Spring Thrifting

I should be spring cleaning (Christmas stuff is still up outside!) But I have been unmotivated while snow remains on the ground. At least I am getting back to some of my normal routines now that I am learning to balance life's distractions a bit better.

After a less-than-great day at work I had the huge urge to hit the thrift shop up. I have a couple of projects in my head that I want to get off the ground and the thrift shop seemed like a good start. Well I didn't really find the project supplies that I wanted but I did make a good haul!

 

A bright knit hat (much like my favorite purple!), a vintage slip, a French scarf, and 2 bowls for $3.70!

This is still the cheapest thrift shop in town. It takes a bit of digging and the turnover is not the best but it is worth it when you find something!

Love this scarf! I will have to spend a bit of time washing everything. I have plans for the slip- getting really into vintage lingerie at the moment. And it might be FINALLY getting too warm for the hat but I am sure there will be chilly days yet.

Happy Thrifting!

Thrifting: Holiday Outfit Edition

Nothing seems to make my heart sing quite like sequins. I think that when I was in school and a die-hard tomboy the years of shunning all things 'girly' has now swung to the other end of the spectrum. Now I am the girl with sparkle everything, way too many dresses, and an obsession with pink. Hmm. Cycles I tell ya.


Combine thrift store finds AND sparkles and you have a most winning combination in my book!

The perfect Christmas green sequin shirt! All the stores are all a glitter this time of year for the holidays coming up and I love snagging a thrifty-vintage find. At $3 this top also be easy on my tight holiday budget! It came complete with shoulder pads but I took those out!

This lovely dress also had elbow pads. Not quite a sparkly beauty but the cute print and small details on this dress make it a great find in my book!

Both of these outfits look slightly frumpy on my tiny dress form. They look even better on someone with the curves to fill them out a bit ; )

Are you already planning holiday outfits?

T-Shirt Party

Now that Roller Derby has started back up I am going to mixers where most often you get a 'team t-shirt' and you have a little bit of time between arriving and warm ups to transform it to something wearable. While a plain t-shirt in itself is not completely evil derby girls tend to have their own sense of style and 'boutfits' are part of the game. Plus you usually can't have your sleeves down as you put your number on your arms. What results is a flurry of scissors and scraps and usually some pretty cute shirts. It is a mini t-shirt party every time.

The last mixer I went to my locker room had at least 3 girls who brought scissors. One also brought the t-shirt bible 'Generation T' for ideas. Another girl brought her rotary cutter and a mat- that is hardcore.

This has got me to thinking a lot about cute things to do with t-shirts. The quicker and less sewing the better but I did find this dress online and it has me drooling.

It is only $805... Omg. I want it but I don't want to pay that. If I attempt a version of it DIY style I will let you know how it goes!

 

Crafting and Roller Derby. Two of my favorite things. 

Happy May!

Happy May everyone! Wow the time seems to be flying by. This week along is going to be busy what with The Avengers being released this Friday, which also happens to be Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you...hahahahahahaha). Then Saturday is Cinco de Mayo and I have a shin dig that evening. Today though I am sharing some new RubyMarilyn Etsy Shop items that I finally got listed!

 New earrings! Hand crocheted with silver chains and just a bit of lace.

 What I am calling my 'Heirloom' necklace. It is an epic 74" long vintage faux pearl necklace that I crocheted onto. Looped it looks all sorts of lovely.

Finally decided to list my Granny Punk necklace. It is the perfect mix of old lady awesomeness and irreverent charm.

Cheers!

What's in an outfit? Derby edition.

Sorry about the film-nerd rant the other day. Today I am going to re-focus on ROLLER DERBY! Surprise, surprise. Our team is fairly far off from our first bout as of yet but we are having a HUGE fundraiser in February and we need outfits! Our team colors are red, white, and black and by the time of the fundraiser we will have our temporary t-shirt jersey's with our names on them. So between now and then I need to come up with a sweet style and diy the crap out of an outfit that will work for non-skating events but also on the track.

If you have seen 'Whip It'  you may have some idea of what a derby girl 'should look like'. Short skirts and fishnets are not unheard of. Outfits need to be functional but also fun! My derby name is Patience Zero and I need a persona to go with it.

Here are a few polyvore sets I came up with to help myself out.

Derby Outfit- Pretty in Pink by rubymarilyn featuring a thigh high hosiery

First up pretty in pink- for as rough and tumble as the sport is going the opposite direction and being super girly is an option I find appealing. Bloomers, pink glitter, and floral prints will be my calling card.

Or...

Derby Outfit- Pretty in punk by rubymarilyn featuring over knee socks

...I could go pretty in punk. Use the bold graphic red, black, and white, mix with plenty of sequins, and generally rock it out. This may be the easiest 'look' to achieve since it will involve basic colors and nothing really too 'out of the box'. Will have to invest in sweet thigh highs.

or...

Derby Outfit- Circus by rubymarilyn featuring printed pants

... I can go for something more 'themed'. I do love a good themed outfit. Or costume. I LOVE COSTUMES. Sorry. But yes, this circus themed outfit could be a fun way to incorporate my love of vintage circus, bows, and once again GLITTER. Glitter is going to be involved any direction I go : )

Once I pick a theme I can start making stuff for my outfit and can start modifying my helmet and such to be super awesome. Practice tonight! Let's hope the bruises from the last practice are healed up enough to get me through.  

Golden Globes 2012

The Globes never quite live up to my standards of awesome as far as awards season goes but I watch it nonetheless and it is always a fun time. All you need to do is gather any friends that have the evening free, add some take out food and mix! Even people who don't know anything about the nominees will have something fun to say about dress choices.

As far as fashion goes this year was pretty good. I love the bold shapes and colors that people were rocking and  besides a few near misses I liked the glam looks.

Favorite of the night was actually Kelly Osbourne! She was commentating for E! on the red carpet but her dress was sublime. The color and structure really worked for her and I love love LOVE her granny gray hair thing she has going on. I am such a little old lady at heart.

My other favorite of the night was Evan Rachel Wood. Her dress was the perfect amount of 'wow' without being over the top. The classy silhouette and dark color made her sparkly, scaly, feathery dress perfection.

As far s the show goes it was a bit ho hum. Ricky Gervais played the same act he did last year but this year it just did not work. Where as last year he seemed a little renegade and dangerous this year he felt completely contrived. Over it.

The worst part about the show? NOT ENOUGH MICHAEL FASSBENDER! He had a huge year with Jane Eyre, X Men: First Class, A Dangerous Method, and Shame (for which he was nominated!) Do people really not get how amazing he is? Do they not understand what a huge star he is about to become? Sure I would love to keep him to myself but for people in the know he is already the bees knees and I would appreciate a little more screen time.

Apparently he WAS on the red carpet. Damn you E!. We had to watch every damn kid from Glee strut their stuff but you couldn't afford any screen time with Michael? Grrrrr.

Next up for awards season is the Academy Awards on Feb. 26th. Get ready for party time! We are returning to our old theme of dressing up as your favorite movie character from 2012. It does not have to be from a nominated film, just something from 2012 you liked. Last time we did this I went as James Franco from 'Pineapple Express'. Good times.

Bustle and flow: Cemetery Walk Costume

The first official costume of the season has been completed! I volunteer at the local history center and I was asked to help out with the annual 'Cemetery Walk' that they do. It is a pretty cool guided history tour with actors at some spots. Both the actors and guides dressed up. This year's theme was 'crimes and crimefighters' and it was really interesting. It turned out to be a gorgeous day as well and as weird as it sounds the cemetery was really beautiful. But then again I am the weird girl who actually really likes cemeteries.

Problem was I needed a costume and fast. After some research I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to to. A recent problem I have been having is going out too soon and buying a bunch of supplies before I look and see what I already have. Being a pack rat/border line hoarder I had MORE than enough stuff for this project (with just a few bought fill in supplies) and it was a good de-stash project. We have so many clothes and dresses at our house that we are sure we are going to find that 'perfect' project for. Well I found it this weekend and had a blast making a brand new costume that will hopefully serve me many times over (as opposed to say my care bear costume...don't know how I am going to squeeze some more use out of that one!).

On to the costume....

Pretty much ALL of my ideas for this came from two old Threadbanger videos. This one is all Steampunk outfits but the layering idea was super inspiring.  The other is a 'Sweeney Todd' episode that I have watched a ton of times, it begins with a great interview of Colleen Atwood (LOVE HER!) and ends with an inspired outfit.


This costume was made in 3 days with an $8 total cost. Yay for being creative!

This is the first dress. Too tiny but cool fabric. Skirt will be used for bustle.

 It already has some cool shaping to the back that I am just going to use.

 Second dress from stash. Long jersey type. This is going to be pretty much my top layer.

 Some pinning and sewing and we have a top! No cutting involved, if I needed too I could take out the stitches and it would be exactly where it started from.

 The only supplies I bought.

 Stash dress #3. Another too tiny dress that no one actually ever wore. Took out the zipper from the back, detached the bodice from the skirt, saved the frothy layer for another project and used the satiny underskirt for my ruched layered skirt.

 Old wedding petticoat from the costume stash. Used a ton of times. These things are like costume gold.

 Hat I made from felt, the feather I bought and random scraps from the sewing room. No sewing here only hot glue!

 Putting it all together:

Step 1: Put on (now gray) petticoat

 Step 2: Layer overskirt. This was also dyed gray in the same dye batch as the petticoat. Added a drawstring waist and ruching all the way around.

 OMG I LOVE GRAY!  This was my first diy dye job ever and I am in love with the results. Love love love.

 Step 3: Layer on bustle. This is a skirt that I sewed to a black ribbon to tie in the front. Added just a couple of rows of ruching to give the front some shape and then I added all the 'poofy stuff' from the original dress under the back to make the bustle. Historically accurate? Not so much but cheap yes!

 Ba-donk-a-donk shot for ya. Also I do not recommend driving in a bustle.

 Step 4: Layer on the jersey tank dress from earlier.

 Step 5: Wiggle into 'corset'. Made from the bodice top of the black and white dress. I was too lazy/time crunched to make it a lace up corset in the back to I just added a few rows of black elastic.

 And done! I added a black shrug that I made about a year ago since it was chilly out. I pinned on my hat and wore some fingerless black crochet gloves and was pretty adorable. I was going for 'victorian mourning wear' but everyone thought I looked more like a saloon girl. Whatever. The costume was a big hit either way!

I think my favorite thing about it is that since it is all separate pieces and each piece is either drawstring and or stretchy that this costume can be mixed and matched with different pieces to make a whole new look that will fit a variety of different sizes. I loved the dyeing process and sort of want to dye everything now! It was a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be.

Vintage Pink

So I was 'hired' to make a Jackie O style pink outfit and hat. Well as most people say at some point in their lives "if it ain't broke don't fix it!" Yes that's right I found the perfect outfit at Goldrush this weekend. I am just crossing all my fingers and hoping it fits the actress!

 It was only $12! WIN!

This picture shows my crazy side and my making of not one but three different hats. One is a vintage hat that I covered in pink fabric. The other two were made from felt and fabric using a tutorial I found on  youtube. I liked the felt version better but thought it was too small so then I made a slightly larger one. I hope one of them will work. I sent all three hats and the outfit in a big box out to Wisconsin yesterday and now it is just a waiting game to find out how much I have to kick it into panic mode when it doesn't fit.

Meow.

 

Have we all seen the new Catwoman photo? Well here it is. The first official photo of Anne Hathaway as Catwoman to hit the web from Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises. Not very cat-like now is it? Hopefully there will be more pictures to come but this isn't really doing it for me. Don't get me wrong it is nowhere near the atrocity that was Halle Berry...shudder..but it is also not anywhere near as awesome as Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns.

I will admit right now that I am totally biased towards Batman Returns. Yes I was the ripe old age of 6 when that movie came out but I can remember going to it in theaters. (No censoring here!) I grew up watching the two Tim Burton Batman movies. My seventh birthday was Catwoman themed! (If I can find pictures I will post them!) I remember having a balloon and party favors with Catwoman on them. I also remember that I had a purple Catwoman t-shirt and a Catwoman diary. Seeing the movie again years later I think that the Catwoman from Batman Returns  is perhaps a bit  of an odd role model for young girls but I think that only makes me love her more. Nothing is sexier than that shiny black outfit with the large white stitches (early craft crush).

I am only being hard on the Anne Hathaway Catwoman because I have such high hopes. I love Christopher Nolan and I have faith in him so we will just have to wait and see.

I heart pattern sales!

I love sewing patterns. I am nowhere near the point where I can make my own and I just can't help but see a neat little paper package and be overwhelmed with joy of the possibilities ahead. (Funny though how after you cut away all that 'extra' paper you can NEVER fit the pattern back into that envelope!)

Anywhoo I have a super big week ahead of me and I needed some patterns. Lucky for me they were on sale! For $1.50 each! YES  I WENT OVERBOARD!

So instead of getting one 'little house on the prairie' costume pattern I got three... no judging!

I really hope the leggings pattern works out because I will be unstoppable if I can make my own leggings. (Rough dress count the other day was upwards of 40-yes 40- so I need some more leggings to avoid my Marilyn moments)

The best part was the price. Buying these patterns full price would have cost me $137.15!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I only paid $12.50. BOOM! Now I really need to get sewing... I will be updating later this week with my Warrior Dash costume and hopefully a 'little house' dress.

Cheers all! Stay out of the heat!!!!!!

Birthday Totes

 

True to form I waited until the last minute to crank out a birthday present. What to get for the girl you have been shopping for forever? Thankfully my friend Krista said that she was planning on using mostly tote bags this summer. She has a really cool vintage library tote that I should try to get a picture of...but long story short I decided to make her a few totes to fill out her collection. After digging through my fabric collection and deciding there was nothing there that was going to work for my vision, I jumped in my car and headed to one of my favorite fabric shops. At the store I found some drapery remnants that would be perfect. I made three totes for her (each with a cotton lining and pocket) in the span of 24 hours.

 The first tote is a plain fabric with an embroidered flower girl from a pattern from doe-c-doe on flickr that has been hanging out in my favorites forever. The birthday girl is going to school for horticulture so I really wanted to do something like this. Originally I was just going to stop with this tote- but of course I didn't.

 The second tote is similar size to the first and it has the loveliest little flower pattern. It reminds me of something that you would maybe take to a country market in France. I was tempted to keep this one for myself! (I might have enough fabric to make another one...) And I did not stop there...

 The last tote bag is longer and a bit narrower than the other two. I wanted to include a different shape for hauling around different kinds of stuff. Plus it has a blue stripe pattern- Miss Krista owns more blue-stripe-pattern clothing than anyone I know. It is her signature and she pulls it off well. My hope is that this is subtle enough to work with a lot of her existing pieces.

 So there you have it. A new summer wardrobe of totes. I had a lot of fun making them and once I got into the groove they whipped up pretty fast. If you are interested in making your own totes I would suggest googling it! That's what I did and after looking at a couple different tutorials I found a method that worked well for me. It was important that they had linings so that I could include pockets (especially on the blue stripe tote since it is so deep I put the pocket close to the top) and so I could embroider on one layer and have some protection for the stitching. This might be exactly the project I have been looking for to use some of those other vintage patterns that have been lurking in my flickr favorites.

Cheers.

Glamping

I get to go camping this weekend! Usually I would not actually be this excited for this kind of thing (nature and I have a very love/hate relationship) but this upcoming weekend I get to spend some quality time with friends in the great outdoors. The only thing is that I am not technically going camping...I am going glamping. Glamping, or glamorous camping, is the best of the real world meets camping. Now actual people who go glamping are usually on the richer side of things and go to places with beautiful fully furnished tents and things like that. We will be in cabins (big step up from a tent-on-the-ground) and I am taking this opportunity to show off some of my favorite sundresses, big hats, and sunglasses. I will be sitting lake-side either reading or crafting (yeah I am planning on taking some embroidery with me!) While all the other people do real camping things like fishing I will be lazing about movie-star style. I am also planning on bringing a ton of make-ahead food for snacks and sides for our meals.

Some cute plaid would be in order for this weekend as well...

Glamping by rubymarilyn featuring retro sunglasses

So pack your sunscreen and bugspray kids! Two more days of work and I am FREE!!!

Simple skirt recon

Sometimes I have great ideas and other times it takes me awhile before I have one of those 'duh' moments. This is the latter. A few months ago I bought a skirt at a thrift store that I really liked and it was labeled my size so I bought it without trying it on. Well I got it home and it was too tight. In a fit of dissapointment it got thrown onto a pile of 'scrap' clothes in my craft room to be forgotten for awhile. Then this past week I decided that I needed something new to wear to the Soundset music festival. (A full closet of clothes and I really wanted something new!) Anyhoo I found this skirt in my scrap pile and went to work.

At first I was going to try to make it into a dress by adding a waistband and then sewing it to the top of a t-shirt. This did not go as planned so I kept it as a skirt. Remember how it didn't fit? Well all I had to do was to look at it for a second to realize that I could take off the waistband, remove the zipper, take out 2 pleats in the back where it would not be too noticeable and just sew it onto my new waistband (a strip of elastic cut to size). SIMPLE. Seriously, it was like this skirt was waiting for me to figure out how to make it awesome. Now it has a comfy stretchy waistband that I made to fit as a high waisted skirt. Layered over a tank top with a cardigan thrown over it I am ready for anything. Yeah new skirt!!!!

 Not too different but oh so much better!

Best Party Dress Ever

New Year's Eve is really fun because you get to dress up in ridiculous clothes and party like your life depended on it. The main theme? Sparkly. Straight up sparkly, shiny, obnoxious clothes are the best for a New Year's party. I found the best dress this year. It was $6 at a thrift store and it has so much amazing 80's tastic-ness going on that I almost died of happiness when it fit.

I have the dress. Now I just need the party.

Shop Update: Ready for the Holidays!

I am so excited to bring you some of my new holiday collection today! Playing off of the 'classic' RubyMarilyn designs I am bringing some holiday cheer and kitsch into the mix.

 

  

 

I was really tempted to call the necklaces 'ugly sweater' necklaces but I don't think they are ugly! Over the top? Maybe. I think it really depends on how you wear them but I am absolutely in love. LOVE I SAY. So Christmasy and fun. The scarf and the neckwarmer were born into being to deal with my over-making of crochet snowflakes. I just can't get enough. Once I get a pattern in my head I need to make it and usually several times over! I love the gray scarf so much because most of the snowflakes are unique. I think that makes it kind of fun.

Stay tuned. More pieces will be added to the Holiday Collection later this week. I was just too excited about these to wait!