Economical Style
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Mommy, what's a mall? That's a question I got from my 8 year old son after my teenage daughter asked to go with friends. I smiled with pride knowing I had accomplished my mission. After racking up major credit card debt in my early twenties, I never wanted to see another mall or credit card again. Along with teaching them how to cook they when they were young, lessons 2 & 3 were that credit cards and malls were bad.
Does that mean my kids wore potato sacks to school? Nope. They wore the same name brand stuff as their peers, but they came from friends, consignment and thrift stores. My anti-mall campaign worked until my baby girl escaped to the planet teenager. I struggled for years to convince her that you don't have to go to the mall to get cute clothes. When she took to sewing about a year ago, I challenged her to make the bargains she grew up on fit her personal style. Now, she's not only making clothes for herself, some of her friends have paid to have her make pieces for them too. She even took a school assignment and had her first fashion show. Did I say my kids were talented? I joke that I was raised by wolves. As a kid growing up with two brothers very close in age, girly things were not a priority. My daughter's talent has inspired me to be creative with clothing too. If she wasn't born, I'd probably be living in a tree today. Please come back to this page for affordable fashion updates and techniques. -G |
Bargain Shoes Can Be Cute Too!
 Cheap shoe style - too bad they're the wrong size For more ideas, check out my fashion blog.
   Want New Wardrobe? Start in your closet!
 Former white top and khaki pants
Why wear what 1 in every 4 people will be wearing when you could wear something one of kind that's made by you? Well, that's my goal for the 2010-2011 school year. Every school I've attended since kindergarten had a dress code. Talk about B-O-R-I-N-G! For high school, I plan to wear as many unique pieces as possible that I create to fit my style. Here is where I can show you photos of things I have made and tutorials on how I made them. UPDATE: Check out my entry (my first) in an Instructables.com Summer Sewing Contest for restyling ideas. Voting starts Monday, August 9, 2010.
I'm sure there are people out there wondering:
I make my own clothes because I love doing it, creating something different and unique that will make me stand out in a crowd. Learning to sew is not difficult. You could take a class or just try it on your own. Maybe someone in your family can teach you, like a grandparent or your mother. Lots of websites have cool tips for beginners. Yes at times, making your own clothes be frustrating when you don't get the desired look, but with practice you'll learn how to fix mistakes and then learn to make as little mistakes as possible. Sewing is easy and fun! Time to show the world how unique you are! 6/8/2010 Ani-K, 14 year old fashionista-in-training Spring 2010 Fashion Show Sampling
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Fashion Tutorial: How to Dye Your Clothes
Hi fashionistas! Dyeing clothes is like painting your room - a cheap way to get a brand new look. My mom has been dyeing our clothes for years in the washing machine, but its a pain because after you dye the clothes you have to run another load with bleach to clean out the washer, etc., etc. If you're only dyeing small batches of clothes like me, you can do all the work in a big pot. Here's what you'll need to get started:
- Big metal stockpot
- Dye - I used Rit dye in this example, but we used mustard to dye the shirt at the top of this page. Anything that stains your clothes can be a possible dye like berries, koolaid, etc.
- Salt and vinegar - they help set the dye
- A little laundry detergent or dish soap
- Hot water
- Metal tongs or spoon
TIP: My mother uses vinegar instead of fabric softener in the rinse cycle of the washing machine. It's cheaper than fabric softener and gets out all the excess soap so your clothes are soft when they are dried with no vinegar smell.
July 5, 2010
Anika's assistant:P
