Hey hey hey!! Happy Monday everyone!
Kay. Since my last post, I've had a BUNCH of questions like this---
How much of a gameplan do you have when going in to a thrift store?
How do you figure out what you can make from something at the thrift store?
Do you have the plan just in your head?
Do you sketch it out?
Do you have the same plan start to finish??
How do you know what the heck to get at the thrift store? How can you see "potential" in outdated, and often ugly pieces?
These are all GREAT questions. And they will ALL be answered in an upcoming post (which I am so excited about!! During the last week of June :)) Stay tuned!
For now, I just want to explain a little more WHY I love refashioning:
I am not an expert seamstress. I'm not even a great seamstress. My mom will be the first to tell you that all growing up, I HATED when she would try to get me to read a pattern. I resisted at all costs. I don't know why! I just can't do it. So, when I sew, it's a lot of trial and error. That can be good and bad, ha! But. Refashioning is special because I feel like it relies more on creativity than anything. I take something someone else created, and reimagine it. Give it new life. And in the process, I "cheat!" I tooooootally do! When refashioning, you often steal the hardest parts from what is already there. You use their perfectly inserted zipper, their smooth neckline, hems, buttons, and snaps. You just move them around and change up what's in between. :) It's the perfect outlet for creativity, without a lot of the technical mumbo jumbo that sometimes kills me haha!
ALSO. Refashioning is thrifty. You take something that already exists and basically recycle it. Repurpose it. Give it a second life. Pretty much all of my refashions are from thrifted pieces (which are super cheap) or pieces already in mine or my husband's closet.
Lastly. I've said it before, I know. But having a creative outlet is incredibly important to me. It adds fulfillment and purpose and "Stretching" to my life. I love learning and growing and problem solving. Refashions are like a puzzle, and they are so fun to figure out!
I hope that by sharing my projects, some of YOU will have the confidence to walk into a thrift store, grab a hideous dress for $5, take it home, cut it up, and create something new that you love.
______
Alright, on to the refashion! This refahsion was simple and fun! I took a large, and frankly very strangely shaped dress/kaftan/kimono thing and chopped away until we ended up with a cute, easy shift dress for summer.
And this time... I MADE A VIDEO! It started out fun, but quickly turned into missing footage and a half-finished video and downloaded recovery software and crossing fingers and hoping and stressing and kicking myself... hoping to be able to somehow pull together a full video! Well. By some miracle, it worked. Phew. But man. That was stressful. haha! I am new to this thing and it is not easy... BUT how cool is a video? I feel all high-tech!
I wanted to be able to actually TALK to you all... walk you through the steps without having to awkwardly put them into text (because sometimes it just doesn't translate that well!) And seeing video of the steps in action, I find, is much easier to understand than a freeze-frame, single shot photo. Ya know? Let me know what you think and if you enjoy this new format!
Watch below for my talk-through tutorial on the transformation, or read the steps typed down below! :)
XOXO
STEPS:
1. Lay dress out on the floor.
2. Use a dress with similar shape you want to lay on the fabric and cut out your pattern pieces (left front, right front, back, and sleeves). Fold the reference dress in half down the middle to create left front and right fron pieces. Cut out.
3. Cut out built-in "trim" from the orginal dress.
4. Take a strip of trim and pin it to the left front and right front pieces, so that it is running vertically down the center of your dress. Sew in place.
5. Iron seams flat so that the front of your dress hangs right.
6. Sew shoulders seams together for dress front and dress back.
7. Attach sleeves to dress. Lay your dress front and dress back on the ground, both face up, at the shoulder seams. (I used original sleeves from dress and just adjusted size). Pin in place and sew.
8. Sew up sides of dress and bottoms of sleeve.
9. Take more of your "trim" and pin to sleeve cuffs. Sew in place. Unfold and iron.
10. Take some extra fabric from original and tuck it in between dress front and dress back, at the neckline. Use some tailor's chalk to trace the neckline shape onto that excess fabric (front and back). 11. Cut out neckline shape + 2", sew front and back together.
12. Pin lining around neckline of dress, to the outside of the dress, pulling/stretching tight as you pin around. Sew. Fold lining to the inside of the neckline. Iron. Pin. Topstitch.
13. Cut dress to desired length. Fold under, iron, hem.
Post a Comment