25 Cent Investment = 2 Pieces of Clothing

Remember this dress I picked up this weekend for only 25 cents?

I originally purchased it to make a t-shirt scarf that I saw on Ruffles and Stuff.   But right before I started cutting away at it I decided to try it on.

The left strap was broken, but it was still cute on.  So I had an idea.  Why not try making a shirt AND a scarf?  It was only 25 cents, so no big loss.  I marked where I wanted the shirt to end with a pin and then cut away.

I cut all the pieces I needed for my scarf... 64 4"x4" squares.  With the remaining fabric I cut long and narrow rows (the long strips were 1 1/2" wide) and sewed them together end to end.  Then I followed My Mama Made It's instructions for creating a ruffle (longest stitch at the highest tension).

The fabric went in like this:

And came out the other side like this:

Look at all of this yummy ruffle goodness!!!

At first I thought I would make a halter top because of the broken strap.

I tried it on and pinned where I wanted the straps to go:

But then I re-thought it.  I didn't like the feel of the one thread holding all of the weight and although it looked cute, I felt like I was revealing more than I wanted.  So I re-pinned:

I sewed the left strap back on and pinned the ruffle to the right side then sewed it.

Then pinned the ruffle to the left side and sewed.

I really loved how the front looked with the ruffles meeting each other.

I have to back up...

What was I thinking??  Me who can't sew a straight line, deciding to sew a ruffle on to a teeny tiny strap??  Well, it was no surprise that I missed a few spots.

No worries.  I got a needle and thread and went to town on it.

Call me crazy, but there's something about going old school and using a needle and thread that makes me feel colonial or something like that.  I can't imagine sewing a whole garment or quilt by hand.  Well... I can't imagine it period, but I think I would want to hurt myself if I had to do it all by hand.

This is how it turned out:

A couple of pictures from my camera phone:

It's hard to take a picture of myself, but I hope you get the idea.

Do you like it?  I do! :)  It's still really hot here... 106 today, so it'll get some wear time.

The second piece I worked on was the scarf.  Just follow Ruffles and Stuff's simple instructions.  My fabric was a cotton poly blend and really lightweight.  I wasn't completely happy with how it turned out.

It was really limp and hanging WAY DOWN to the floor.

So I put it back through the sewing machine, but this time I put it on the highest tension and I'm much happier with how it turned out.  Fluffier! :)

So that's how my 25 cent investment turned into 2 pieces of clothing! :)  That was actually fun!  What?? Me have fun with sewing? ;)  What can I cut up next???