DIY your own lace shorts!

Hello Loves,

I've been salivating for a pair of crochet/lace front shorts for some time now. In fact, ever since I saw Ms. Dempsey's pair on November Grey several months ago (see original post here), I couldn't get them out of my head.

Lucky for me, I have a gracious and giving friend who's always up for loaning some of her precious gems!

I loved these shorts so much that I almost didn't want to give them back! But eventually I had to, and while on the hunt for a pair of my own, I realized I could make some of my own, and even better, show you a simple, do-it-yourself item that's a summer must-have!!

Follow these easy steps to make your own! (So you don't have to resort to stealing your best friend's pair... that reminds me, she still has our red redesigned shorts...)

1: Find a thrifted pair of white or cream colored shorts. My selected pair was a two dollar find at the local thrift store in white linen. (Be aware, these were fairly dirty when I started working with them, but a quick toss in the laundry with color safe bleach left them sparkling)!

2: Pick a cotton, polyester, or antique lace of your choice. I used some salvage lace I had leftover from an older project.

3: Decide on layout. In my case, I chose to do a front panel layout to keep the back crisp and neat.

4: Pin your chosen lace into place, folding over the rough edges to the outer seams of your shorts.

5: Pin all pieces around before stitching. Lace tend to move a lot, so you want to have everything mapped out beforehand. Then run our machine over the outer edges of each piece. (It's really not necessary to tack all the middle areas).

6: Finish by pressing your lace into place to flatten all edges. In this case, these shorts had a little button detail, and I removed the button, laid the lace beneath, and stitched it back in place after I had added my trim.

And voila! Trendy, adorable shorts in step with this summer's latest lace craze!

 We paired these newly stylish shorts with another trend we love--tribal print!

The lacy shorts give the aztec-ian top a soft finish.

A woven, cotton belt pulled together the earthy color scheme, and leaving the lace purely on the front kept the shorts clean and functional.

And there you are loves! First hand fashion at a secondhand price! For an hour's work we came out with a seasonal trend that works with just about any top. (For more inspiration, see how Tanya wore the shorts here!)

Love,

Noa B and Tanya D

Short: Boutique thrift
Belt: Mango
Shorts: re-designed thrift
Heels: Stuart Weitzman
Hat: Vintage wool
Necklace: H&M
Bangles: H&M and Vintage wood, Grandmother's

Blue Sequin Bombshell!!

Who loves 80's vintage? We do, we do!!

We found this peacock blue, sequin sheath at Out of the Closet for a dollar recently.

We loved the Indian beading and the bright palette, but the cut was a little "Golden Girls". (Think Bea Arthur in a tunic, Rue Mcclanahan in sequins). Plus, it was pretty darn big as well...

So we decided to give it a classic, SHS makeover!

For a dress like this, there are some challenges to doing a home repair. First, this piece has a TON of seed beads and paillettes. (Not machine friendly). So this meant that taking it in or up had to be minimal because sewing over beads is not the easiest task. To avoid having to undo tons of bead work, we did the following:

Step 1: Cut the hem, leaving hem "allowance for folding over. (We cut off nearly a foot).

Step 2: Try to remove as many beads from the hem as possible, to sew in the fold-over.

Step 3: Taking in the sides. This was done using a "tack" method.

The "tack" involves creating a pleat in the fabric to give a cinching effect. We folded a 2" pleat approximately 7" underneath the armholes and tacked it down with the sewing machine. This gave the dress a waistline curvature and a swoop in the hem.

And here's the result!! A gorgeous, retro, studio-54 dress that's ready for a night out on town!

 We added "T"'s signature, platform pumps (in brown to mix it up!) and a fabulous, double skinny belt.

 Pearl beaded hoops kept the jewelry minimal and allowed the dress to take center stage!

And there's that gorgeous, "fake bob" Tanya's famous for. (See a tutorial on how she does it here).

And there you have it! Another smashing, dollar purchase, success story! Now, who's up for cocktails?

Love,

Noa B and Tanya D

Dress: Vintage: Via thrift, $1.00
Heels: F21
Bangles: Swap
Belt: Swap
Earrings: F21

Red, White and Blue!

Happy "post" 4th of July loves! 

Tanya and I found these adorable dresses back in the spring and thought it would be fun to alter and save them for a fun weekend. And what better weekend to dress them up than the 4th of July! (Seeing as how they're both red, white and blue).

On Friday we showed you how we restructured Tanya's pic for a 60's vintage number. (See here).

My dress needed a little less alteration, (I took in the side seams, tucked the shoulders, and preserved the original hem).

I threw on these dark blue leather and suede Charles David heels, which I acquired in an SHS clothing swap.

And added a long strand of pearls that I looped as a bracelet.

Most importantly, I took this mumu sized 14 dress and pulled it to a straight size 4 by cutting an A-line into the sides. Rather than taking it all in to fit as a pencil, I re-cut it as a triangle, hence the cool, pleating effect.

 So tune in all this month of July as we continue to highlight items from our dual, re-design efforts!

(And don't forget to enter this past Monday's giveaway by becoming a follower here and at www.devonrachel.blogspot.com)!

Love, 

Noa B and Tanya D

Casual Wednesday, What I Wore

There are days when you think you'll never tire of a specific piece. You wear it over and over and love its familiarity. And other times, an item just outlives its usefulness in one capacity or another.

 But at SHS we think almost all clothes deserve a second chance at a second "fashion" life.

 Such was the case with this sweater Tanya wore, loved, and then grew a little sick of. But rather than discarding it, she decided the open webbing would look really cool...open!

So she cut down the center front to create a modern "cardi". (A simple alteration anyone can do at home)!

And here's how she rocked it when she arrived at our "sewing" date last week!

 How adorable is this webbed number worn open? It looks so good it seems like it was meant to be worn this way to begin with!

And it's even cuter now that it's open with the hood!!

But we'll take it either way! Cheers loves!

Happy chopping!

Sweater: Thrift
Jeans: Genetic Denim, re-sale
Belt: Vintage
Tee: Unknown boutique label
Wedges: Nine West

Love,

Noa B and Tanya D

Chain Gang Vintage Swap: Silk Dupioni Pants!

I've fallen in love with dupioni silk all over again. The texture, the tone, and the super 60's vibe. Now you can too, by entering our first, 4-way, Secondhand Star giveaway!

Recently I teamed up with Jen from Belle de Couture, as well as my own brilliant, Secondhand Star partner Tanya from November Grey, to bring you a fabulous giveaway opportunity. Now we've added in another blogger! Devon, from devonrachel.blogspot.com! And we want to show you each of our takes on this latest item. Silk, champagne colored pants!

 When I tried these on I knew I wanted to give them a late 60's feel, with something loose and swing-y.

I paired them with this vintage blouse which actually has little mirrors stitched into the details.

I added black and white pearl strands, and a pair of nude heels. The ruching effect on their front also feels 60's reminiscent...

The clam-digger length is really what sells this gem. For another take on how to tackle it, check out my fellow bloggers:

Tanya from November Grey

Devon from Devon Rachel
Jen from Belle de Couture

Then head over to Devon's fabulous blog, DevonRachel@blogspot.com to enter this contest!

Bonne Chance lovelies!

Love,

Noa B

4th of July REDESIGN!! From mess to WHAT A DRESS!

At SHS, we're devoted to bringing you the best of vintage, thrift, and most importantly, re-design.  So, to kick off this holiday weekend we wanted to bring you our latest "how to" with a fun, 4th of July inspired number!

This little (excuse me, BIG) red, white and blue number was a score we found back in the spring. We knew it had potential, but it was SO big on Tanya that it looked a bit like a circus tent. Still, when there's cool fabric, there's a lot of possibilities!

We decided it was worthy of a "stars and stripes" reconstruction. So we started by pinning it inside-out to bring in the side seams.

Next we removed the sleeves. We've done quite a bit with cap sleeves at SHS. This dress was screaming for a summer friendly makeover, so off came the frumpy arms and a tank dress was born.

We cut the hem about 8" as well, and we turned and stitched both the arms holes and hem to finish the seams properly.

In additional to being a brilliant stylist, Tanya is also a master mixologist. (This is where the magic really happens in our "studio" time). Our new SHS cocktail: 1 part dessert wine, 1 part club soda. Muddle with white peaches, blueberries and raspberries and Voila! A perfect cocktail for a sewing date! We're going to call it... Secondhand Sexy!

Thanks "T"! And now for the finishing touches...

We ironed the hems, and added Wrights, Iron-On hem tape to secure the inside neckline fabric. This was done so that Tanya could pull the dress front zipper up and down without the collar flopping over. Cut iron-on tape and affix to inner collar. Press on high heat to seal the deal.

And here we are! From this:

To this!! 

 

Happy Holidays Loves! To see more of "How Tanya wore it" on the actual holiday, check out November Grey next week. To see more on mine, (also reconstructed) check back into SHS soon!