if you can't buy it, make it: an outfit post

you know how sometimes you feel such a sense of accomplishment, and it just puts a smile on your face that almost nothing can take off? well, since i'm no seamstress, when i wear something that i've made of significantly altered, i also wear that smile. last friday i told you that i was wearing a skirt i made, so of course i wanted to do an outfit post showing it!

jacket: thrifted, shirt: forever 21, necklace: dinosaur toes, skirt: made by me!, boots: vintage

i never really had any intention of making my own lace skirt until... THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED. let me start from the beginning. it was a rainy day, that april 16th, circa 2pm. i can remember because it was my birthday, also known as the only day i can get chris to come shopping with me for clothes. we went to forever 21 where i tried on a small mountain of clothes, but had to narrow down my choices seeing as how i'd left a stack of birthday cash at home;i figured i could come back for the rest of it - the rest of it including one beautiful lace skirt. i went back not quite one week later and just inside the door was yellow tape blocking any entry into the store, and beyond the yellow tape, the only things left in the store were two or three racks of clothes and a few boxes. i tried to stay calm and tell myself that they were remodeling the store, but i won't lie, i was terrified. so four or five days later i went back to get the skirt i so highly coveted, only to find and empty store and a sign on the door telling me THEY LEFT! i think the angels cried right along with me that day. so, i didn't buy the skirt, and i figured i'd try my hand at making one (i still want that forever 21 skirt thought).

now that i've told you the good part about making something, it's time to get to the honest part. i used a pattern twice before on clothing i've made (a wrap skirt, and a pair of leggings), and to be honest, i just didn't like it. i know that there may not be as much error involved in working from a pattern, but personally i just feel like there's not as much room for creativity when i use a pattern. so, in true danielle style, i laid on top of the fabric, put little marks to know how wide i was and went from there! it generally works fine, but one thing i didn't take into account quite as much as i should have: this fabric doesn't have any stretch. the skirt fits fine, but the only thing is, it's just barely big enough to pull the smaller waist over my butt without ripping seams! so, the good news is, if i keep this skirt out in plain sight, it might keep me from eating donuts for a meal for example, because hey, if i do, i won't be able to wear the skirt!

have you ever made any clothes? what did you make?

P.S. don't forget to enter THE GIVEAWAY that ends later this week!