Sunday, May 31, 2009

Cheery Cherries

When you are thrift shopping for clothes, which do you prefer: Shops that sort by color or shops that sort by size?

I've always been a fan of the stores that group by color, because sizes vary so much they're practically meaningless. As it is, I look through everything anyway, so it's more convenient when I can skip groups of things I wouldn't wear (yellow blouses, white pants, etc.).

Which is how I ended up with this skirt.

Loved the cheery cherry print, but a size 18W with a 42 inch waist? "No problem," I said to my husband, "I can fix that!"

Well, I might have been a little overconfident. Yes, I fixed it, but it was, definitely, a problem. I originally thought I could just take out two of the panels and reset the zipper. Then I noticed all sorts of top stitching, a weird hem with an extra strip of fabric on the inside (??? never saw that before), and an invisible zipper. Blergh.

After developing and disposing of Plans B, C, D, and E, I finally decided to just take it in on each side and insert a new zipper. Well, I say "just," but even that was more work than I'd planned. Picking apart that weird hem and then restoring it to some semblance of how it had been was a major pain.

Luckily, I saved myself another restitching headache by chopping off the waistband and replacing it with bias tape.


Now I'm ready to roll! I think it's time for a picnic.

8 comments:

--ginger. said...

I'm for color over size (like you said--the sizing is so random and off anyway). Plus it's fun to scan and skip. Love the cherry fix. Way to go.

rachelmp said...

That skirt is just so cute!

Christine Sews said...

All of the thrift shops here sort by size. Though I think I would really like it if they sorted by color for the reasons you mentioned.

Nice work on the cherry skirt. I like the bias tape at the waist.

Carrie Me! said...

I like the color sort too...easier to find what I want and I love the way it looks too, rainbows of clothes.

I even sort my own closet by color =)

Your skirt is so cute!

historicstitcher said...

Faced hems are more common on lighter weight fabrics, larger-sized clothes, and higher-end clothes. They are more stable than a folded hem.

But yes, they are a p.i.t.a. to alter.

Darling Petunia said...

AHA, HistoricStitcher, that explains the weird hem! All I know is I'll check for that from now on because it was no fun!

Darling Petunia said...

Looks like color wins over size!

Now I want to go thrift shopping. Like right now. Think anything is open at nine-thirty at night?

Cheetah Velour said...

Great job!