Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

This weekend at Goodwill I found this amazing plaid, polyester skirt.  It looks like someone's home ec project straight out of 1964.  I LOVE this skirt and names it Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

Based on it's condition I would be willing to bet that it's been living in an attic for the last 40 years.

The color is AMAZING!

Plaid polyester-tastic!

The only little problem with this homemade beauty is that it's too small for me.   Not to worry though, i'm an old pro at upsizing skirts!

Skirt with a side zipper

This skirt had a side zipper and was partially lined.  If it was made of wool or scratchy material I would have saved the lining.  This polyester beauty was soft, so I left the lining out.

Cut off the too small parts

The original design was for this to be an ankle length skirt.  Cutting off the top left plenty of fabric for a tea length shirt.  I made the cut just below the zipper so that I didn't have to use a seam ripper to remove it.

Elastic waist

I folded over the top and made an elastic waistband.

All done!

It's raining outside today.  When the weather clears i'll take some nice bright outdoor pix.   That didn't stop me from wearing Marcia, Marcia, Marcia to work today!!!


I've done other Plus size Refashions.  This was my first upsize refashion.

Here's another Upsize Refashion - this post includes lots of TIP AND TRICKS for making clothes larger.


For more ReFashions, click HERE!

Dress from a Shower Curtain

Remember a while back when I made a dress out of a bedsheet and an old pair of yoga pants?  Well that dress inspired me to try and make dresses out of other household linens.

Recently I discovered a shower curtain at Goodwill that I just LOVED!

Goodwill Shower Curtain

Everything about this curtain scream I'M A DRESS - trapped in a shower curtain body!   And so I set that dress free!

This project was pretty easy.

I removed the grommets

Snip, snip, snip

I removed the hem from the bottom edge of the curtain.

Remove the hem

While I was at Goodwill I found a good quality polo shirt.

Ralph Lauren Polo

I selected a shirt that fit well so that it would not need to be tailored.  For this dress I removed the sleeves and the collar and cut the shirt to my desired length

Cut the shirt to length

I'm a plus size girl, so I turned the curtain horizontally so i'd have lots and lots of gathers.  This fabric is stiff and took time to gather and sew to a waist band.  Once I had a gathered skirt I sewed it to the shirt.

That's it!

I LOVE the way this dress came out but it's a LOT of gathers!!!!  I prefer to wear it with a tied collar shirt to tame some of the bulk of the shirt.


A dress like this needs good jewelry

Add a little bling!

All done!

I've made dresses from other household linens too:

Here's a dress I made a bedsheet and a pair of yoga pants.

Dress from a bedsheet

As always, you've got to have good bling!

This dress is made from a duvet!

Dress from a bedspread

For more ReFashions, click HERE!

DIY Dollhouse Bedroom Set

These beds are made entirely from scrap wood, paint and felt.

For the bed I cut a 4 1/2" piece of  1x2 wood.

1x2 wood plank

For the headboard I cut a piece of 1 1/4" piece of plank.

The pieces are attached with wood glue and a couple of wire nails.

cordless screwdriver drill bit

Drill a couple of pilot holes using a small drill bit.

carefully drill pilot holes

Glue the pieces together

Glue the pieces together

Then hammer the nails in place.

Nail the pieces together

Paint on sheets.

These beds are pretty rustic, but they get the job done.  I made 4 beds.  Two of them had white sheets and 2 of them have sparkle sheets.

Sparkle sheets

Once the paint on the beds dried I seated the paint with nail polish top coat.

Top coat seals and protects the paint

The bedspreads are squares of felt folded and stitched across the top.

Bedspreads

I used hot glue to attach the bedspreads to the beds.

These beds are large enough to accommodate 2 - 4" peg people.

Two 4" peg people taking a nap

1 1/2" peg dolls

The bedside table is made from the wooden block and an old buckle.  The complete tutorial is here!

Here's a quick review:

buckle from a shirt

drilled a channel in a wooden block

Made sure the buckle would fit

Used foam sheets to fill the center of the table

Hot glued the pieces together

Homemade Hot Sauce

Never in a million years would it have occurred to me to make hot sauce.  I wasn't really a fan.  My dh (darling husband) on the other hand eats Frank's Red Hot Hot Sauce on EVERYTHING!  We've been together for 15 years and I figure "if you can't beat 'em, join "em!"

Much to dh's delight, i've come to appreciate a good hot sauce as long as its not too hot.

This fire roasted hot sauce is fun and easy to make and it hot - just not crazy hot!

For this recipe you will need:

4-5 Poblano Peppers
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 small onion chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 cups water
1 cup apple cider vinegar

Gas Stove
Tongs

Wash and dry the peppers.  Fire roast them on a gas stove or on the grill.

Fire roast the peppers

Fire roasting sounds fancy.  Really all you're doing is placing them right on the burner until they're brown/black.  Use the tongs to turn the peppers.  The skin may bubble and pop.  That's ok.

Fire roast peppers on the grill

 Once the peppers are roasted set them aside and allow them to rest.

rest time for peppers

While the peppers rest, saute onions and garlic in olive oil over medium heat.  Cook until the onions are soft.  Remove from heat.  Add water and vinegar.

use seeds for added heat

Cut the tops from the peppers.  Add the peppers to the pan with the garlic and onion.  Seeds add heat.  For hotter sauce, use the seeds, for milder sauce, leave them out.

Blend well

Yum!

Print and Save Recipe Card

DIY Dollhouse Dining Room Set

Most of the doll house furniture I've made started off as a set of Kidz Kraft blocks from Walmart.  I found this set unlabeled in a clearance bin and I snapped them right up!

Kidz Kraft Blocks

I was playing around with the blocks trying to find inspiration when I noticed these 2 blocks laying side by side.

inspiration for a chair!

I placed them side by side and voila!  Chair!

Like with the living room set, I drilled a couple of holes and nailed then glued these pieces together.

drill bit for cordless screwdriver

drill pilot holes for nails

Glue the pieces in place

use nails + plus to secure pieces together

Allow the glue to dry completely

Allow the chairs to dry completely!

tiny craft store beads

Now it's time to decorate the chairs!

I covered the backs of the chairs in regular tacky glue and poured beads on top.

Bead back chairs

 Allow the glue to dry overnight.

To seal the beads in place over the beads with a new layer of glue and allow them to dry overnight.

Seal the beads with a final layer of glue

I left the seats of the chairs bead free so that people could hit on them.

no beads on seats

Now for the dining table.

Doll house dining table

This table is made from scrap wood.  The table top is a piece of 1x2 wood plank.

1x2 wood plank

The base if a piece of 2x2 wood

2x2 wood

The 2x2 wood required a LOT of sanding to make it smooth.

I nailed and glued the pieces together and painted them with 3 layers of glitter paint.

Dining Set

That's it!  SUPER easy!

To see my DIY Dollhouse LIVING ROOM Set click HERE.
To see my DIY Dollhouse SIDE TABLE click HERE
To see my DIY Dollhouse Bedroom set, click HERE!

For more CRAFTY ideas, click HERE!