134. Refashions 17 & 18: Thanks and a Giveaway

UPDATE: Giveaway is now closed. Thanks for participating!

As of last week I've won two blogger giveaways: Columbia Lily's silk shantung purse and nowSHELTER Home's Domino book. I'd worked on a couple of giveaway projects to thank you for reading some of those 100 posts but didn't finish them on time. Now, at post #134, it's way past time to say thanks and pass on the juju.

This giveaway shirt is the empire waist "after" shirt above. It is made to fit like a glove on someone with 35.5" bust and 36" hips. This seems to translate to a size medium, perhaps on the smaller side of medium. But you can see it's not ultra-fitted, so there's wiggle room if your measurements are different by a little here or a little there. Plus, with the empire waist, this will still look great on you whether you are petite, average, or tall in stature. The fabric is a wrinkle-free cotton/ poly blend (55%/ 45%), in a sunny yellow. I apologize for the paled-out color in the "after" pics -- it's been very cloudy and the "before" picture shows the true color more accurately.

Borrowing an idea from Tina at glam.spoon to spread the blog-lovin', here's the low-down on the giveaway: if you would like a chance to win this shirt for yourself or someone you love, visit one or more of the blogs I read in the sidebar, and leave one quick comment with who you visited and what you liked. I'll ship internationally so get your comment on!

Every eligible comment left by Sunday, May 3 at midnight CST will be randomized and I'll let you know the winner on Monday. Sound good?

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On a related note... I had a review meeting a week and some ago with David Walker at 302 designs, and to make a long story short, I rushed to find a model I could photograph in the first 3 shirts. (And this someone needed to be the same size as the form I draped on, and who would photograph well, and who looked like Austin, 'cause this whole 302 designs project is about Austin.) First call was to Meg Kanewske, a friend who was my prenatal yoga instructor and whose daughter is in the kinder class down the hall from Louis. She now owns a studio called Kula Yoga in Austin and still teaches, so here she is, tall and thin and fit and photogenic and she called me back and said she was up for it. Lucky me.

She fit the clothes perfectly. How many sentences can I italicize in a row? How great to see how the tops fit and draped on a real body that moves and breathes, and to hear Meg's feedback about how it felt to wear them. I shall keep those photos under wraps for now, but to give Meg a personalized thank-you, I thought I would make her a men's dress shirt refashion. After all, now I know she and Carmen have the same measurements!

I'd never draped a men's dress shirt refashion on Carmen, and I remembered one specific comment she made while trying on the 302 refashions: She liked how the yellow & black top gathered at the empire line without making her look pregnant. So instead of using the full width of the original men's dress shirt, I draped and cut it so that the gathering would be more strategic and less... gestational. She wore it today, so I think she likes it!

How generous of Meg, right? What a spirit, so ready to give of her own time and energy. AND so generous of you to read along this past year and a bit. Thanks! Meg's shirt below, in case you're curious: