What Can You Make With a (comfybutunflattering) Dress?

It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted a What Can You Make With A . . .? project, but I have one today! The inspiration was this blue dress. It was soft, swingy, and SO comfortable, with pockets in the side skirt seams, perfect with a black cardigan for chilly days . . . and what’s not to love about polka dots? But my mirror (and an “honest” family member) told me that this was not my best look and added more than a few pounds to my curves. So, out came the scissors.

• The skirt is PERFECT as . . . a skirt! And I still get to enjoy the lovely color, fabric, and pockets. I simply cut it off a little above the empire waist, nipped and tucked here and there, and used the top of the cut-off piece to make a waistband. I love wearing it with my black pullover sweater, tights, and boots.
• You’ve already seen the laptop case I made with the sleeves and neck elastic. I LOVE it and use it every day. It’s especially fun when someone asks where I got it!
• That left just some bits and pieces, so I cut them into strips, twisted and stitched them into a flower, and used it for a-la-mode on a fun spring pillow I stitched up with some bird fabric from my stash. (Spring WILL come, right???)

Ahhhhh . . . much better! ♥

Candy Corn Dress

I had some bits of orange and yellow jersey, so I stitched them into a ruffled skirt, added color-coordinated ric-rac, and attached it to a new white baby t-shirt for a cutie in our family! The a-la-mode is a strip of “treat” fabric from last year’s Halloween pillows twisted, coiled, and stitched into a flower and centered with an orange button. Happy candy corn season! ♥

I Won Some Patterns!

When the lovely Simona of Sewing Adventures in the Attick decided to downsize her pattern collection, she hosted a giveaway . . . and I won two! I can’t wait to try them out!  If you haven’t met Simona yet, please click below to read about:

• her Craftsy class,
• her cute pillows (and you KNOW how much I love pillows!),
• her gorgeous party dress,
• her sporty red and white dress,
• her altered T’s, and
• her colorful Christmas stockings!

Thank you, Simona!  ♥

Easiest Infinity Scarf Ever!

As much as I love to sew, I couldn’t resist this dress I found at Old Navy.

The color! The print! The lightweight, summery, flowy fabric! The neckline! The tucks! The matching belt! The price!

But . . . after “almost” wearing it several times, I decided it was too short for 5′ 10″ me.

So, out came the scissors and off came 6 inches from the hem. After a quick pinning and hemming on the sewing machine, I had a PERFECT tunic to wear over capris or skinny jeans!

The drapiness made the remaining fabric perfect for an infinity scarf, too. All I had to do was hem the raw edge . . . quick, easy, and a fun “freebie” accessory.

P.S. My grandmother made these beautiful crocheted hangers for me when I was a new bride. I AM going to learn how to do this someday! ♥

I’m getting ready for my biggest refashion yet!

This beautiful bride, Christin, now has an amazing 8-year-old daughter, Allyson, and I’ll be transforming Christin’s wedding gown into Allyson’s First Communion dress!

Allyson chose Butterick 3350 with sleeves, scalloped neckline, and straight hem.

I’ll admit I’m a tiny bit nervous about working with and on two such important dresses, but I’m excited about it, too!

And I have a cheerleader! My dear friend Faye transformed her daughter-in-law’s wedding dress into the stunning First Communion dress below for her adorable granddaughter, and she’s only a phone call away if I need advice and encouragement.

Watch for the big reveal in April . . . and wish me luck! ♥

BFF Refashion

No, I didn’t refashion my BFF (really my sister Susan!) . . . I love her just the way she is! 🙂  But I DID help her turn something beautiful but too-big into something fun and fashionable. This Eddie Bauer dress is a gorgeous color with a velvety touch and drapey, travel-friendly fabric. But . . . it went almost to Susan’s ankles (even though she’s 5’10” like me), was too big around the middle, and left her neck out in the cold. To move it to the front of Susan’s closet, I:

(1) removed the skirt from the bodice,

(2) widened the two front and back darts by 1/2 inch each and did the same with the two front and back seams of the gored skirt,

(3) sewed the skirt and bodice back together,

(4) shortened the skirt by a whopping 17 inches and rehemmed, and

(5) made an infinity scarf from the fabric I cut off by reading several different tutorials I’d bookmarked and adapting them to the size and shape of the fabric I had to work with.

I think it will be super-cute with tights and boots this winter.  Enjoy, Susan! ♥

What can you make with a sundress?

For my one year blog anniversary, I invited you to nominate people you’ve met through the blogging world whom you would like to have as next-door neighbors . . . and to tell why. It was SO heartwarming to read the lovely comments that came in from all around the world! The blogger with the MOST nominations was then invited to send me a once-loved garment to remake into some fun treasures (a-la “What can you make with a flannel shirt?,” “What can you make with a lace tank?,” and “What can you make with a polo shirt?“) and return. The winner was Kelly of  Cobwebs, Cupcakes & Crayons!  Kelly said, “After the shock wore off I ran to my closet to decide what I was going to send.  I chose a little sundress that has a lot of happy memories attached to it, but now that I’m a mama seems a little, well…SHORT.  I know that I will never wear it again, so I am very excited to send it off!”  So . . .today is the big reveal! In addition, this project will have a permanent home on the “What Can You Make With A . . .” page on my header.

• I couldn’t resist using the bottom of the sundress with its lacy underskirt for another dress . . . this time for Kelly’s adorable daughter Annabelle! A bright pink T-shirt from Target made the perfect top. (Click here and here for more little girl’s T-shirt dress ideas.)
• The zippered back of the sundress was perfect for the back of a pillow cover, and I added the pretty label and butterfly that I snipped from the inside neckline. The pillow front is a combination of dress fabric, T-shirt fabric, a vintage hanky, pale pink lace, and lime-green embroidery.
• The bodice of the sundress is now a jewelry pouch! The ribbons form the casings, and the dress straps are the strings. The lining of the pouch is made from the dress lining for a soft, shiny finish.
• With seven circles of fabric, three stacked buttons, and a bit more of the lace from the bottom of the sundress, I made a fabric flower to pin onto a jacket, hat, or headband.
• A small rectangle of dress fabric and T-shirt fabric along with a bit of green dotted fabric and some buttons and ribbon were just the right ingredients for a Christmas mini-pillow ornament.
• While pondering Kelly’s blog name, I thought of embroidering three C’s onto a bit of fabric and framing it. Suddenly I thought, “Hmm . . . if the Scrabble letter C is worth 3 points, I could use that instead.” I ran to look it up, and . . . it is! I KNOW Kelly didn’t choose “Cobwebs, Cupcakes & Crayons” based on this fact . . . but I was excited! 🙂 After several experiments, I ended up with a collage of dress fabric, T-shirt fabric, lace, scrapbook paper, and a paper Scrabble tile in a hot pink frame. (The back of the frame is also magnetized for a frig or file cabinet.)
• Finally, I was down to a small pile of random scraps. Not ready to give up quite yet, I decoupaged them onto a plastic bangle bracelet. 🙂

Done! Kelly . . . your package is in the mail!  ♥

From Old Jumper to New Dress

My latest refashion project involved a too-large and out-of-date Tencel denim jumper and a too-large-but-good-as-new  jersey tank with a funky print from my closet archives.

First, I cut the bodice off the jumper. Then I took LOTS of fullness from the skirt by taking in the four seams, starting with one inch at the top and diagonaling down to four inches at the bottom. I also shortened it several inches. Yes, this jumper could have doubled as a parachute!!!

Next, I cut apart the tank to make a bodice and sleeves (using a sleeve pattern from another dress I’ve made). After sewing the sleeve seams, I sewed the sleeves to the bodice and then sewed the bodice to the skirt, matching side seams and the center front and back and stretching the bodice to fit. Finally, I stitched the sash that came with the jumper to the bodice/skirt seam most of the way around, leaving an opening for tying at the front. (Click on any photo in the gallery for a larger view.) I can’t wait to wear my new dress with my lime-green cardigan and Aunt Vitha’s fun bead necklace. ♥

Fairy Godmother

This weekend, I got to be a fairy godmother (aka mother-in-law with a sewing machine!) for Christin, who needed a dress for a formal awards banquet. Although she didn’t get to try it on until a few hours before the event . . . and the fitting, altering, and hemming nearly took us to the moment of departure . . . we were both very happy with the end result. Doesn’t she look beautiful? (And thanks, Christin, for being a good sport and  striking a pose for the camera. ♥)