This Old Lamp

Went to Goodwill today, looking for stuff to make more garden art for a sculpture garden I'm putting together, and for the things I needed to build a birdbath. I wasn't able to find a base that was substantial enough in the vases or housewares, so I cruised back to the lamps and found this one.

Already removed the hardware and electrical stuff, but trust me, it's a lamp.

Now this thing is completely not my style, but as the base of a birdbath in a flowerbed, I think it will work just fine. (If I hate it, I can always face the painted side toward the street.) I also bought a vase that I'd intended to fit on the top, opening down to fit around the part that's sticking up on top of the lamp, but it's not wide enough in diameter to fit well. Too small by about a half-inch. *sigh* Will have to look some more for the right piece.

Anyway, as I'm looking at this thing with the hole in the center for the electrical stuff, I'm thinking -- Hey, this could make a fountain, one of the bubbler kinds that just spills over the top. It would still need to sit in water, of course, and the small hole that the cord went through is probably insufficient for a good intake, so the bottom would need to be raised up, maybe on some of those little flat glass "stones," but it could work. However, this does not change the issue of "not my style." I could paint it, of course, but it would need to be sanded first, and then I'd have no base for my birdbath.

However... I have to go find a wide-mouthed vase anyway... and I might as well look at the lamps while I'm there. Right??

Old Things Made New

I have skirts I love, but never wear because they're too long. Two things can happen: I can stuff them back in the closet and ignore them, or I can alter them so they suit better. (Or I could donate them.) Since I've already altered some of my other too-long skirts, this was a no-brainer.

 

PROJECT ONE

Ankle-length skirts on someone who is already short just makes a person look like they're standing in a hole. I don't want to look like I'm standing in hole.

There are three side seams in this skirt. The two in front I'm going to pull up the skirt about an inch above where the black starts and sew it in place. I have some velvet ribbon I'm going to sew over the seams to emphasize and make it look like the button I'm adding is functional and not merely decorative. I suppose I could stop there, and leave the back alone, but it's really quite long, and I don't want that much of a length difference between front and back...

 

...so I'll pull it up too, wrapping it over the waistband and stitching it in place. I also have a pretty black lace I'm going to sew onto the hem before I start all this. It's sort of steampunk-inspired; Steampunk Light, maybe.

PROJECT TWO

Same skirt, different colors. But for this one, I want to try something different. I'm going to open up those three seams about halfway, and stitch the corner of one "panel" to the next seam, then the next panel to the next seam, all the way around.  I have no idea how that's going to work...

...but it probably won't look anything at all like that. In the above photo, I haven't ripped open any seams yet, so who knows how it's going to look. If I don't like it, I can try something else!

PROJECT THREE

I love the colors in this skirt, but it's soooo long! I don't want to cut it off and lose any of the color or sequins, so...

...I'm going to turn it into a dress. It needs a wider belt (white?) and I think I'm going to try and make a shrug for it, too. The straps will be made from the tie that was in the waistband.

PROJECT FOUR

Cute dress, eh? Goodwill find, and it fits nicely... except it's too long. Gonna hem that baby to knee length, and maybe (maybe), I'll open the side seams a little for a sexy little glimpse of thigh.

PROJECT FIVE A, B, C

This is a tan polyester lace t-shirt, lined with more polyester. I'm going to rip out the lining and turn the lace into a shrug. It may or may not work well with the black and tan skirt. We'll see.

I got two more tees that I thought might work well as shrugs, but maybe not, after all. The tutorial for the shrugs (link above) says to remove the neckband, which is one of the things I like about black tee #1. Nothing fancy, just a small braid of the knit, but I don't want to remove it altogether. I'm going to see if I can find a way to keep it.

With black tee #2, not only does it have a neckband that I like, but it also has a tied keyhole back. Again, not sure how to make it work, but I'm going to give it a go.

PROJECT SIX

And here's the part where I've pretty much gone a little crazy. The only thing of the four items above that fits reasonably well is the cotton plaid capris, and they're a little big. The solid green capris (left) are a linen/rayon blend, as is the striped skirt. The paisley skirt (right) is polyester. The two skirts on the right are new, tags still in them, and much (much!) too big. I bought them basically for the fabric. In fact, all four of those pieces were basically because I loved the colors. I have in my head a dress or a skirt or an outfit... made from all those things. And no idea how I'm going to do it! :D All I know is, if I had not bought those two skirts, I'd have regretted it for a long time. I don't know what it is about them, the soft mossy green, mocha and beige just really grabbed me, and I love the idea of using a stripe with the paisley, and the plaid with both.

Since I have no idea how I'm going to pull those things together, I'll sit on that for a while, until I know exactly what I want to do. Just the two skirts would be fun as a spiral, like this (version #2). Not as colorful with only two fabrics, since I don't think I could get the pattern piece onto the pants (each gore needs a 25" x 23" piece of fabric), without piecing them or having a seam in the middle of the gore, but we'll see. Maybe it will work... or maybe I don't want it to. The different fabric weights, sturdy-to-filmy, might make for a bizarre skirt. Or it might be amazing! 

At any rate, I have more than enough to keep me busy and out of trouble while I wait for the weather to improve long enough to bring home the plywood for my closet overhaul.