me. Maybe the men around me really liked the slit. Anyway, this is what I did:














I upcycled a red Pine Cove Ranch t-shirt that had seen better days by cutting a panel and hand stitching six ruffles onto it. Then I hand stitched the panel into the skirt.








The dentist recognized it as the project I was working on last week when Callie had her visit and a lady in the waiting room really liked it. Callie explained to both of them that the ruffles were made out of an old t-shirt.






And that fuzzy thing below the ruffles. That's not my hairy leg, that's Dog Henry, not to be confused with Nephew Henry. Nephew Henry, not to be confused with Dog Henry, is going through a "I will NOT use the big potty!" phase. His parents are THRILLED!

It was a fun project. I only stabbed myself a few times. Twice in the lip. I know, it doesn't make any sense. It would have been faster and safer to do it all on the machine, but I like hand stitching and I can do it anywhere. On the train, in my living room, at the dentist, at a meeting, at my mom's, etc...You get the picture.

I'm not crazy about shopping

I'm not really crazy about shopping, like at the mall. It's not something I consider fun. (Flea Markets and thrift stores, that's a whole 'nother story.) Haven't always felt this way. In the past I had no problem spending hours in a mall. I'm not really even sure when the change took place. Maybe it was around the time I starting realizing I didn't need all that much, nor did my kids. Maybe it was around the time I starting realizing where clothes were made. Maybe it was around the time I started realizing that much of the stuff I was admiring was being made by people forced to work in horrible, dangerous conditions. Not really sure. It's probably a combination of a lot of things.

My friend and I were talking the other day about her struggle to find a baby gift she knew came from an honorable company. She was going to start researching companies for her future purchases. Shaun Groves wrote a few years ago about searching for blue jeans that were fair trade and organic. That made me search. There are good companies out there who are honorable in their business practices. It costs more to buy from them sometimes, but I would rather spend more money, than wear or use something made by a slave or an abused person. Or, simply go without.

Anyone who knows me in real life can tell you I'm not a fashionista. Most of the time I really don't care. Now, I usually know how to dress appropriately for a situation or I call a friend and ask for help. A lot of times I like to be different in some little way, which gets an eyebrow raised now and then. I went through a boring time in my life where I played it safe and was constantly freaked out about what I was going to wear. Not so much anymore. Some years ago I decided to have some fun, which is where the not caring comes in.

I'm getting more and more into altering pieces of clothing to have more of a "me" style. I get a hoot out of repurposing pieces and upcycling stuff. It helps my creative side. I love to hand stitch things. It helps me with stress. And it works nicely with my dislike of shopping.

So, all that to say that I'm going on a little adventure where I'm going to try to not make any purchases without knowing if the supply chain is pure and I'm going to be getting less stressful by creating a lot of my own stuff. Don't how it will all turn out or how I will record it. Since only a couple of people read this, maybe they will throw some ideas my way.