Bling Sneakers!

you guessed it!

these are my metallic gold l.a.gear sneakers i scored at the freemont sunday market on mother's day, with suze and natasha, for $5!

it was righteous!

these beautiful embroidered flowers, from an old stained tablecloth that kirsten gave me to chop up, are covering the l.a.gear logo/branding.  just used fabric glue.

just perfectly!

haven't decided what/which laces, if any, i will weave in...

these are just so super comfy.

plus you know i can't resist the metallics.

remember the gold metallic bag i made from a mini skirt i found in nashville?!

and the metallic silver oxfords i purchased for a tune last winter?

lurve me some metallic friends!

maybe i'll wear these to crossfit! 

yeah!  that would be the shiz!

i bet i could surpass my 180lb dead lift with these super power sneakers on! 

ha!

i'm gonna try it and let ya know!

guess i'll be needing some laces!

xoxoxo

jennette



Pockets

you know me and pockets: gotta have em.

so i added some to this little vintagey prairie halter dress i plan to wear all summer.  this little shift is perfect for over the swim suit and back and forth to the beach, right.

put a bird on it.

the pocket fabric used to be my dinner napkins.

yep.  recycle your cloth napkins my friends and make them into pockets for your pocket obsession.

now my phone, sunglasses, lip balm and keys will be at my finger tips and that will make me très happy.

word.

making mother blessing invites with cards i dyed using hibiscus,

xoxox

jennette



Boots!

these are the finished boots, the vintage plasticy ones i scored at the thrift last week that are in primo condition, after i took a crack at them with fabric and glue!

see that panel down the front?  i figured i could just trace a pattern for that and snazzy these babies up.  so i did!

once i got the pattern cut out i was originally hoping to cut out this gorgeous peachy vintage velvet that natasha gave me.  it used to be her grandma's curtain panels!  can you image?!  how divine!

the color looks much more pink here.  but after i got these cut out and tried sewing the vintage black and white striped seam binding around the edges, it was a disaster!  the binding didn't have enough width to really grab the velvet how it needed to so it just kind of peeled off.  disaster.  so on to plan b.

those of you who have known me for a while know that i LOVE me some wood grain print!  i have made a BUNCH of stuff with this fabric: a bag, a jacket, card holders, tissue pouches, etc.  well i have just scraps left so i figured what the heck.  some wood grain boot panels edged in black and white striped binding.  good, yes?

here are the supplies: boots stuffed with bubble wrap and fabric to keep them stiff and give them form, elmer's glue, paint brush, fabric and clothespins.  easy peasy.

and a finished boot!

i think i will try wearing these with some rolled up jeans and a silk shirt next week.

i like my flashy "new" boots!

working on a cover for another fold out cot.

gotta have cute cot covers, you know!

will show you soon,

xoxoxo

jennette

For the Birds!

finished another bag and it's for sale!

this one is made from a buttery soft brown leather skirt and some vintage embroidery of a bird and cherries!

here is a process picture of skirt and pocket placement

this is what the lining of the outside pocket looks like

the crochet trim is original to the embroidery.

the bag lining is a vintage calico type print.

and the strap in repurposed from an old army duffel bag!

Smashing Rubbish

Studio & Vintage General Store

15922 Main St

Duvall, WA  98019

Autumn hours:

Wed-Sat noon-6

Sun noon-5

closed Mon & Tue

off to buy more interfacing,

xoxoxo

jennette

New Boots- Sorta

altered rain boots!

found these old Helly Hanson rubber boots at a tag sale recently.

loved the orangey brown and yellow.

but the rubber was so vintage that it had started to crack down the back.

can't have cracked rubber y'all!

so i took my trusty heavy duty scissors to them and did away with the top cracked part.

hmmmmmm....what to do with some short rubber hacked up boots?

add fabric trim.

of course!

i had, in my massive stash of fabric, textiles and scraps, some cashmere and silk.

who wouldn't want to pair rubber with the finest of natural fibers?!

my most excellent and awesome new industrial sewing machine was able to help me get the majority of the fabric attached to the rubber.

but because of the shank in the boots foot bed, i was not able to bend it in a way that allowed me to sew entirely around the top cut edge of the boot.

no worries!

fabric glue to the rescue!

i found, also in my massive stash of trims, ribbons and bindings, this perfect green bias tape.

add a little glue, get out your paper clips(!), and get to work!

i love how these turned out!

my "new" luxurious winter rain boots!

j'adore!

what are y'all repurposing, altering, upcycling these days?

do tell!

rearranging Smashing Rubbish World Headquarters for the umpteenth time this week,

it's a good thing!,

xoxox

jennette

Suspender Overalls

i found this awesome pair of overalls at the thrift last month.  they had some old stretched out elastic material attached to the strap.  someone did a home job on these.  here is the old elastic strap material:

the blue and white stripes match the overalls but i like the contrast of the straps i used to replace the old ones.  blue and green.  the new straps were born from an old pair of suspenders i had in my stash.  these ones still had some good elastic to them.

i've been wearing my overalls all over town!  they are super comfy and good for working on my bee hives or in the studio.  i can dress them up or dress them down.  i love me a good pair of vintage overalls!

back to work,

xox

jennette



Medals

i found these vintage swim medals at Second Saturdays for $1 each!

as soon as i saw them i knew exactly what i could use them for.  i was thinking about my revamped military jacket.  i was thinking about the millions of little drawers i have here stuffed full of cool little treasures.  and i started to think about what i could replace those medals with before attaching them to the coat.

here are a few of the items i had in mind:

a tiny scope.  see below:

gotta have a scope for outdoor adventures!

and a little tiny harmonica!  can't leave home without one!

an old sterling silver and red glass watch fob.  cuz it's cool.

and for the 4th one i wanted the arm and hand, because don't you always need an extra hand?!  but in the end i went with the key.  because keys can be helpful too.

here i am in all my glory with my cool "McGiver" medals.  clearly, i am ready for an adventure of the epic sort.

bring it on!

paying bills,

xoxox

jennette



Military Coat & Buttons

i found this awesome, amazing, wonderful old wool military jacket at value village, way back in november.  it was $10!  for a perfect wool coat!  although it was rather very large on me and the arms were way to long, i had visions of altering, de- and re- constructing it, and making it my very own.  the photos make it look much more gray than it actually is.  it's the perfect military, olive, drab green that i adore.

i thought i had before pictures so i could show you the jacket how i actually found it, with all the original military buttons still attached.  but no, there are no photos, or there are but i am not organized enough to find them now.  anyhow, imagine the jacket with big ugly plastic and brass military buttons and that's what it look liked when i discovered it.  i immediately thought of changing out the buttons, actually that was the whole point of having to have it, that it would be a super easy upgrade and simple way to make the jacket my own, if I could figure out how to alter the fit.  when i got the jacket home i started to get out my vintage button stash.  originally i was going with a combo of vintage blue, green and red buttons, all mix matched, all over the coat.  in all the jacket has 10 buttons.  the belt that came with the jacket had a heavy brass buckle on it.  cool, but didn't go with my buttons.  so i am digging thru a tin of buttons still on cards and low and behold, i come across two, yes 2!, vintage red belt buckles.  that settled it right there.  i wanted all red buttons, to go with the buckle and because the color just pops right off the green background.

the tin of buttons still on cards where i found the buckles

i keep all my loose buttons in old glass and silver coffee servers.  one is all shell buttons, one is all other white buttons and the other two are missed colors.

the unused belt buckle and the original price tag on the back.

above you can see one the remedies i came up with to make the sleeves work for me.  originally i thought i was seriously going to have to remove the entire sleeve, alter it, and reattach it to the coat body.  it seemed daunting and that's one reason it took me a couple months to actually start dealing with the coat.  but then as i was looking at it, i thought, why don't i just turn a bit of the sleeve under and hand stitch some embroidery thread around it and call it good.  o.k.  so i love how this stitching turned out, very "hand done" looking.  i was happy with the stitching but the arms and sleeves still fit weird, like way huge and bulky on me.  

 

inside view.  not fancy.  but fine.

 so then i figure i might as well try taking out some of the shoulder pad stuff that was in between the jacket and the lining so i ended up trimming away as much of that as i could get my hands on.  i got a lot of bulk out but the sleeves themselves were still big and bunchy so then i had a brilliant idea and said to myself, "hey, just wash it.  in really hot soapy water. and dry the hot heck out of it. it's wool.  just see what happens." 

i figured the worse that could happen is the sleeves would shrink and felt down too short.  in which case i would just undo the crooked embroidery thread stitching i just did and let it out.  turns out though, that washing it was just what it needed.  it shrunk perfectly and i love how it fits now.  it is slender and narrow through the torso yet the arms are full enough to allow me to really stretch and feel comfortable, yet not huge and gigantic.  the red buttons are fully functional and that darn buckle just sets it off! 

I love my "new" coat!

the only thing i might still do to it is put a bunch of patches down one arm.  when i first got the jacket it had a military patch on each shoulder at the top of the sleeve.  over at Honestly...WTF i had fallen in love with this look and thought the idea might translate well to this coat.

here are some patches i have that may, or may not, end up on the jacket:

  this is a large vintage patch i bought from my friend Marie at the antique mall for like $2.

and here are a few smaller.

i will post more photos if i add the patches but for now i think i will just go with it as is and see i decide to tackle all the detailed work of attaching patches.

working on a silver tote bag,

xox

jennette