The Six Chick Band

Four and a Quarter

Five by Sunday Progress Report: I did not do the hem of the pink and grey skirt yet, but I did work on a few other things. One refashion (this one) is finished, bringing me to three and a half, and I made progress on another skirt, so I'd say I'm somewhere around 4.25 out of 5 right now.



Here's my next skirt refashion! Isn't it cute? I love the colors and the little kitty cats hiding in the flowers. It's twirly and whirly and perfect for Spring!

Alas, it was a little too small, and despite my talent at refashioning skirts, even I can't make a size 4T skirt fit a size 10/12 adult. Fabric that cute, though? I grabbed it! The last time I bought something in the kids' department, it became the blue blossom bag, and I had something similar in mind for this skirt. So why did I wait ten months to get started? Good question.

Feast your eyes on another thrift shop find: This cross-stitched monstrosity was just $1.90. Handles, baby, handles! I've never seen handles with a removable rod at any of the fabric shops around here, although I did find them online at UMX Fashion Supplies where it looks like they're about $6 each. Wow, do they have the stuff there!

Combining the two, here's the result! I was inspired by a bag on the cover of one of my library books.

This book, Simply Sublime Bags, is full of cute ideas for low-sew bags. I was a little underwhelmed at first, because the bags didn't look like anything new, but the idea (which I missed on my first look through the book) is that they start with things like shower curtains or pillow covers and utilize existing zippers, grommets, etc. Pretty clever! I'm going to keep that in mind the next time I'm at Ikea and see a pillow cover that's cute and graphic but doesn't go with my decor.

Look who else is hiding in there! Is that the Easter Bunny?

The best part of all is that I only used half of that little skirt to make this bag. Once I was done ripping out pleat after pleat after pleat, there was a TON of fabric in there. What'll I do with the rest of the fabric? Hmm, you'll see!

Two and a Half

Updating on my five-skirts pledge, I'm at the halfway point. I should have warned you that these were not going to be dramatic refashions--I didn't turn a skirt into a swimsuit or anything.

No, wait! I am not going to apologize! People do that on Wardrobe Refashion all the time, and I hate it. They apologize because their refashion isn't DYNAMIC enough or seems like it's too easy. Well, the idea of Wardrobe Refashion is to "refashion, renovate, [and] recycle preloved items." That's what I'm doing. These were three thrift store skirts that were too big for me. I changed them from useless to useful!

I started with the pink and grey skirt from my pledge post. When I'm going to resize a skirt, I start by considering a few things:

Is there a zipper? If there is, I'm going to work around it.

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Where is the zipper? If it's on a side seam, I'm probably going to take the skirt in on the opposite side. If it's in the back, I'm going to take the skirt in from either side, so the zip remains centered.

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If the zipper is on a side seam, will taking the skirt in on the opposite side throw off any details like darts, pleats, etc? If you're only taking it in by an inch or less, it probably won't be noticeable. If it needs to be taken in more, you might want to come up with a different plan.

This skirt has one pleat in the front and three in the back, but I only took it in about an inch, and there is a LOT of fullness, so I went with the plan to take it in on the side opposite the zipper. If anyone notices that my pleats aren't perfectly centered, they are paying way too much attention to my backside!

Now, I confess, I used to do this by sewing a new seam straight up the side, right over the hem and facing. It got the job done, sort of, but it wasn't too neat. Now I carefully open up the hem, disassemble the facing in some cases, sew up the side, and then put everything back the way it started.

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See how nice and neat that looks? I would have been finished, but I decided to redo the hem as well. The tape they used was disintegrating, so I ripped that out and will replace it with this pretty, lilac lace.

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(This is where the "and a half" comes in. I haven't sewn the hem yet. That's for tonight, while watching tv.)

The brown skirt had a center zipper, so I took this one in from either side. To begin, off with the waistband! Each side came in three quarters of an inch and then...

...back on with the waistband! Sometimes these narrow little waistbands are hard to remove and end up pretty mangled. Not a problem, just replace it with double fold bias tape.

The last skirt of the three is just another with a side zipper. I fretted about the sections being unequal when I finished, but then I realized with a print like this, who would ever know?

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Can you tell? Nah, I didn't think so.

So! That's three (two and a half) of the five. Number four is started, but I need thread, and number five is a mystery, because I'm not sure which of the other skirts I want to tackle. I'm kicking around a few ideas, though, so be sure to check back!

I Solemnly Swear

That's what you call a last-minute alteration. That's wanting to wear a newly-thrifted skirt to work, even though it doesn't fit. That is one step above a safety pin. A small step. That, my friends, is my shame.

My refashioning pile is home to many skirts like this one. I see them at the thrift shop, like the fabric, and bring them home despite a bad fit. If they're too big, heck, I can sew! Taking that in a little will be no problem at all! If they're too small, I can sew! That will make a great bag/pillow/you name it.

Um, if I'm such a rockstar with the sewing machine, why are they all still on the pile instead of in my closet?

I hearby pledge to make a dent in my pile by sorting out FIVE of those skirts. In one week's time, I will transform those five unwearable skirts into five useful items, and I will not do it by half measures as evidenced above.

Now, in the absence of a Notary, I will make this an officially binding statement by changing the font and making it italic!

Get Yocco'd

If you ever come to visit me and Gerry, one place we're sure to take you is...

...Yocco's: the Hot Dog King. If President Obama came to visit? We'd go to Yocco's. If the Queen came to visit? We'd take her to Yocco's. If the Dalai...okay, maybe not.

There are six Yocco's restaurants in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, but the one we go to most often is on Hamilton Boulevard, in Allentown.

This is where I went with my big brothers when I was a kid, and it remains my favorite location.

So what's the big deal with Yocco's? Hot dogs and fast service?

Is that why people stand in a line which often stretches out the door?

Yocco's is just a unique experience, beginning with ordering. One person takes your drink order; someone else will call down for your food order. Now don't screw up! Make sure you give your order clearly and completely, or you'll be pegged as a neophyte. Now I'm not saying anyone working there currently is like this, but...

No soup for you!

The menu has not changed much over the years. Fries and pierogies used to come in only one size, but I'm not sure what else has changed, because we always get the same thing, and it seems like everyone else does, too. (Okay, I admit, we don't do the popular chocolate milk and chili dog combination.)

The world-famous Yocco's hot dog. I'm probably not the best person to talk about hot dogs, though, as I've never eaten one, so I asked my husband what's so great about a Yocco dog. He said, "It's the sauce." Okay, he said more than that, but it didn't mean much to me as a vegetarian, so I refer you to the Roadfood website for more hot dog info.


Anyway, while we're waiting in line, we can check out the map...

...and see what the hot dog is wearing. Baseball season is coming, so he'll be holding a bat pretty soon!

Ah, finally we're at the head of the line! Our order is being put together.

Oh. My. Goodness. That's a lotta weiners.

I couldn't even get pictures of them making these dogs. They were just pushing them out lickety split. It's like a ballet or something, the way they assemble these orders.

A work of art.

In fact, that's so beautiful, here it is from a different angle. (By now, I was getting some strange looks from the other customers. "Friggin' tourists," I'm sure they were thinking.)

("Wonder what country they're from. Haven't they ever seen a pierogie before?")

The fried stuff is WONDERFUL. This is something about which I know a thing or two. Always hot, always perfectly cooked to goldencrispytendersalty perfection. I had an order of fries and a pierogie with an order of fries and a pierogie for dessert.

If you prefer something more traditional for dessert, there's a nice range of Tastykakes. (Get the peanut butter Kandy Kakes.)

100% Plastic

$14.99 at Kohls.

$49 at Pottery Barn Kids.

Made from stuff in the attic. FREE!

And after all, those other ones are pretty, but what is Easter without plastic grass and those break-apart eggs? I think mine is much more EXUBERANT!

Spotted

Spring is here, and the ladybugs have descended!

A little chocolate treat for each of my coworkers.
Happy Spring to you too!