make do and mend

during world war II, the british ministry of information hung posters with the message of, "make do or mend".  it's easy to relegate this message to hard times past, but it's still a great message in terms of waste.    

after going through julia's summer clothing recently, we had a large pile of clothing that no longer fit- to donate... a small pile of clothing that does fit... a medium pile of clothing that needed some altering...and a single item to sell on ebay.  a couple of afternoons were spent listening to this american life and tackling that medium pile.

jo had done a closet clean out in the autumn, and i had set aside a few things for julia out of her donation pile. jo is quite a bit taller than julia, so some alterations were necessary before julia would be able to wear the pieces.  a handmade wiksten tank was significantly shortened into a top that will look cute over a chambray skirt already in julia's closet.  julia's favorite "new" piece is a rosy thrifted dress that had its straps shortened and armholes lengthened in order to raise the neckline. 

a little mending was all the mexican dress needed.

this lovely linen dress received the biggest makeover.  bought second hand, i knew it would fit one of the girls, but assumed julia would get the most use out of it.  it ended up needing more alterations than i thought it would.  it started out calf length, so it was shortened to knee length... and the back slit was closed up.  there were waist ties which were removed.  the cut off portion was used to add pockets and as bias around the lengthened arm holes (after shortening the straps...in order to raise the neckline).  phew!  it is pretty cute now and since the fabric is such a nice durable linen, i think it was a good investment.

i have to say that altering these dresses had me thinking that just starting fresh can be much easier and result in better finishings.  but...it was sort of fun to use some ingenuity to make the changes...and i'm happy to have saved these pieces from a darker fate and saved the new fabric that would have been consumed making new dresses.

pass down, thrift, buy fair, alter and mend...and we have four fair items gaining new life in a happy girl's closet!

love,
​jane