Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Here we sew again (results)



Remember the  little gem I featured briefly last week? It was in fact the beginnings of my daughter's Easter dress. A thrift store find, she was thrilled with the pretty purple color and I loved the fabric and the "tiered" action it had going on. The placing on the elastic? A little strange.
First things first, I took my seam ripper to the bottom tier and picked it and the elastic off. Next I took my purple polka dot material and fashioned an A-line skirt to attach underneath. I then cut the remaining bottom tier in half and pinned and sewed the bottom half to the bottom of the polka dot A- line skirt.
I didn't like the scrawny, lingerie-type straps, so I snipped them off. I made some new straps out of the purple polka dot and had my daughter try the dress on and set the straps to exactly the right length and stitched them on. I knew the she would like a little extra ruffle and so, I took a little of the top half of the bottom tier and made some ruffly capped sleeves. (So cute!)
Lastly, the dress was a little big still. I took in the side a bit and then made a long sash out of the purple polka dot, making sure the band was wider in the front for an "empire" waste. I stitched on and it ties in a big bow in the back! I also made a small flower for the front (to cover a small tear).

Four dollars, a little creative thinking, and a little more patience and what a result! I love it! ;0D

3 comments:

The Swapp Fam said...

Wow that looks GREAT! You really are talented. I would not have come up with something like that. Good job!

Jamiecrafts said...

I love it, so cute it turned out great!

jgirl said...

Thanks ladies! I really enjoy reusing and transforming things, the challenge is so fun! ;0)