Refashion Runway First Challenge: STRIPES

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Hi everyone, I hope you are as excited as I am, because today I am finally sharing my very first submission to the Refashion Runway contest hosted by the Renegade Seamstress!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!!

I am ecstatic, especially because I completed this challenge last Sunday, and waited and waited all week long to finally show it to you, and the WORLD!

As you know the theme of the first challenge was STRIPES! And there is a story behind this refashion (as always with me!)

I was at work working on the NAYEC portfolio on a Saturday (yes, I do that!), when Beth emailed me, so after spending 4 hours and barely getting anything done, I hit the Hopkins Goodwill (one of the best ones in the Twin Cities in my opinion) and scored an awesome American Apparel striped dress for $5.99 (originally $42), that just screamed REFASHION to me! (I also got a whole bunch of other things, but I’ll tell you more about them later ;) )

Before

Do you see what’s wrong with it? Yes, the hood, which was too heavy and looked awkward, and the drawstrings, which looked like a giant shoelace!

So I quickly cut the hood off, creating the new neckline…

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Then I got rid of the shoelace drawstring:

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And swapped it for a bright turquoise ribbon!

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But I went one step further and reused the left over fabric from the hood to create this Great Gatsby inspired head piece:

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HeadBand

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I styled the dress with white wedges from Fashionol.ru, Straw Fedora from Goodwill, Bright Neon Necklace from Old Navy, and Vintage Kenneth Cole purse!

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Please don’t forget to go and cast your vote here, so that I can keep refashioning in this wonderful contest!

Xo,

Z

About these ads

I will be on Renegade Seamstress’ Refashion Runway!!!

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Hi everyone,

I know I don’t normally do Saturday night posts, but I have some exciting news for you! I have been chosen to participate in the very first Refashion Runway Contest hosted by the Renegade Seamstress! Stop by to check out her post, read the rules, meet the other contenders, and when the time comes, I hope you’ll be casting your votes! Now I am not going to ask you to vote for me, I am simply going to ask you to vote for the refashion you like the best!

The challenges are going to be as follows:

Week One: Stripes

Week Two: Denim

Week Three: Copy Cat from a magazine, catalog or celebrity

Week Four: Summer Dress

Have an amazing weekend, and I am off to do my first refashion for the contest!

Xo,

Z

PS. I know I will be checking out this ROMWE sale this weekend, will you?

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Over 1000 styles with up to 70% off  06/01~06/07/2013

http://www.romwe.com/Mid-season-Sale-c-213.html?pp=3400

 

DIY Friday: Florals, Florals Everywhere (two refashions in one!)

Today’s refashion is going to be quick and easy and as summery as it can get! A couple weeks ago I thrifted these Guess capris:

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What an awkward length!

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But what an amazing floral print! Besides I’ve always loved Guess ;)

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The first refashion that I am going to suggest is a no-sew refashion. All you need to do is simply roll up the pant legs like this:

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But I already had a pair of summer shorts like this, so I decided to chop the excess off and hem each pant leg!

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And the new shorts were done:

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My question is – HOW SHOULD I STYLE THESE?

Please comment below :)

Happy Friday,

xo,

Z

Linking up with Wunderbarlife.com 

Graduation: My Russian Past + My American Present = Nothing has really changed!

Everyone seems to be graduating :) Oh wait, it’s that time of year, so everyone is GRADUATING! Except for me, because I did it 5 years ago, from a school in Russia called Vladimir State University (the what? – yeah, I know)

I was trying to dig out my high school graduation photos for you, but I think I don’t have any digital copies, only actual prints that are still in Russia (maybe I’ll ask my mom to scan them – please let me know if you’d like to see what I looked like when I was 16 and graduating! I personally think it’s a hillarious idea!)

As some of you may know I graduated from high school in 2003, college graduation came 5 years later in 2008. And even though it’s been 5 years since then, I kept the dress I wore to my graduation! Isn’t it lovely?

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Now if you have noticed, it has all this bling on it, the sequins, the fake rhine stones, a bow! I was originally going to cut it all up and turn it into a skirt! I am glad I didn’t take the scissors to it right away though, but removed all the bling instead! And when I put the dress on, I ended up with an amazing, versatile and quiet wearable dress! See for yourselves:

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I AM WEARING:

Dress – unknown brand (bought in Russia) // Shoes – Unknown brand (from Russia as well)//

Jacket – Club Monaco (thrifted)// Watch – Marc by Marc Jacobs //

Purse – Vintage Via Piaggi (available on Etsy)

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If you really look close, you’ll notice that nothing has really changed that much over the past few years, oh wait, it has. I moved to the other side of the world, got married and became a fashion blogger, but really nothing else has really changed ;)

Xo,

Z

PS. Don’t forget to let me know if you’d like to see my high school graduation pictures! No, really :)

PS.  Linked up with – Small Town Big Wardrobe, and ThePleatedPoppy – WIW (What I Wore) Challenge

DIY Friday: Denim Rug

I saw an idea for a DIY denim rug a couple weeks ago! And I knew it was going to be perfect for me, because I had so many freecycled pairs of jeans, that I knew were waiting for their moment! And it finally came! Unfortunately it didn’t use up as many pairs, as I was hoping (only 1 1/2 or 3 pant legs :) )

Here is what you are going to need:

- Old jeans

- Scissors

- Fabric

- Sewing Machine

Then simply follow my easy instructions and enjoy!

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I hope this was nice and easy, let me know how your rug turns out!

Xo,

Z

Have a great weekend everyone ;)

PS. Linking up with Domestic Superhero

Spring Cometh OOTD

Happy Spring everyone! It’s finally here in Minneapolis and I couldn’t wait to show you my latest outfit, which includes a refashioned vintage dress and my latest DIY tote bag, that actually got featured on CraftGossip!

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Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and let me know if any of you are in Chicago and would want to meet up! I have all day Saturday to hang out:)

Xo,

Z

Perfect Summer Tote DIY

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Today I have prepared an easy and quick refashion that any Costco shopper can afford to make :) Why Costco? Because that’s where my in-laws take us shopping sometimes and that’s where I found a giant bag of rice that came in a sack, that we are going to use in our refashion today!
Another thin we’ll need is either plain fabric for lining, or, like in my case, a cloth bag one of my designer purses came in!
Here is our bag of rice (I’ve only seen them at Costco, please let me know if you’ve seen them at other stores! I want to make this easier for those who choose to shop elsewhere!)

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And here is the bag we are going to use for lining:

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The first thing you are going to want to do is hide all the loose ends, strings, etc! I also got rid of the zipper, because it was junky!

Then I trimmed the cloth bag to fit, kept the handles, because the original sack handles were too short!

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Make sure to do some fitting before you start sewing by simply inserting the new lining into the sack:

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I also went over the top edges with a thick red thread, to make sure it didn’t fray:

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How big is your needle? ;)
And finally sewed it all together on my machine! When sewing be careful, because the sack is made of a thick and heavy fabric, I don’t want you ruining your machines because of me! And keep in mind – you’ll end up doing some hand sewing one way or another, because the edges are thick!

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And you are done! Enjoy your bag and have a wonderful weekend!
For those of you who are wondering where I am going next week – my blog is taking me to Chicago! And even though I am going to the Windy City only for a couple of days, I feel like it’s an amazing start of something wonderful and exciting for me!
Lots of love,
Z

Happy Easter Outfit of the Day!!!

Christ is risen! I hope you all are having a great day celebrating with your families and  loved ones! Sam and I recently got back from a church service, and I thought I’d share my outfit with you!

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Suede Boots – Mexx – bought in Russia

Skirt – thrifted, refashioned, with a vintage slip underneath – Goodwill Outlet, Steeple People

Top – The Limited – freecycled in NYC

Coat – Bitten by SJ Parker, from Steve & Barry’s (for those who remember that store!) NYC

Bag – Vintage Coach crossbody – Salvation Army

Scarf – thrifted in NYC

Necklace – thrifted in NYC

Have a blessed day!

Xo,

Z

DIY Shabby Chic swimsuit Coverup

Hi everyone, and thanks for stopping by for today’s DIY post!

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It’s going to be an easy “Get Ready for Spring/Summer 2013″ refashion/sewing project:

Start with picking your fabric! I got this curtain/table cloth material at Goodwill for only $2.99

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Don’t you just love it?

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Then I laid it out flat, and as you can see the front is shorter than the back (yes, I intended it to be like that! :) ) and placed a shirt on top of it, to see where the seams would approximately go:

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Then I cut along the lines, pinned it like so:

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And here you have it! A very chic and shabby swimsuit cover up!

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Now if only spring would come!

Xo,

Zhenya

DIY Friday: Getting Ready for Spring: Color Block Pillowcase skirt/ Шьем юбку из наволочки

Don’t forget to check out this awesome GIVEAWAY!

What better way to get ready for spring than add a couple new pieces to your wardrobe? Today’s DIY is all about that! And we’ll be using an ordinary pillowcase for that!

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Here is all you need:

1. Pillowcase

2. A wide strip of fabric to add the color block segment on the bottom

3. Scissors

4. Pins

5. Matching thread

6. Sewing machine

7. Elastic

Start off by laying out your pillowcase, then turn it inside out, cut the seam on one end, now you have a tube! Fold out one end – that’s where your waist line is going to be:

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Once the fabric has been folded on one end to form the waistline I suggest you either pin it or fasten with a running stitch. Then decide how long you want the top part of the skirt to be, and cut off the remainder:

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TIP: Don’t throw the cut-off, you are going to use it to determine how much of other fabric you are going to need! It’s a perfect “stencil”, that will make your life a lot easier! 

Let’s work on the waistline now. This is where you are going to need your elastic. If your waistline is wider than 1″ you might want to run two rows of stitching, just to make the skirt sit properly. The elastic goes between the two rows:

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Now it’s time to pin the other fabric to the main part of our skirt. I used bright fuchsia fabric, which you are going to see in a lot of other refashions and DIYs this coming spring!

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It’s also a good idea to add a slit to the back of your skirt, like in the picture above! And your skirt is done and ready to wear! 

Thank you so much for visiting my blog! I hope this was a helpful and inspirational post for you! Stay tuned for more fun refashions, sewing tutorials, and DIYs.

Cheers,

Z

Какой самый верный способ подготовки к весне? Конечно же с помощью добавления новых предметов гардероба в этот самый гардероб! Сегодня мы сошьем модную юбку в стиле color blocking из обычной наволочки!

Нам понадобятся:

1. Наволочка

2. Яркая ткань для добавления сегмента в стиле color block

3. Ножницы

4. Булавки

5. Подходящие по цвету нитки

6. Швейная машинка

7. Резинка

- Разложите вашу наволочку на плоской поверхности, вывернув ее на изнанку, отрежьте шов с одного конца, у нас получился цилиндр из ткани! Загните ткань с одного конца, это будет верхняя часть юбки, сюда мы будем пропускать резинку.

- Теперь когда мы определили сколько мы отступим для пояса, нам нужно будет закрепить отступ булавками или скользящим швом. Теперь вам нужно определить высоту верхней части юбки, и отрезать низ.

- Не выбрасывайте отрез, по нему вы сможете определить количество ткани, которое вам понадобится для нижней части. Это, так называемая, тканевая выкройка, которая облегчит весь процесс шитья!

- Теперь поработаем над талией. Нам понадобится резинка. Если вы отступили более 1 дюйма для резинки, то прострочите два ряда стежков, между которыми затем пропустите резинку. Так ваша юбка сядет лучше.

- Теперь прикалываем новую нижнюю часть подола юбки. Я выбрала яркую ткань цвета фуксии. Эту ткань вы еще не раз увидите в будущем на моем блоге!

- Не забудьте добавить разрез, как на фото вверху! Вот и все, наша юбка готова!

Спасибо за то, что заглянули ко мне на блог! Я надеюсь этот пост вдохновил вас! Не забудьте подписаться, чтобы не пропустить новые посты!

Женя