Dressember Dresses; The Giraffe One

 Hello Readers. December is almost over and that means the Dressember fundraiser is almost over too. Dressember's focus is on prevention, intervention and protection for victims and people at risk for human trafficking. Go to Dressember.org to learn more about the work they do in the U.S. and world wide.

Let's talk sewing! How do you feel about giraffes?

 

 This giraffe dress and matching vest are really not looking good on me. I loved the pink color and giraffes are great. I just wasn't sure I wanted all these giraffes all over me. I didn't love the style of this dress and the length really needed to be cut. 

I decided to use the top of the vest as the top of my new dress. I wanted something simple that I could wear with anything. The giraffes would make it harder to match my clothes and wear the dress. This 

is a picture of the leftover lower half of the vest, after cutting off the top. 

I cut the middle of the dress out and used it as my skirt. I didn't want the button up collar or the design at the hem of the original dress. I have been trying to focus on simple, easy-to-wear dresses for this month of dress refashions.

 

 

 When it was all put together, I really liked the result. This dress was easy and comfortable to wear. 

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dressember Dresses; The Maternity One

Hello Readers. For the last few years I have been involved in Dressember. Every December I try to call attention to the organization and the work they do. They estimate that human trafficking is a $150 BILLION dollar a year business. It is illegal but the size and scope of that much money boggles my mind. It sounds too big to fight against. But that kind of thinking is what keeps this kind of activity going. People can be saved, victims can recover, lives can be restored. Go to Dressember.org to learn more about what they do and donate if you can.   

I found this black maternity dress at a swap long ago and I didn't realize it was maternity. I thought it was a black knit dress. I don't need a maternity dress. (Like seriously, I am 48. I do NOT need or want to try and break world records by having a baby at this age.)

This dress was really full and round but what I really needed was a black shirt. I know this is a month of dresses but I didn't have a long-sleeve black shirt and it would be really handy for layering in these cold months.

 

I decided to use a shirt I liked as a guide and cut out a black shirt that would fit under other shirts and sweaters. 

 

It was easy to make the shirt. I used the bottom of the dress and made a skirt. I made a simple elastic waistband for it and I was done. I am counting this as a 2 piece dress for this month of dress refashions.

 

I can wear the shirt by itself later and for Christmas Day I thought this black combo was a little plain. I used some of my ribbon stash to jazz up this outfit. 

 

The candy cane ribbon made this outfit a lot more fun. 

Thanks for reading along, and Merry Christmas if you are celebrating today.

Dressember Dresses; The Shirt One

 Hello Readers.Every year when I am wearing dresses and ties for Dressember I try not to let it be one more thing on my To-Do list. It can be and should be a fun way to raise awareness and funding to fight human trafficking. You can form a team to work with and keep each other motivated. My daughter and I are on a team called the D-Group. I also borrow all my ties from my husband and older son. They have to help me tie them because I can't seem to get it right. It's a whole family effort.

 My family helped with this refashion too. The blue shirt is from my husband and the plaid shirt is from my mom.

 My husband didn't want this blue shirt and it was a little worn at the collar. That was fine because I didn't need the collar.

I cut the the shirt across the chest and used the bottom of it for my dress.

This plaid shirt from my mom was the perfect coordinating top half of my new dress.

I did some pinning to connect the big men's shirt with the ladies shirt.

I did some pleating to make the 2 shirts work together.

 These 2 made a nice combination. And I was able to put it all together fairly quickly. These shirts didn't have any stretch to them so I had to leave the dress loose enough to be comfortable and allow me to move around.

Thanks for reading along, now go check out Dressember.org to learn more about their important work.

Dressember Dresses; The Tie-Dye One

 Hello Readers. I am in the middle of a series of dress refashions in honor of Dressember. What is Dressember? It is an organization that tries to raise awareness about human trafficking. It also helps victims escape and recover. It partners with other organizations working in this area as well. Human trafficking has been reported in all 50 United States and on every continent, except Antarctica. Check their website to learn more. 

This tie-dye dress was soft, stretchy and who doesn't love tie-dye?

 There were some problems with this dress. It was WAY too long. Like way too long.

 My first step was to cut the top of the dress off so that I had a longer style tunic shirt.

 I used a favorite pair of leggings as a pattern and cut out 2 halves or 2 legs so I could make myself a pair of tie-dye leggings to go with my top.

 I cut the scrap off the hem to make a waistband. This fabric was so stretchy, it didn't need an elastic waistband, the fabric was enough.

 Here is the waistband, I just kind of held the waistband up to myself to get the right size. I made a really wide waistband because I wanted the leggings to have a high waist.

I was super happy with my new pajamas. Is this a dress? No. It was a dress, so I am counting it for Dressember. It's 2020, we have to make allowances. I will wear a dress or tie when I get dressed for the day.

 This outfit was perfect for sleeping and making breakfast. 

 

This 3 feet of kitchen was clean.

 Thanks for reading along, check out the Dressember website if you can. 

Dressember Dresses; The Tight One

 Hello Readers. December 2020 is here. I didn't think it would ever get here. This year felt like it lasted at least 47 years. And I haven't had to deal with the harsh difficulties of so many others. I participate in Dressember every year because victims of human trafficking need help to move forward. They need rescue, safety and rehabilitation. This trauma isn't something people can move past without help. I appreciate that after-care is prioritized by Dressember and the organizations they partner with. You can learn more at their site. 

I found this long navy blue dress at a clothes swap and fell in love. I love navy blue, and this was a cozy sweater dress.

 There was one problem. It was much tighter than I thought it would be. It was a knit but it didn't have much stretch at all. I thought about making a maxi-skirt but really wanted a dress with those gray side panels. What could I do?

First, I decided the dress needed to be shorter. I put it on my dress form and measured to make sure I would get the skirt even all the way around.

I liked the new length but it was still too tight.

I cut the sides open on each side of the dress. I kept cutting along the seam all the way up the inside of each arm. 

I had all that extra fabric I had cut off from the bottom of the dress. Somewhere in that extra fabric was going to be my solution.

I used that extra fabric to expand the dress a little on each side where I had cut it open. I got a 1/4 off and inch of in the waist but I ignored it.

Adding the blue fabric in the sides gave me the extra room I needed. I was so much more comfortable and cozy. My new dress is a knit so using the same fabric meant that it all worked well together. And I did not need to buy any other fabric.

Thanks for reading along, you can go to my Dressember page to learn more about the work Dressember does to help victims of human trafficking.

Dressember Dresses; The Denim One Again

 Hello Readers. I told you last time there are 40 million people in trafficking situations world wide. According to Dressember 1/4 of those trafficking victims is a child. That is 10 million children in our world. It is just horrifying. It makes me want to be an advocate. 

If wearing dresses and ties can help raise money to assist victims than I am all for it! Today's dress is actually the second part of my last refashion. The original denim dress had enough fabric to make a second refashion.

This dress was a refashion dream because the possibilities were endless.  

I had the entire skirt to work with. I wanted to make a jumper dress that I could layer over shirts and tights. I spread the skirt on the floor and planned out my jumper. I made the hips too curvy and had to correct that later.

I found a couple extra buttons inside the dress and put them to use. I had to add them to the bottom of the button placket to keep my new dress closed at the hemline.

I used some of the extra fabric to make shoulder straps.

My new jumper was simple and easy to wear with anything.

Thanks for reading along. Check out Dressember.org if you can.

Dressember Dresses; The Denim One

 Hello Readers. I am refashioning dresses this month to help raise awareness about human trafficking. Being an advocate with the Dressember organization means wearing dresses (Or ties!) It is a simple way to call attention to human trafficking, forced labor and modern slavery. Dressember gives an estimate of 40 million people in these situations worldwide. I do not know how to end this problem so I am trying to help people who do know more and are able to assist victims directly.

I tried to look beyond first impressions with this denim dress. It was sturdy, strong and well-made. It was extremely full coverage and I hated it. It was just not my style. I liked the fabric and that little touch of corduroy at the collar.

I immediately saw that the top would make a cute denim jacket. I cut the top of the dress off the skirt. My jacket was almost done already. It just needed a finished hem. I didn't want to turn the cut edge under and stitch it down. That would make it shorter than I wanted. I finished the cut edge with blue ribbon. I stitched it along the bottom edge.

Then I folded it down and stitched it to the jacket again to make it lay flat. It is a bit longer and hides the cut edge perfectly. 

Did I make a dress? Well, no. I made a jacket to wear with a dress. It's cold where I live and layers are important.

What about that skirt? I will tell you all about that one next time. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Dressember 2020; The Blue One

 Hello Readers. I love supporting Dressember and the work that they do. I am part of a team raising money to fight human trafficking by wearing dresses or ties everyday of this month. I like wearing dresses and....

If I need to do a lot of physical work and ladder climbing at work I will wear a shirt and tie that day. That's me! 

 

This sweater was too big and this dress was too small. They seemed to match really well though.

 I decided to cut the top of the dress off and use the rest as a skirt. It even had a waistband already built in. I could remove that waist tie off and my new skirt was ready to go. It had a great A-line shape that I really liked.

 What would I do with the sweater? I would make a top of course. My skirt needs a top. I used this t-shirt as a pattern. This sweater belonged to my hubby and it needed to be a ladies medium.

 I also shortened the sleeves and the body of the sweater by folding it up onto itself and making a new seam. I removed the excess fabric.

 I made the sweater more narrow and shorter so that it didn't cover up the skirt.

 I used that waist tie to dress up the sweater a little.

I liked the end result. The skirt has a high waist and the sweater meets and covers my stomach. Unless I lift it up so you can see the skirt better.

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.