5 Things I Do To Break Creative Ruts

Creative ruts... sometimes it seems they can last forever! Here are a few things I do to help spark some creativity.

1. Watch movies - For me, watching Because I Said So, Perks of Being a Wallflower, or Julie and Julia leaves me with a renewed urge to take on the world.

2. Take a class - I love learning, and taking online classes makes it so easy to learn a new skill or further another. If you have never taken an online class, take a look at Skillshare... they have a great variety of classes! Learning to create something new with tools you use everyday is a great way to help see the things around you in a new light!

3. Organize my work area - I don't know about you, but often my rut hits after I have made a craft explosion all over my work area and I have no idea what I have or where to begin. If I just take the time to give everything a place, I feel like anything is possible. I thrive on organization!

4. Change my view - Whether it is taking a walk outside or changing the way my desk faces, it helps. Not sure why, it just makes things look new!

5. Look back - I always keep notebooks, scraps of paper, and post-its with ideas, quotes and songs scrawled all over them. Looking back over these things leads to growing on old ideas or giving new life to ones I had given up on.

What do you do to break your creative ruts?

Charlie

Button Front Skirt Restyle

I love button front skirts, but for some reason, the ones I find while thrifting are always too big for me. Luckily, they're pretty easy to take in.  I am super excited that I got to keep the belt buckles on this one.  I love the character it gives to the skirt! Ignore the fact that it won't button on the form... that means it fits me perfectly!

How I did it:
1. Put the skirt on inside out and figure out how much you want to take it in on each side. This amount should be equal to keep everything centered.
2. Once you know how much you're taking it in, lay the skirt flat (inside out still) and put a pin at the top, marking that measurement on each side.

3. Go along the side of the skirt, measuring out two inches from the seam all the way down (as pictured above). You will want to keep the shape of the skirt as much as possible.
4. This step is optional: With a pencil or fabric pen, take a yard stick and and connect the pins. I do this to help me see the angle and to make sure it works on both sides. It also helps me keep the seam straight.
5. Sew both sides of your skirt and try it on.
6. When you know the skirt fits, you can trim the excess with pinking sheers or serge it.
7. Hem the skirt to your desired length, and you're done! Just remember to always hem last because taking it in will make it sit differently when you have it on, even if it is just a little bit.

I hope this will inspire you to give things that don't fit a chance at the thrift store! 

~Charlie

Strapless Dress Restyle

I have had this dress for a few years and have never worn it. I bought it from Forever 21 while on vacation and didn't try it on. Ooops... live and learn! As you can see, it is just the worst fitting thing, even on the form. An even better reason to never wear it is that the zipper always got stuck while attempting to zip it up. Awesome!

How I did it:

1. Zip the dress all the way down so you can still use the zipper.
2. Seam rip all the way around, including the lining. You will need to cut that zipper at the same point that you rip the seam. (I didn't keep my lining, but you may want to).
3. Fold at the ribbon, pin and sew all the way around. Done!

Since I didn't keep my lining, I knew I would have to wear a slip. I decided to pair it with a vintage slip and let the lace hang out the bottom.

What do you think? What do you have in your closet that you could restyle?
~Charlie

Tips For Restyling a Thrifted Secretary Dress

I love this dress. I love the bow patterned fabric and I love the little tie. The only issue with it was that it swallowed me whole when I put it on... time to restyle it! Sorry, when I make a restyle really fit me I can't get it back on the dress form, but I promise a picture of me wearing soon! I honestly can't wait to wear this dress out!

Here is the process I used to restyle this dress. I am not a professional seamstress! This is just a hobby, and I am sure I am not doing things the proper way, but I have found that for a beginner like me this has been what works. Maybe it will help you to restyle something too!

1. Work with your dress inside out.

2. Remove the shoulder pads using your seam ripper (and get comfortable with your seam ripper).  I know it will be tempting at times to just cut things, but I promise... that shortcut could cost you in the end.

3. Remove your sleeves. Again, with your seam ripper!

4. Now that the sleeves are removed, put your dress on inside out and see how much you need to take it in on the sides. From the armpit down through the waist, pin or mark how much you need to take in on each side.

5. After you make sure both sides are equal, you are ready to sew the sides of the dress. It really does help to have the appropriate needle for the fabric. Since a lot of these dresses are made from a slippery polyester, I opt to use a ballpoint needle to help ensure the fabric does not pucker.

6. Once you have the sides sewn, put the dress on one more time (the right way this time) and make sure everything looks correct. If it does, turn it back inside out and cut off the excess. If you want, you can use pinking sheers, but you can also serge the seam.

7. Once the excess is cut, it is time to finish the sleeves.  Simply take the extra fabric you have and roll it in twice, pin and sew.

8. Lastly, I often need to hem my dresses. For this I just cut it and use my rolled hem foot to finish it.

I hope this is clear, but if not please let me know! I am thinking that in the future I will share more tips on the different ways I tackle my restyles... what do you think? You can see restyles from the past here, check it out!

~Charlie