One of the things I like to do, now and again, is meet my partner for lunch when he’s working in town.

Usually these occasional trysts are just for the two of us. But as it was half term last week, on Friday lad came along too.

After we’d eaten our dosas and said our goodbyes, lad and I wandered back towards the bus stop, pausing only for bit of a browse in the Oxfam bookshop. Lad reads fast and it is a constant quest to keep him supplied with sufficient reading materials.

The unfortunate thing about Oxfam, apart from its dismal lack, on this occasion, of reading matter with lad-appeal, is that it is located just a few doors down from my favourite vintage clothes shop, Baklash.

I just couldn’t help myself. We popped in.

Lad lounged disconsolately on a vintage chair whilst I rummaged amongst the treasure in Baklash’s bargain basement.

As I may have mentioned, I can’t resist a bargain vintage frock.

No matter that this one didn’t fit me. It was a lovely green, hand made – in shiny Tricel, no less, and only £6.99.

And there was a matching cardi on offer for a pound – yes, one pound!

Well, the deal was sealed. The only down side was not being able to get the frock over my hips. But I had a plan…

Over the weekend, I chopped it up and made it into a blouse instead.

It’s not like me to launch straight into an alteration project.

Usually, I consider it for a while first. But there wasn’t much to do on this one – and I’d just read an article on the evils of procrastination.

I was full of admiration for the person that made the frock in the first place.

It has hand made button loops. A really neat little collar. And every seam inside is beautifully hand-finished.

I soon found out why they’d taken so much trouble over the seams…

When my scissors hit that Tricel I’ve never seen anything fray as fast, or as much. Wow.

But it was worth dealing with for a nice bargain blouse. And I gained a lovely spare bit of fabric to boot.

I’ll show you what I’ve done with that tomorrow. ♥