I have the perfect house for an early riser such as myself. The entire east side is covered with huge windows giving me a panoramic view of each sunrise over the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
At times, breathtaking.
The promise of a new day.
A fresh start.
The crack of dawn…..
Enter….. stage left…….Cooper…….
How many mornings did we sit in the living room as the sun would peek over the mountains and my husband, with his slow Oregon drawl, would smugly say to him,
“Listen, Coop…… did you hear that?”
Cooper would then earnestly cock his head to one side straining to hear something….
“It’s the Crack ‘a Dawn”, Steve would slowly and triumphantly declare, as if he’d just told the world’s most hilarious joke.
With a concerned frown, Cooper would look at us and then stare out the window.
After a while, his concerned frown would then change to a smile, he’d shake his head and skip off to once again catch bullfrogs, snakes, or crawdads in the creek.
This went on for years….
Until one day, as a teenager, Cooper admitted that each time my husband would say that, he’d look for a dinosaur.
A DINOSAUR????!?
Now we earnestly cocked our heads to one side straining to understand why on earth he looked for a dinosaur when Steve told him it was the “Crack ‘a Dawn”.
He just smugly looked at us and declared he was looking for a…
you know…….
a Crakadon……..
I’ll never look at a sunrise the same again. 🙂
Have a beautiful morning!
Beth
* This was originally posted in May 2012. I thought I would repost it in honor of Cooper’s sixteenth birthday. And just in case you didn’t get to read it the first time around.
You know, we all have those kids in our lives. No blood relation but they call you Aunt Beth anyway. Well, Maddie is one of those girls. I watched her grow up into a wonderful young woman. And yesterday I was one proud Auntie!!!
She had a pair of beloved denim shorts that started as jeans and as she grew taller ended up as shorts. But, Maddie just kept growing up and the shorts just kept getting shorter. So instead of just throwing them away, she headed off to the thrift store (be still my heart), found an old shirt with some awesome lace at the bottom (so proud), brought it over and together we made her shorts cute again.
So fun in fact, I decided to host a Refashion Runway: Season Two!
But more about that later.
I know you’ve been waiting to find out the winner of the Summer Dress Challenge and want to know who will be crowned the overall winner of the First Ever Refashion Runway….
Let’s start with the winner of the Summer Dress Challenge.
Drumroll please……
The winner of the Summer Dress Challenge is………
Miche from Buttons and Birdcages! She wowed everyone this week with her cute, heart cut-out, summer dress refashion.
Congratulations, Miche! You always rise to the occasion to create something fun and fabulous each week!!!
———————————
Now, on to the big announcement of the overall winner of the entire First Ever Refashion Runway…..
Let’s do this like the Miss America Contest and announce the runners up first.
Our third runner up is Mary from Thrifty Chic. It’s been so fun seeing what her technical mastermind created throughout this season. Talk about some serious sewing skills. She will be the best dressed teacher at her school next year!!!
Here are her creations from this season:
We certainly won’t forget Mary’s winning Copycat look:
Mary will be taking home a gift certificate from Crafty Stacy.
Thank you, Mary!!!
——————————-
And now on to the second runner up.
Our second runner up is Miche from Buttons and Birdcages. It’s been fun to see Miche’s amazing photos that highlight her fun and playful styles. I always looked forward to seeing how she photographed her outfits.
She is a talented and creative seamstress, designing beautiful clothes from the most unlikely things. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us in the future!!!
Here’s a look back at all of Elizabeth’s refashions this season:
Elizabeth will be taking home a nice gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop.
She has amazed us with her creative refashions all through this runway competition:
From the Stripes Challenge:
to the Denim Challenge:
to the Copycat Challenge:
and the Summer Dress Challenge:
Thank you so much, Sally for all of your hard work to make Refashion Runway a success!
Sally is taking home the Grand Prize from Coats and Clark. A prize package worth $100.00!!
and some beautiful handmade fabric flowers from the Rachel Berry Blog.
Thanks, Sally!
——————————–
So there you have it.
The First Ever Refashion Runway.
Thanks everyone for making this such a HUGE success!! From our hard working and talented contestants, to our generous sponsors, to the people who sewed along, to everyone who voted and commented. I’ve met so many new friends along the way. You guys ROCK!!
There will definitely be a Season Two of Refashion Runway. Stay tuned for the Open Casting Call.
In the meantime, if you’d like to try out, get busy and head to the thrift store, rev up your sewing machines, cook up some original refashions, fire up your cameras, and take some interesting pictures of your befores and afters. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the next season brings.
Also, if you’d like to be a prize sponsor of next season, or you know of someone who would like to be a prize sponsor, email me at bhunting@eoni.com.
If you sewed a summer dress along with us this week, send your before and after pictures to bhunting@eoni so I can post your creation.
If you haven’t had a chance to vote for your favorite Summer Dress on Refashion Runway, head over over there right away and vote. The voting is open until midnight tonight. The winner will be announce tomorrow.
You might also be thinking about trying out for the second season of Refashion Runway. Get your before and after pictures ready!
I can’t believe this will be over next Saturday when we announce the winner. Thank you to our creative contestants for working so hard to give some of the saddest looking items a whole new life. Well done! A big thank you to everyone who sewed along with us, there were some big surprises there, too! And thanks goes to everyone who voted, commented and supported this fun competition. I hope you’ve enjoyed it as much as I have.
Ok, now on to the final challenge:
The Summer Dress.
Please remember to vote for your favorite using the poll at the bottom of this post. Voting will be open until Friday, July 5. Your public votes and the competitor’s score of each other will be combined to determine a winner. We will announce the winner of this week’s challenge next Saturday. Everyone will go home with some great prizes. Remember, this is a “Friendly Sewing Competition”. 🙂
“I found this week’s project in my grandmother’s barn last summer. It was a torn and
tattered pink (my least favorite color) vintage table cloth. It was faded, wrinkled,
and had a weird smell, but I HAD to have it. My grandmother looked at me like I was
nuts, but said it was mine if I wanted it. After taking it home and carefully
laundering it, I folded it neatly and placed it in a drawer where it sat for nearly
a year.
and after:
I’ve seen a lot of coral maxi dresses lately, and I decided my granny’s fugly pink
table cloth would make a lovely dress. Working around the tears was a little tricky,
but in the end it was well worth it! The detachable ruffle makes the dress versatile
and unique. You can wear it on the shoulders, off the shoulders, over one shoulder,
with a belt, without a belt, without the ruffle, etc. Definitely a new summer
favorite.
I’m really pleased with how the dress turned out. It’s an awfully long way away from
the smelly barn relic it was!”
“Anyone who has looked at my blog probably knows dress are my favorite thing
to wear. I took to a local thrift shop to find a dress to refashion for
this project and I came across this Coldwater Creek dress (with the tags
STILL on it – $69.99 – I got it for $3.99!). I’ll admit, I usually play it
safe with dresses I refashion (choosing ones that are somewhat close to my
size), so at a size 18 this would be the biggest refashion I have ever
tackled.
and after:
I took it in in the back and on the sides, added darts to the bust
and hemmed it. It was cute – but still kind of plain. So I dug up a skirt I
wanted to refashion and cut the bottom off of it. I used the fabric from
the skirt to cover the buttons, and add trim to the bottom. The dress still
didn’t scream summer, so I added a cute heart cutout in the back and also
lined it with the floral fabric from the skirt!
So sad this is the last week Thanks so much for doing this, it’s made my
June a really fun month!!”
“I bought this dress when I fell in love with the stripes! It has navy, white and
mint green stripes, and the weave of the fabric also has an irregular shiny pattern
in it, it’s beautiful. All that was required to make it wearable were a few tweaks
including removing the elastic waist and the sleeves and cutting off 30cm of the
length. I had to cut all the way up the middle to overlap the front left and front
right more, so I could get rid of the modesty panel.
I was aiming for ‘Garden Party
Chic’ with this one, and I think the result is smart but relaxed enough for day
wear. Sadly the London weather is just not co-operating at the moment!”- Sally
“I am not much for frilly, fussy, summer dresses but I have been admiring all of the
great maxi dresses out there and dying to have one myself. Enter this lovely
(cough, sputter) rectangle from “Goodwill” for the bargain price of $7.99.
That is expensive by thrift shop standards, but this is L.A. and there aren’t any
breaks here 😦 No matter, I could see the finished piece in my mind !
This dress required a lot more sewing than one might think. Cutting it in
two pieces, making a waistband, and bottom, belt loops, new zippper…Whew!
Here is a close up of the removeable belt bling I created with my bead
collection. I used a lobster clasp to make it come on and off the belt when I
choose”-Mary
Wow! This is going to be another hard week to choose a favorite. Please use the poll below to cast your vote for your favorite refashion this week.
Just a note to the competitors:
Please send your scores to me by Wednesday, July 3. Please score each other on a scale of 1-10 on each of the following areas: Following the challenge, originality, craftsmanship, design and presentation.
If you sewed along with us this week, send before and after photos of your summer dress to me at bhunting@eoni.com.
“Let’s play copycat, just for fun! Let’s copy, Mary, she’s the one. Whatever she does, we do the same, cuz’ that’s how you play the copycat game!”- Kindergarten
OK, so here’s the news everyone has been waiting for…..
Congratulations to Mary, from Thrifty Chic, you are the winner of the Copycat challenge!
Your Copycat dress is beautiful and looks gorgeous on you!!!!
Check out Mary’s site, she has a Stella Dot necklace giveaway going on right now and I know you’ll want a chance at winning it.
Now where’s my box of tissues….it’s time to announce the two contestants that have to “go home” this week. 😦
I’m so sad to say good bye to Jen from Diary of a Madmama and Katrina from Offsquare. Of course, we won’t be sending them home empty handed.
Jen will be receiving a gift certificate from
and Katrina will be receiving a gift certificate from
I hope you’ve enjoyed this competition as much as we’ve enjoyed seeing your creations each week. You two are amazing seamstresses and we’re looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us.
Before we bid them adieu, let’s take a look at the Summer Dresses they refashioned for us:
Here is Jen’s before:
and her amazing after:
WHAT A TRANSFORMATION!!!!
Now, here’s what Katrina was working on this week:
Before:
and her beautiful after:
These two talented women deserve our applause and I hope you’ll head on over to their blogs and subscribe to be sure and keep up with their creative endeavors.
Nout from Sandpaper Kisses also sewed along with us this week and sent this wonderful Copycat refashion.
“For the copycat sewalong, I was inspired by one of my favorite bloggers,
Amber from ForeverAmber.co.uk. She wore this amazing gingham skirt with
cherry shoes and I decided I liked the look. here’s the link to her photos;
I had this old dress that didn’t fit me that I’d be holding on to for 10
years! When i figured I could make something out of the dress that I could
actually wear, I got excited! It’s got the smaller check gingham unlike
Amber’s larger gingham print but I tried to capture the essence of the
skirt and give it a little bit of my own touch.”
Before…
and after:
Another adorable refashion! Thanks for sewing along with us this week, Nout!
If you haven’t voted for your favorite Refashion Runway Copycat, head on over to vote here, the polls are open until midnight tonight.
Deanna from Wedding Dress Blue was wondering if copying “Barbie’s” style counted. I say a resounding YES to that!!!
I mean seriously, how cute is Barbie!!!
Deanna went from this shirt given to her by a friend:
To this amazing dress for her daughter:
I say Deanna deserves a big round of applause for sewing along with us this week.
Be sure to go here to vote for your favorite Copycat. The voting will be open until midnight tonight.
The winner of this week’s challenge will be announced tomorrow morning and you will get to see what our creative contestants came up with for the “Summer Dress” challenge. I promise you won’t be disappointed!!
As most of you know, we are right in the middle of the First Ever Refashion Runway. It’s been so exciting to see what each of our clever contestants have been creating each week. In addition to our competitors, there has been so much support from the audience with Sewalongs, comments, and votes. I hope this has been as much fun for you as it has been for me.
As with any first time venture, there are bound to be some things that need to be changed. One of the things I’d like to do differently next time is make sure and show you the refashion of the person who had to go home. Even though they won’t be included in the voting, they have worked hard and I’d like to showcase their creations, too.
So to honor our former competitors, here are their amazing refashions from the week they had to go home.
“I started with 2 different pant legs from 2 different pairs of jeans that I
got on Freecycle. My idea was to make a dual sided top, that you could wear
backwards, well it actually doesn’t have front or back, both sides are
equal. I traced a top I already had to make sure I got the size right. Then
I crocheted a piece for one of the sides out of hemp like cotton yarn, and
the other was going to have an exposed zipper.
And here is how I styled it. As you can see it can be worn both ways and
makes a very unique addition to almost any outfit!”- Zhenya
Before:
and after:
We miss you Zhenya and hope your are enjoying your new house!!
“This week was fun, fun, fun! The challenge was to copy a fashion look from a magazine or catalogue. I did some preliminary research online specifically on two main sites, Fashion Magazine, and Vogue. Both had a tremendous amount of looks for every season and for several different years. As I sifted through articles, and runway slideshows, I saved a few interesting, and possibly makeable looks to my desktop. After narrowing it down based on what I might find at a thrift shop, I consulted my husband on the look that he liked the best. We both agreed that the yellow skirt with coordinating top, was the cutest and probably the easiest to find supplies for.
At the Goodwill, I searched for just the right colors and weave of several women’s knit tops, and paid a measly $13.00 dollars. I used acrylic paint for the design on the front of the top. Painting the design similar to the original, took longer than sewing the whole outfit! It was a slow process as I had to mask the places where I didn’t want paint, mask painted colors, so that the new colors didn’t bleed into them, let them dry, and repeat the process. I did a test on a scrap of fabric to see if I could laundry the item, and yes, it can be done! I’m very pleased with the way it turned out. What do you think?
For details and the whole DIY instructions, visit me at Zibergirl.wordpress.com
Thanks for looking!”
-Barbara
We miss you Barbara and hope you are enjoying your retirement!!!
The both did a fantastic job on their refashions and it seemed a shame not to show them to you. Hopefully, you have visited their sites and subscribed so you can see what fun things they have in store for you.
If you haven’t had a chance to vote for your favorite Copycat, there is still time. Go here to vote. The voting will be open until Friday, June 28 at midnight.
Stay tuned for Saturday, June 29, when the winner of the Copycat challenge will be announced and you’ll have a chance to vote on your favorite Summer Dress Refashion.
Thanks for participating in this fun and friendly sewing competition!
“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.”
~Coco Chanel
Welcome to Week Three of Refashion Runway! This week’s challenge is “Copycat”. Each seamstress chose a look from a catalog or celebrity and refashioned something to copy that look.
Please remember to vote for your favorite using the poll at the bottom of this post. Voting will be open until Friday, June 28. Your public votes and the competitor’s score of each other will be combined to determine a winner. We will announce the winner of this week’s challenge next Saturday. Also, the two refashions with the lowest scores will be “going home”, but we won’t send them home without some great prizes, I promise! Remember, this is a “Friendly Sewing Competition”.
Let’s see what Mary from Thrifty Chic has been up to this week:
“I saw this Michael Kors dress on his Facebook page and fell in love with
it’s simple elegance.
I had this very simple LBD in my closet that had not been used since my last
funeral. This dress needed some
cheering up and Michael provided the idea.
I could not believe my luck when I went to Goodwill and found
the exact print used in Michael’s dress
as I came across this little number from Ann Taylor!
Here is a close up of the print:
I love the simple elegance of this dress, not to mention the slimming
magic of color blocking!
I’m totally thrilled with the outcome and can’t wait to wear it out. Because I
only spent $7.99 making the dress,
I was able to afford the amazing shoes I am wearing in the picture. Another perk of
refashioning!”-Mary
“I love the look of this dress from Urban
Outfitters. It’s so versatile, feminine and a bit sassy.
So when I found this sheer
tunic, I knew it would be perfect for a copycat version. I combined various parts
from three different sewing patterns in my stash to create the bodice and then lined
the garment with fabric from a thrifted black valance.
This challenge has taught me
so much about the construction of dresses and also about drafting patterns. I feel
inspired now to learn more about pattern making and the techniques involved.”-Katrina
“I had a hard time finding an outfit to copy for this week’s theme! I
scoured through countless magazines, perused several fashion sites, and
FINALLY found a look I not only liked, but knew it was something I’d
actually wear!
This Anthropologie blouse costs a whopping
$78.00! And the shorts another $68.00! That’s a total of $146.00 for 1
stinkin’ outfit!
Although I like this look, I definitely don’t like it enough to shell out
that kind of cash!
Well, it’s a good thing I didn’t have to!
I got both of the shirts for my refashion for 49-cents (plus tax) at my
local thrift store, and the pants came out of my closet.
My daughter wants me to make a similar pair of shorts for her, and my
youngest son thinks the shirt looks like it has a built-in tie, and wants
me to make him a “boy version!” What a compliment!
So with what cost me $1.04 (including tax), I was able to refashion a
copycat version of this $146.00 Anthropologie outfit!
That’s a savings of $144.96! Woohoo!
“This week I decided to break out of my “refashion a dress” rut. It was time for
something different. Something outside my comfort zone. Something Gwen Stefani.
I’ve secretly admired her sense of style for quite a while. She’s definitely more
daring than I am when it comes to clothing, and copying one of her looks definitely
gave me an opportunity to break out of my refashioning rut! I started with a pair of
black slacks that were too long and too loose for short self, and a black satiny
blouse that didn’t quite fit. (Gwen’s original top was leather, but the satiny
fabric was a more sensible and versatile choice.)
Turning the slacks into skinny jeans was easy enough, but the shirt was far more
challenging. First, I removed the sleeves, collar, and ruffles, and undid the side
seams. Then I removed the front darts and turned the shirt around so that the back
was now the front. After altering the neck and arms, and adding new darts and a side
zipper, I drafted a pattern for the asymmetrical peplum. Once everything was put
together I threw on my favorite heels and tried to strike a rocker pose. (Try being
the operative word…)”- Elizabeth
“I have been in love with this dress from Anthropologie since I saw it
online, but with a price tag of $268 it was WAY out of my budget. Seeing
this challenge inspired me to try to recreate it so I hit the fabric store
to buy some ribbon. Only problem – it didn’t come in the right colors, so I
bought some paint and decided I would just paint the ribbon the right
color. The next challenge was finding a base dress, it’s always harder when
you’re looking for something specific. After what felt like a lifetime of
searching I found this too big, and sleeved (but white) dress on clearance.
Unfortunately, in what can only be referred to as ‘The memory card incident
of 2013’ the photos of me wearing the dress before have been lost, but
thankfully I took a photo of it on my dress form (albeit, inside out –
sorry everyone), just before starting the project. Though challenging, I
was able to complete the dress for $37, which is $231 less than the Anthro
version!”
“This Stella McCartney ‘Saskia’ dress has been worn by everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow
to British Olympian Victoria Pendleton.
I set out to make my own version using a
velour tracksuit and a couple of T-shirts!
The pattern cutting was relatively
tricky, but I’m delighted with my dress, which I wore to an awards ceremony last
week. I think I looked the part!”-Sally
Well, there you are! Another tough decision. Please use the poll below to cast your vote for your favorite refashion this week.
Just a note to the competitors:
Please send your scores to me by Wednesday, June 26. Please score each other on a scale of 1-10 on each of the following areas: Following the challenge, originality, craftsmanship, design and presentation.
Thanks so much for doing this, it’s made my
The Renegade Seamstress 