The Grand Opening

The creative reuse shop is open and so far, wildly successful.

Here are my purchases last evening.  I measured the blue fabric (it has a shirting pattern, but it's heavier, more like a twill) and it's four and a half yards.  I see a dress in my future! 

There were lots more stores open, too, and I came away with the two brooches as well.  Tempting as it was to put the red-brown one on my dress, I resisted.

When I was helping to sort fabric for the shop a few weeks back, I came across this shift dress from what, the 1970s? and since finished clothes are not part of the shop, A shrugged and told me to take it.

It could fit almost any size between 6 and 16 because it's sleeveless and almost straight down from the shoulders.  It had a botched hem: from the look of it, the seamstress could not figure out her new invisible hem foot.  After tediously picking out the hem, I washed and ironed it and put in a new hem.  In current fashion, I belted it. 

At my request, my husband took pictures late last night when all the fun had died down, so the lighting is terrible, but the occasion is duly marked.  The dress fabric is the loveliest soft cotton, but with the beige background and the cut of the dress, it's not the most flattering thing I've worn.  Nevertheless, it was wonderfully fulfilling to wear a dress from the birth of the creative reuse shop to the grand opening of the shop.

And I am already planning to wear the dress this fall with my orange leather coat and brown boots.  Summer's charm is beginning to wane and I'm dreaming of sweaters and pumpkin and crispy leaves. . .