Self-Bribery and Etsy Jewelry Under $25

Lady of Verona silk-lined vintage faux pearl choker by Sally Gee, Avery Mary Design, $22.50 USD. 

This month, I’m using jewelry bribery to motivate myself to change some eating habits.  The task is not to lose weight, but to eat healthy.  The payoff can’t cost too much; so here are some things I love from Etsy, all except one under $25 USD.      

The artists and vintage sellers on Etsy have so much to choose from in the way of unusual alternatives to mass-produced costume jewelry from the stores. 

How about you?  Does self-bribery motivate you?  What’s the best reward? 

Little Sparrow Necklace, Ethereal Girls on Etsy, $21 USD. 

Multi-natural stone bracelet with turquoise, coral, carnelian, jade, cherry quartz, agate and rose quartz, J. Dream Handmade Jewelry, $8.50 USD. 

La Mer Amazonite Earrings, Memai, $14.00 USD. 

Bohemian Summer Necklace, Get Noticed, $24 USD.

Blue Chalcedony Necklace, 3gems, $25.00 USD. 

Olive Blossom Earrings, Stoned and Wired, $13.50 USD.

Vintage Lucite and Seed Beads, NanVintage, $24.99

Vintage Long Beaded Necklace, Vintage Alcove, $28.50 USD.

Brown Stone and Sterling Bracelet, Vintage Alcove, $20.50 USD. 

Pendant made from a Weiss 1930s earring, Starr Strung Jewels, $24.00 USD. 

Bohemian Chic earrings with freshwater pearls and reclaimed vintage findings, Crystal Beutler, $20.00 USD.

Vintage Bobbis, Crystal Beutler, $10 USD. 

Bakelite bangle, Great Old Stuff, $22.95 USD. 

Small vintage tortoiseshell and and silvertone cuff, Paleorama, $24 USD. 

All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.  M. Buber

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.  Lao Tzu

Wandering re-establishes the harmony which once existed between man and the universe.  Anatole France

Through travel I first became aware of the outside world. It was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it. Eudora Welty

Refashioned Linen Shirt-Jacket

 

I have finished my two-month Wardrobe Refashion pledge, and signed on for another two months.  This means that I will not buy any new clothes for the duration of my contract.  Instead, I will change what I already have to make it work better for me. 

 report on the last two months

Given the selection where I live, and my tightwad nature, it was easy to avoid buying new clothes for two months.  For my last contract, I also pledged not to buy any thrift store clothes. This was harder.  I broke down once on a stressful day.  

One of the items I thrifted that day was the linen shirt-jacket pictured above.  I bought it for its nice quality (Nygard) and espresso brown color—my favorite neutral. 

The garment had issues, though. 

Many details would have to go, and it was way, way too big.   

Here’s what I did to it.  

1. Removed pockets, sleeve-rolling-up straps, cuffs, belt and belt loops.  
2. Took in the side seams a lot.  A more skilled sewer might have removed the sleeves and cut a new armhole, but I don’t know how to do that.  This was a learning experience. 
3. Took in the sleeves by about two inches. 
4. Put in six new vertical pleats.  There were already four—hard to see in the top photo.  
5. Topstitched in white to add vertical lines and interest.   
6. Shortened the hem by about 3”.
7. Finished the sleeves and hem with a raw edge. 

here’s what the back looks like now:

Back pleats:  Two were there already, and two are new.  (Now that I can see the back when it’s on, I think I need to take it in further to remove that flappy stuff in the middle.) 

here’s part of the front:

Front pleats: two are new and two were already there.  Two other new ones were not topstitched—they’re kind of acting like bust darts and were not entirely successful.  You can just make one of them out on the right side. 

You can also kind of see the raw edged hem in this shot.  This is to make the blouse a little less staid-looking.  I used my new thrifted 75-cent pinking shears after putting in a row of black stitches near the fabric edge—hoping that after washing, the pinked look will rough out into a cute but not stringy raw edge.   

here’s the collar and some new stitching:

This part was fun.  The collar and placket each had single rows of white stitches.  I added more in irregular lines to make it more interesting. 

Do you have a Wardrobe Refashioning story to share?

Here are my other posts on Wardrobe Refashioning.  And if you’re interested in learning more about this cool website and how the pledge works, visit Wardrobe Refashion here. 

thanks for visiting…Sallymandy