Oil Dying - When Other Oil Stain Removal Methods Don't Work

So, remember when I blogged about how coconut oil is the best thing for your hair ever? Well, it is. . .however if you try to put it in your hair after getting dressed, it can stain your clothes. See pics below. 

I was particularly mad about this shirt because it's Ralph Lauren, and I hadn't even gotten the chance to wear it yet!!! Grrr...

The culprit:

So, I tried many things to get the stains out. I tried rubbing Oxy into the stains, letting them sit, and then washing them and hanging them to dry. Didn't work. I tried lemon juice and vinegar too. Nothing worked. Those pictures above are actually taken AFTER all of these mentioned methods, so you can see for yourself that they didn't work. I was going to donate the ruined clothes to Goodwill, but I was super mad because I wear those blue pants all the time. . .

Then, I got the idea, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." 

I took my half used jar of coconut oil, some boiling water and a plastic tub and went to work.

First, I put the boiling water and oil into the tub and stirred it up till the oil was all melted.

Then, I added my shirt and pants and kneaded them and flipped and kneaded and flipped until they were fully saturated.

I waited a few minutes and then wrung them out as much as I could and threw them into the wash (on cold).

I hung both to dry. . .and I'm pleased to say that the pants look GREAT! I feel like the color is actually even more vibrant than before and the stains are completely gone.

However. . .the green shirt was completely ruined. The original stains were still there, and all I had accomplished was making new ones...

Oh well. You win some, you lose some! At least the pants were saved!

The End!

Christopher Kane Spring 2014 Inspired: Modification: Raglan Floral Shirt from a 70s Shirt and a Mini Dress

Sometimes you find something so gross and tacky at the thrift store that you can't not buy it. Case and point: The butterfly collared floral wonder below. I just couldn't pass it up. That's not just a painted or stamped floral pattern. Rather, it's a compiled photograph of flowers! How cool is that? Also, the shirt itself was handmade, which means not only was someone stylin' like it's 1979, but also she was doing it ON PURPOSE. 

I just felt I needed to buy it, if for no other reason than respect.

A year or so ago, I bought this dress for $6 on eBay. It's actually really well-made and lined. It has this neat little cape-let and epaulet details, and even though it looks repulsive on my body, I just couldn't part with it because of the color.

Do you smell a modification coming together?

Remember that one shoulder cut-out shirt I made here? Well, this new shirt is also an homage to that Christopher Kane Spring 2014 show with the florals and the nudes and the pinks. Skipping ahead a few hours:

I kept the "V" of the neckline as a keyhole detail as you can see above, but did away with the collar. It was a little too groovy for my scrawny neck.

I used some of the lining of the dress as the cuff of the sleeves because it was the same color only shinier. Just a little detail.

The End!

Prada Inspired: Black Silk and Cream Striped Puffed Wrist Sleeve Blouse

So sometimes when your husband insists on piddling in the yard doing yardwork all Saturday and you've done all your housework, you decide to piddle in the sewing room.

A few nights ago, I watched the Prada Fall/Winter 2013-14 fashion show and was inspired by these sleeves:

Here they are in fur:

Also (and I'm ashamed of this one). but I love these sleeves on this coat of the character "Joyce" on the t.v. show Siberia.

Also, I'd been seeing all these black bodice and light colored puffy sleeved shirts in the New York fashion week show. Of course I can't find any pictures of them now, but most of them would have the bodice in black leather with lighter colored silk sleeves.

My aunt-in-law gave me this polyester silk material and told me she always thought it would make a nice blouse. (I didn't want to make a whole blouse in it because I thought that might look dated, so I updated mine):

I didn't want to make a bodice in leather because I would never wear it because it would need too much maintenance. I did have some silky black shiny polyester, though, so that's what I used. I also wanted to play with a squarish assymetric front/back hem and a bow at the neck. I'm really excited, because this shirt looks exactly how I imagined it!

(The slit in the neck line is also Prada-inspired.)

I'm really proud of how it hangs. It's not feed-sacky, but not clingy either.

I pinned the sleeve back here so you could see the hem better. Also, this is what the front looks like if you just tie the tie once.

I like it tied in a little bow best:

Now some close ups:

The End!