Refashioning: How to Make a Dickie from a Collared Shirt and Instantly Elevate Your Wardrobe

Sometimes, you buy a shirt when you only actually like the collar. You may hate the rest of it (as I do for the shirt below!)

So, today, we are going to make a dickie!

Dickies are a great way to elevate a regular no-collar shirt or sweater. In the 90s, dickies were mostly just the top part of a turtleneck made to wear under V-neck sweaters without having the added bulk and heat-trapping layers of a full turtleneck.

However, while they were supposed to make life easier, they usually ended up creeping up around the decollate area and making weird wrinkles underneath said sweaters.

Today, dickies are made much more thoughtfully as they have elastic under the armpits to keep them down. (Innovative!!) Also, they aren't just turtlenecks anymore. See the cute one below? I bought it because (1) the dickie was much cheaper than buying the whole shirt, (2) I can mix and match it with not just fall/winter attire, but also spring/summer shirts, (3) I wanted one to study to figure how to make my own!

Using the pre-made dickie as a template, I laid my shirt down underneath it and cut around. If you don't have a pre-made dickie, you can cut from around the seam at the top of the shoulder down to about the top of the chest area--usually down to about the fifth or sixth button. Really, this measurement is up to you and how deep the necklines are of the items under which you will be putting the dickie, so you should probably get your deepest necklined shirt/sweater out and use that as your reference. Wherever that neckline falls, give yourself another inch or two to make sure the dickie doesn't pop out!

For mine, I used binding lace to finish the edges. If you don't have binding you can just leave about 5/8" seam allowance around the extremity when you are cutting your dickie out, then fold the edge in about 1/4" and press, and then fold it in again about 1/4" and press. That was too much work for me, so I bound instead! (Also. . .you really don't HAVE to finish the edges as they will never be seen, so you can skip to the next step if raw edges don't bother you. However, bear in mind that finished edges keep things from falling apart over time. So. . .do as the Spirit leads.)

Here are the edges all finished.

Next, you need to measure about 6-ish inches of elastic for under the arms. Fold the edge of the elastic under about 1/4" and pin it to the wrong side of either side of the dickie to create arm holes.

Then, zig-zag stitch them in place.

The finished arm hole from the right side.

The finished dickie.

Much cuter than the original shirt!

The End!

Make Your Own DIY Pumpkin Trunk or Treat Candy Collection Box for $3.00!

My pastor's wife asked me to make a box to collect candy for our church's Trunk or Treat. Immediately, I knew I wanted to make a box that looked like a pumpkin. I searched Pinterest, but I couldn't find any. . .

And, anyways, I already knew what I wanted to make in my head:

This box doesn't have to be just for candy collection. You may be a teacher and want to make one for your classroom. If so. . .

This is how to make one yourself!

Total cost: $3.00!

The large box was one that we had at church from some shipment or other. I went to Dollar Tree and found two rolls of orange wrapping paper, and one leafy garland.

The first step was to turn all the flaps of the box so they were out.

The next step was to make knife pleats folded like this: (You can see other pictures of these pleats in other pictures, don't worry. You can also Google "knife pleats - casual.")

Then, I rolled tape like this. . .

And folded them up.

The rolling of the tape was taking too long, so I just started taping the rest of the pleats like this:

This is one side completely finished. (Be patient! It takes a while. Also, don't press down the pleats any farther than about two inches from the top. You want the rest of the paper to be folded but not creased:

Here is a back-side view of the pleats. See how they are folded from this angle?

Okay, once that side was done, I started pleating the other side of the paper.

This is what one whole roll of wrapping paper looked like. See how the middle of the paper is only slightly folded, but only the outer sides are pressed into pleats and taped?

Then, I turned the whole box upside-down and started taping the folded paper onto the bottom left side of the box. (I didn't put any paper on the back, because this box was going to be against a wall. Feel free to put paper on the back of yours if you need it. In that case, buy three rolls of wrapping paper!)

[Not pictured]

Then, I turned the box on the side that will be against the wall, and taped the paper to the box around the bottom of what would be the front.

This next step is VERY important if you want your pumpkin to have "body" and stick out like a real pumpkin: Turn the flaps of the box down. This is a little awkward as the wrapping paper will naturally be creeping up the sides. You kind of have to finagle it so you don't crush the paper as you do this.

Then, I taped the top of the wrapping paper into the top edge of the box. The paper covered exactly half of the pumpkin! I got lucky!

At this point, you can stick your hand inside the paper and sort of push it out from the inside to get it to round out like an actual pumpkin. If you want to fill it with packing peanuts or something light and puffy, feel free. I didn't.

Then, I got smart and instead of pleating one side of the paper at at time, I pleated both sides at the same time. Much faster and easier!

Then, I taped this other piece of paper to the box, starting with the box completely upside-down. . .

And then turning it on its side to finish taping the bottom part around to the front.

It's starting to look like a real pumpkin!

Then, I Googled pictures of pumpkins to make the stem, and free-hand cut one out of a piece of green paper. (If you don't have green paper, you could also paint the stem green.)

Then, I traced the stem on the back flap of the box. . .

And cut it out.

Then, I glued my green paper to it.

To keep the stem upright, I grabbed one of the empty wrapping paper tubes and taped it to the back.

Then, I added the leaf garland. (First I taped two of the leaves to the stem, but the tape kept coming off, so I stapled them.)

The tape on the wrapping paper was starting to pull away from the box, so I reinforced all the tape with clear packing tape.

Okay, now the box is done, but I wanted to make a little sign for people to know what the box was for, so I spent another $3.00 at Dollar Tree and bought this cute little owl and two fall leaves.

I also printed out a speech bubble for the owl to say, "Whoooo wants to help with Trunk or Treat? Deposit candy in the box below!"

The End!

My Newly Improved Craft Room!....(I Love My In-Laws!)

Okay, so like the crafts that happen within it, my craft room is a constant work in progress. If you have ever read any of my posts prior to this one (especially from the "Fashion" tab), you will see the things I make. However...I never really pictured the room, because this is what it looked like, and I've been sooo embarrassed!!!

Can you even see my sewing machine? (Hint: If you look at the dressform it is directly to the left of it in the background.) Right behind it, on a tiny old computer desk, is my embroidery machine that I barely use because I can barely get to it! I just got a Cricut for my birthday which you can see on the floor just behind that white box. If you look up and to the right, you will see a ton of cardboard boxes. You will notice that just about everything else is piled up or on the floor. I HATE this, but when there is nowhere to put anything, you just have to stack things and move them around when you need them.

This may sound funny to some people, but I'd been praying for a large, sturdy, industrial table that I could put against this big picture window and work on for sewing, embroidering, and Cricut...ing. I saw one at my old job (Blue Ridge Orthopaedics) which would have been perfect. It was about six feet long--perfect dimensions, no one was using it, and it was just cluttering up the hall--but unfortunately, since it is Post Office property, I couldn't take it off their hands. 

Anyways, ever since I'd seen it, I'd been praying for it, or something like it. . .

This is another view of the mess.

Then, a week ago Thursday, out-of-the-blue, my mother-in-law told me about how her brother, Eddy--who works at Duke Power--had a couple large trailers full of old office equipment that he'd rescued because they were throwing it all away. We went to his house to check the situation out, since my father-in-law also wanted to see if there were a few pieces that he could use for some of his projects as well. Ohmigosh, you guys. . .I should have taken a picture of the trailers. They were a crazy, wonderful mess of drafting tables, filing cabinets, shelves, desks, tables of every size, office chairs...You name it, it was there!

Tommy (my father-in-law) and I both tagged a few items and then I went home, okay-ed the prospect with Billy, and then spent my whole last Friday cleaning out the room to make way for my new furniture! I moved most of the mess to the other guest room, and I threw away a TON of cardboard boxes. (I'd been saving them because I sell stuff on eBay, but. . .enough is enough!!!)

So here is the room at that point. You can see that I kept my cube shelves and Rubbermaid drawers.

But everything else was cleared out to make room!

I measured everything to know exactly what dimensions would fit into the room.

Okay, so then the next day, Saturday, Billy and I went to his parents' house and we all drove to Eddy and Shirley's house to load up Tommy's trailer. I decided on not one, but TWO six foot tables! And a six-foot-tall metal shelf cabinet! Thank you to Tommy, Sue, and Billy for helping me get them in here. I DEFINITELY couldn't have done it without them!

So. . .It's not done yet, but I was so excited that I wanted to share what the room looks like so far!

You can see that I kept my cube shelves where they are. . .

Along with crafting, I use this room for exercising. I'm really excited about that part because I can pull the stepper forward and use my yoga mat, and I have all this room now! (In fact, now I can put down an air mattress when we have an abundance of company!)

Also, I like to watch TV shows on my computer while I work out, so I just have to open the doors of my cabinet and set my computer inside, and the computer is at just the right height! (I used to have to use a stack of boxes as a computer rest.)

Here is a closer look at one of the tables. You can see it has a really nice wooden top. I broke the Rubbermaid shelves down and put them under the table. They look so much neater there than when they were stacked on top of each other. Also, my dressform fits nicely there in the corner. The white board on the wall was another Duke Power trailer find. (The dry erase markers were $.25 for two at the thrift store.) You may recognize the ribbon bulletin board from my post here. You can see my embroidery machine and Cricut on this table. That grey thing in the middle is my Bluetooth speaker. (You gotta have a speaker when you're crafting...and exercising!)

This is the corner of the same table. I just wanted to show you my "eBay shipping office." I love this table because it has three file drawers on this end. The top drawer holds all my shipping tape, weight scale, markers, etc. Those Rubbermaid drawers hold all my packing supplies and on top is our printer and my scrap paper that I use for making mailing labels.

This part, I am really excited about! Look at how much sewing space I have now! And it's right next to the window so I get plenty of natural light!

I pulled my sewing machine out to show you. 

The ironing board is still up because we need it on a pretty regular basis, so it needs to stay out all the time. From a sewing perspective, though, having it right next to the sewing machine is ideal, so it works out for everybody!

Here is my cabinet. You can see some of my tools are now hanging from magnets. (I saw that idea on Pinterest, so don't be too impressed!) I love it, though, because I don't have to put any holes in the wall, and my tools are super accessible.

Inside the cabinet again.

And just in case you wondered what was in my closet. . .This is my fall/winter closet. (Yes, I have two closets!)

And when I just feel like relaxing, I can sit on my beanbag and ruminate about how awesome God is and how He not only supplies my needs, but even my desires as well--above all I could ask or think (Ephesians 3:20)!

I hope this gives you some ideas on your own craft room. I know it's not as picturesque as those rooms that cost thousands of dollars with chandeliers and stuff, but it's so much better than what I had! And it was free! If you are on a budget, don't go to the store unless you absolutely have to. First of all, I suggest praying about what you specifically desire and then start looking for answers. I suggest looking at Craig's List, asking around to see if people are getting rid of things, or driving around in neighborhoods to see what people put at their curbs. You don't have to have a lot of money. Feng shui is free! Really. My room was so much smaller when I had a tiny computer desk with a crappy 4'x4' card table in the middle. Now I have three huge pieces of furniture, but my room is so much bigger! The key is to position things at the periphery versus the middle. Anyways. . .that's what worked for me! I hope you were inspired!

The End