Sew a dress, save a penny

In my early 20's I used to be big on spending. If I saw a  $300 dress that I liked I'd think about it for 20 whole seconds and then it'd be in a pretty plastic bag on the way back to my place.  Eventually I'd get a bit bored and buy another one. Leading to dress number one finding a sad, lonely corner in my cupboard until I got sick of looking at it and sold it for $40 on ebay. 

A cautionary tale.

Now this was a vicious cycle that went on for 3 years until I then moved to warehouse sales where I'd find that skirt I longed for 4 months ago at half price. I made a vow never  to buy anything full price again because everything goes on sale eventually. Missyconfidential was a great site for upcoming warehouse sales. I was onto something good for awhile but I still had the issue of feeling like I was wasting time and effort buying and then selling clothes I no longer liked or didn't quite fit well. This went on for another 4 years. 

But there's a happy ending to my 'confessions of a shopaholic' like story. A year ago I decided to try sewing and got myself a basic beginners Toyota (yes they don't just do cars folks!) sewing machine at Lincraft on sale for $150. Now, I only go shopping to browse my favourite stores for inspiration but also use internet shopping sites as a source of future sewing project ideas. Modcloth is my absolute favourite place to browse online for it's retro chic styles which are sourced from a lot of smaller fashion designers like Miss Patina and Dahlia fashion. If shipping to  Australia wasn't so expensive I'd be in real danger of falling off the fashion wagon.

I stuck to things I could make easily like pleated skirts and simple tops at first but then was able to move on to silk blouses and dresses. Now when I go out and see something I like, I think to myself, I could make that. And if I get sick of it, well it only cost me $5 to make it anyway so now I can use all those saved up pennies on better things - like a monthly relaxing massage.