Five Frugal Things -- My Embroidered Ralph Lauren Denim Shirt
1) I spent a few hours embroidering my Ralph Lauren inspired denim shirt. (Here's a link to more photos of the original $450 shirt.) I'm happy with the progress I made.
I still have more to do, but I'd reached a point where I needed to stretch my body and blink my eyes.
Here's the back of the collar.
And here I am working on one of the cuffs.
I even wore the shirt out for tacos, although I ended up taking it off as it was too warm.
Again, Andy Cohen's shirt from his Architectural Digest YouTube video was my inspiration. I may not be able to thrift a Hamptons beach cottage, but I can recreate his look from a $9.99 thrifted shirt!
2) I ate a lot of foraged blackberries yesterday. I'll freeze whatever's leftover this afternoon, but we mostly just eat them while they're fresh.
3) I sold the Geckobrand waterproof bag that I thrifted at the Goodwill bins back in April. It sold locally on Facebook Marketplace, which is better than eBay as the entire $20 will go to the Oregon Food Bank.
It's the first $100 Goodwill gift card challenge sale so far this month, as the better items sold awhile back. However, this is what I expected as some items sell quickly, while other sales trickle in. This puts profits over $820.
It weighed maybe four ounces, so I paid less than 50¢ for it.
4) My curb picked vacuum cleaner from last month turned out to be missing some very important parts that made it not worth fixing. My plan then switched to parting it out on eBay, but the thought of cleaning and identifying all the bits and pieces was overwhelming.
Instead I put it out with last night's garbage. I can't be responsible for every discarded consumer item. This vacuum cleaner had been sitting on my porch since June 10th and it's a breath of fresh air to not have the front of my house resemble the neighborhood landfill.
I'm assuaging my nonconsumer guilt by reminding myself that my husband did successfully refurbish an entirely different curb picked vacuum.
5) I thrifted this big ol' bag of embroidery floss at least a couple of years ago. Everything that was ever manufactured will eventually show up at Goodwill!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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Nice job on the shirt. I made a couple of those in my high school days. Denim and chambray were popular back then and chambray was way easier to work with. I notice you're keeping the cuff stitching above the edge, not over it. I think your way is tricker, and I'm guessing it's a longevity move. I just wanted you to know I noticed that you're doing it the hard(er) way. Cross stitch can be tedious; I'm impressed that you've made so much progress so quickly!
I chose to do the blanket stitch that way as it's how the original shirt is shown. And yes, it's trickier and slower.
That's not cross stitch--it's chain stitch, feather stitch and blanket stitch.
You are indeed correct, "harriet." I used to do a ton of fancy cross stitching that included embroidery embellishment. So many samplers, wedding gifts, and baby gifts, in addition to embroidering shirts. To me, they're part and parcel of the same skill set I learned in Girl Scouts so very long ago.
Alas, my eyes are too old to make this treasured pastime enjoyable, and clearly my brain is slipping.
Your brain sounds pretty sharp to me! And I knew what you meant in your original comment. 🙂
I like your shirt. I was telling my oldest daughter about it. She thrifted a denim shirt in the bins for herself but it has a small yellow stain. I'm sure she can embroider over it. She's starting a new sewing upcycling class and I'm looking forward to seeing what she does.
1. I used my Meijer rewards points for $1 off per gallon of gas. I filled my tank and two 5 gallon cans. I saved $21.
2. The new coffee brewery in town sent me a bunch of coupons. My youngest daughter and I enjoyed a couple lattes. It was a cheap treat.
3. I took a few of my kids to Olga's for dinner. I stopped at Costco across the street first for 25% off gift cards.
4. I walked with a friend for free exercise.
5. I sold a couple items on Ebay and listed several more.
I am so jealous there is an Olga's near you. I miss that restaurant. Looks like they are only in MI these days. Which could be doable on road trip! However a Kenny Roger's Roasters road trip isn't on the radar at all.
Your shirt looks great. Good for you for taking on that project.
1. Today was bulk trash pickup day in our neighborhood. We scavaged a few items. Some we will pass along to keep them out of the landfill.
2. I'm planning to try making hummus for the first time. I don't have a food processor so I borrowed one from a neighbor.
3. I used my BOA Visa card at Giant after activating an offer to get 16% cash back. Hopefully that will happen.
4. We helped a neighbor with some household tasks. It was also a time to socialize.
5. I pulled weeds instead of hiring the never ending job out.
Thanks, it's a fun project!
Check back to let us know how the hummus went.
Very nice work on the shirt! Impressed.
Katy, your embroidery work is absolutely fantastic. I love the shirt!!
The shirt looks so good. Great job!
Katy: You have some serious embroidery skills. Wow!
1. Finished documenting June financials. Spent more on groceries than in an average month, but continued to save money in other categories due to recuperating at home and not driving.
2. Bought four packages of plant-based chicken pieces that were on clearance. Saved $4 on each package.
3. Modified a bolognese recipe from Budget Bytes to make it vegetarian, and I was able to use up some milk and red wine.
4. Watered the flowerpots with water from the dehumidifier.
5. Thoroughly enjoyed finishing a library book that I may have heard about here: The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley.
That shirt looks awesome!! What a great job!
Great job on the shirt!
I don't have a lot of frugality. I was in the very slow process of going through closets, drawers, etc but I got sidetracked by some major dental work about a wk ago. Between the trauma to my mouth & nausea from the antibiotics, I have mostly been a slug. But:
1. I have not gone out much or had opportunities to spend.
2. A skink got into the house. One of the cats had him for a minute, then, in spite of all my instructions, turned him loose. Mr Skink retreated to a closet. By the time I found him, I had emptied the entire closet floor. That closet was the next on my list to go through so it is half done now. Mr Skink was returned to the yard.
3. I had a sale on Etsy of something my daughter had not been able to sell.
4. I was able to replace my hijacked Ebay account with a new account . (A couple years ago when I get tried to set up an Ebay account, I learned that someone had already used my email address for some scam and my address was banned for life.) Evidently my term of punishment with Ebay has ended because the new account is working. I will list some things when I feel better
5. I made the Frugal Girl's granola.
Some 40 years ago I embroidered a chambray workshirt for my husband to wear in a production of "The Cotton Patch Gospel." He's kept it all these years, although it no longer fits. It's probably back in style by now. 🙂
Katy's denim embroidery reminds me of a few similar bits I did back in my late teens, over 50 years ago. I once embroidered flowers *over* the patches I put on the knees of a pair of tie-dyed jeans. Sadly, between my arthritic fingers and my elderly eyesight, that sort of thing is beyond me now. But carry on, Katy!
The shirt looks so great. Billy T has a very similar line, they aren't $450, but still way more than I am willing to pay. Annie Potts on Georgie and Mandy was wearing one.
1. I ordered new hearing aids from Costco today. They were $1700, which is a real bargain compared to everywhere else. I also got my last set from there and they are going on 7 years old. They have been repaired once or twice, but that's still a nice long life for hearing aids comparatively. I used funds from my health savings account to pay for them. By putting money in my health savings account every year I earn a tax break. It's not sexy but it's saving!
2. We went on a weekend trip to Michigan. Since we were passing through Indiana we were sure to fill up on gas since they are having a gas tax holiday of sorts. That saved 70¢ a gallon.
3. Checked the weather forecast and I plan to ride my bike to work 3 days this week. Free exercise and money saved on gas.
4. Eating mostly fresh vegetables from my garden. I put out a free basket out at the library where I work, so the patrons can enjoy some too.
5. Made an appointment for a manicure and pedicure. I received a gift certificate for this at Christmas. I needed to get it done before summer was over and also before it expired. Looking forward to it!
Wow - I love how your shirt turned out! I think it is visually stunning and looks better than the original inspiration shirt.
Already? That was fast! I'm very impressed -- at the speed and the beautiful results. (Yes, I'm talking about the gorgeous denim shirt).
1. Yesterday's outing yielded four extra receipts. One of them was worth 800 points!
2. While I was doing laundry, I stepped out to go to the dentist's office and to Goodwill. The dentist, because a bunch of calls verified that no dentist in the area takes my new insurance. When I signed up for it last fall, I was assured my dentist was in the network. Now, it seems, no dentist is in the network. Something has happened. I have no recourse but to stay with my dentist and use my Flex card to pay. I was hoping to save that for other things, but with any luck, there won't be other things. This coming fall, I will figure out how to switch my plan so that preventive dental care is covered again. My visit today was to verify that my Flex card would be accepted and to make an appointment (which won't happen till September.)
3. My Goodwill visit was to kill time while waiting for the laundry to dry and to check out clothes, which I didn't look at yesterday. I bought a sweatshirt for $9, which is high, but it's PXL, which are hard to find, and it's in like-new condition. And it's kinda fancy.
4. I am assembling leftovers to make bean soup, which I'll have tomorrow. Today's lunch was a tuna salad sandwich with plenty of celery.
5. It's cooler today, but I'm still doing the AC/fan minuet (I didn't want to say fan dance). Just when I think the fan will do, AC is suddenly needed.
The stitching and design on the shirt are beautiful. I wonder if you inherited some of your needle work talent from your Dad. I remember you once on this blog showed us a framed picture of a very complicated piece of artwork that he had stitched.
1. I hung two loads of laundry outside today.
2. I picked about a cup of raspberries from my yard this afternoon. I usually pick them every other day but tomorrow, the scheduled day, it's supposed to rain. No fun to pick berries in the rain.
3. I'm reading Dear Debbie by Frieda McFadden for my book club. Told from different characters' perspectives, it's both funny and creepy. I'm loving it.
4. DH and I are once again making sure we batch errands as the price of gas continues to rise.
5. One (!) tomato on my one plant is close to being perfectly ripened.
My father did very mathematically complex needlpoint, which if you knew him would make sense. My mother did embroidery, so I learned that at an early age.
I covet your single homegrown tomato, as I somehow didn't plant any this year.
Love that shirt! Your stitches are nice and even. I like your choice of colors. Well done!
I put up 12 pints of pickled beets and a dozen quarts of pickled beans. Used the outdoor bbq so I didn't heat up the kitchen.
Picked a zucchini for zoodles tonight. A head of butter lettuce, handful of grape tomatoes and a couple of handfuls of pea pods.
Took recycling to the depot and found a discarded French flower bucket that is painted glossy butter yellow. It was bunged up on one side. I'm going to use it as a garbage can to set next to my reading chair.
Used my cooling scarf that I bought for $1. It is my new favorite summer accessory.
Your shirt looks amazing!! So well done.
1) Caught up on budget tracking, which always helps me see where we are spending, where there are leaks, etc.
2) Made lunch for DS19 & DS20, so they would help me use up leftovers. They are capable on their own, but when I choose the lunch, I clear out the fridge & use up what I want to move out fastest. 😉
3) Called our car insurance company to track down some paperwork to note that our cars are below a mileage limit which should save us money.
4) Noticed that I had a $2 off 2 containers of Ben & Jerry's ice cream offer. When I got to the store, I wasn't planning on buying any, as their standard is still really expensive. Imagine my delight when each container was $2.99, bringing my total out of pocket for 2 to $3.99. Winner! Both of my adult kiddos love it, so they will be thrilled.
5) Booked a hotel for next March (we plan ahead for the days DH's company closes, as it's free vacation time). Used Chase rewards to offset most of the cost. I was also get a $250 statement credits. This brings the cost of three nights in Palm Springs down to $290 total, and I'll get a $100 credit to use at the hotel, plus free breakfast each day.
Beautiful shirt!
1. It is so hot here my sweat is sweating. Well, not really, but 110 heat index. On that note, gas is $3.49 gallon now in the University town.
2 I walked an hour from 5:30 am to 6:30 am.
3. I took my lunch to work.
4. I ate my dinner and breakfast at home.
5. I am trying not to open the doors and let the heat inside my house. This is all I have.
Nothing frugal today except that I paid the oral surgeon with my debit card. I had plenty of cash in my account to cover my copay so I used the debit card instead of a credit card... although I'd planned to use the zero percent credit card. This way it's all done. I got my tooth pulled, sedation dentistry, and my friend brought me home and I slept most of the afternoon. I had chills and fever but am ok now. Will stay home tomorrow and possibly the next day.
My surgery was a success today! Well, success is relative, but it went better than it did 3 months ago.
The day started later, so I wasn't up at 4AM, and was able to walk the dog and get myself sorted. My buddy brought her #2 son as he needed a ride home, in the same city as the hospital - he was put to work watering the plants around the house as that is the last watering I didn't get to yesterday.
I now get a week of no heavy lifting and (gasp) no weeding. I'll be reading books and maybe tidying a corner in my kitchen.
Glad to be home, my only expense was the meds, because we filled the prescription without me having my benefits card - I'll get a percentage back when I do the paperwork.
Buddy who drove me did some 'shopping' while she was hanging around (after she had a goodly nap in her car, parked in an underground lot for shade). She had found 4 strawberry plants discounted to $1 each (and most have two or more plants in the pots), they were beside the pharmacy so when she got my meds she went back and picked up the plants. She won't take money for gas, but did take a dozen eggs in exchange for the plants. She kindly WASHED all the eggs before taking her dozen - a gem and a half of a friend! I fobbed off half a dozen nice small zucchinis on her, and another 4 on her son, so whew, no pressure to get the summer's most productive squash out of my house this week!
And I didn't mention my 6 !!! ripening tomatoes. I've read that if you pick them not quite ripe, a) the critters can't get them at perfect, b) the plant can then focus on the next fruit and c) they ripen just as tasty. Way too often I have left them too long and the slugs had lunch. now I get to have lunch!
Great job on the shirt!