Affordable Fashion: Get Creative with Fabric

--By Kim Moshtaghi

Black Lace Fabric
$7.69 per yard
Available at: hancockfabrics.com

It’s time to get creative and make the most out of your imagination and your cash! Since I have been on a major budget, I have been re-designing my clothes and making my own fun designs. It has been saving me lots of cash, and I am able to create and have clothing no one else will ever have.

I found a tailor who is very reasonable and loves to work with me, which is a necessity. You’ll need to find an affordable tailor and make sure they like you, because they’ll always bend over backwards for you if you treat them with the utmost respect. Also, if you have a skirt that just fits perfect and you wish you could clone it in different patterns or colors, here is your chance! Get some classic and fun materials and get this projected started. Take your favorite clothing and get it duplicated, altered, or perfected even more.

The next two fabrics would make a great classic combination for a knock-out bathing suit. They are nylon and lycra, which will soak up that water. Take your favorite bathing suit to a tailor who can do bathing suits and have her duplicate it for the size and shape, and alter it a little bit to give it a personal touch. I really like the black and white floral print for a top, and I would outline it with the aqua/light blue fabric and do the bottoms in the aqua/light blue. This way it will give the bathing suit a little contrast. There are a lot of ways to create a fun stylish look. I think it’s so exciting to have my personal fitted unique bikini, and now I don’t have to go bathing suit shopping-- that’s the worst! These fabrics are on sale till April 13, 2009-- hurry up because $5.99 per yard is an awesome deal.

Diamond Knit Fabric
$11.99 per yard
Available at: hancockfabrics.com

I also have been getting some of my boring skirts laced up-- literally! I bought some lace and trimmed the bottom of a couple pencil skirts that were getting a little old and needed some spunk. The skirts are now wearable and not charity bound. This featured Black Lace Fabric is great because you can use it for the low cut dresses that are too risqué by adding the lace trimming over the chest area. Once you start getting creative with your clothes, the creative juices won’t stop flowing.

My last featured bit of fabric is gorgeous! I love the color combination of this Diamond Knit Fabric-- it’s just stunning! This fabric would be great for a summer dress, or for a long maxi dress. With sun-kissed skin, this fabric will look incredible. The red, white, beige, black and other colors in this fabric blend well together, keeping it classy and not too loud.

Try it out ladies, and let me know how your creative adventure goes. Trust me, it’s like having a Pringles potato chip: once you start, you can’t stop!
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Kim Moshtaghi is a contributing writer for Adventures in the Stiletto Jungle. Born in Germany, Kim is currently based in sunny Del Mar, California, where she also serves as Stiletto Jungle's Director of Sales and Promotions. Kim has a communications degree, a third degree black belt, and a totally covetable Gucci handbag collection.