Sparkly Gold Formal.

  Hello Readers. It is Dressember 2024. I am wearing and refashioning dresses all month to participate in this fund raiser. This organization works to help the victims of human trafficking in the U.S. and around the world. Currently there are an estimated 27million victims around the world. Most of these victims are women and girls. That is why we wear dresses all month, to raise awareness of this issue. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month. Visit their website to learn more.

 It's New Year's Eve. Are you going out somewhere fancy or staying home? I am probably staying in this year but with this sparkly dress, I will be ready for a spontaneous night on the town.

 Before and after.

This dress was so pretty. I found it at an unusual thrift store located in a warehouse. I was on a road trip and stopped in. It was a diamond in the rough. 

It was just way too long. Even my highest heels couldn't fix this. It needed to be shortened.

 

I gave this dress a big cut to shorten it. 

 

The original hem was a visible and wavy lettuce leaf hem. I wanted to recreate that. 

 

I set my stitches as close together as I could and I gently stretched the fabric as I sewed. That would give me the look of the original hem. 

 

My dress was shorter but what about the fabric I had cut off. Let's use it. 

 

I had this piece from the hem. What if I made a shawl or wrap to go with my dress?

 

I sewed the cut edges together with the right sides facing each other. 

 

 I always like to use all the fabric and this was a great use. When I go to my next formal party I will be ready. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black Corduroy

Let's look back at a past refashion I did in 2021 for Dressember.

 Hello Readers. It is cold outside and what is better in cold weather than corduroy. It is thick and warm. It's perfect right? I got this black corduroy dress at a swap and I knew it would be the makings of a great refashion. (And if you are counting this corduroy dress is the fifth refashion in honor of Dressember.org for this month.)

Before and after.

This dress wasn't perfect. It was shapeless and boxy. It didn't flatter me in any way. Honestly, it was pretty boring. That corduroy was really nice though. And black is always great. It goes with anything and no matter what your kid or dog smears on you it probably won't stain.

I cut the bodice off and separated it from the skirt. I kept the seam attached to the vest. That gave me a short vest and a big piece of fabric that was the skirt.

The vest seemed very short so I used a denim jacket to give me an idea of the length I would like. I knew I liked this jacket length so I knew it would be a good "pattern" to follow for lengthwhen I was making this new vest.

I cut some fabric from the bottom of the skirt so I could add it to the vest and make the vest longer. I used the center of the skirt so I could line up the opening and save myself some time.

I connected the additional fabric to the vest and I had the length I wanted. It opens down the middle, just as it should.

What about the big piece of fabric that was left over from the skirt part of the original dress? I wanted to make a skirt to go with the vest. I thought I had just enough leftover after the vest to make a new shorter skirt.

I didn't have enough fabric to make a casing so I had to sew the elastic waistband to the skirt and leave it visible. This elastic was not cutest but, it was black and I didn't have anything else I could use. I have been trying to avoid shopping all year and I have definitely run out of some supplies. 

The vest and skirt are much more fun and flattering than the old dress was.

My new corduroy suit is ready for wear. I really liked the new look. And I can break it up and wear the pieces separately too. It's like 2 for 1.

*Every December there is an organization that does a fundraiser to fight human trafficking. The organization is called Dressember. The challenge is to wear dresses or ties everyday this month to raise money. The funds go to help rescue and care for victims. This is a worldwide issue. Human trafficking is a billion dollar industry.  You can learn more at www.dressember.org

Dressember Dresses; The Giraffe One

Let's look back at a past refashion I did for Dressember in 2020.

 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Scrappy Christmas Dress

  Hello Readers. It is Dressember 2024. I am wearing and refashioning dresses all month to participate in this fund raiser. This organization works to help the victims of human trafficking. Currently there are an estimated 27million victims around the world. Most of these victims are women and girls. That is why we wear dresses all month, to raise awareness of this issue. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month. Visit their website to learn more.

Let's make a dress from some scraps.

 

Before and after. 

These wonderful over-alls were wide and very stretchy. That is how this dress was possible at all. 

 

I mean it was s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y.
 

I cut the bottom of the legs for my last project. 

I put the pant legs together with the right sides facing each other. 

I sewed them together. The Christmas design on the fabric is in all different directions so I did not need to make sure it was right side up. 

I basically made a stretchy tube dress. This is going to be tight and strapless.

It matched my coat dress. That would give some extra warmth on a cold winter night. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

Over-alls to Fun Dress

  Hello Readers. It is Dressember 2024 this month. I am wearing and refashioning dresses all month to participate in the fund raiser. This organization works to help the victims of human trafficking and forced labor. Currently there are an estimated 27million victims around the world. Most of these victims are women and girls. That is why we wear dresses all month, to raise awareness of this issue. I will talking about this issue all month to advocate for this cause. Visit their website to learn more about how you can fight human trafficking and forced labor where you are.

It is almost Christmas, let's make a fun Christmas dress.

Before and after.

These over-alls are a bit big but they are soft and Christmas themed. I loved them. I decided to make them into a casual dress.

I cut some length off the legs to get it out of the way. I saved those scrap pieces for later. I will show you what I made with them tomorrow.

I cut the center seam out to open up the pants. 

I turned the over-alls on their sides. 

I cut the pant legs into a skirt shape in the front and back. 

I stitched those new seams together. 

 

 I hemmed the bottom of the skirt as well.

I made a small opening on the inside so I could make the elastic waistband smaller. 

I pulled the elastic waistband out and cut off about 3 inches. 

I sewed the elastic ends together. I tucked it back into the opening. 

I sewed the opening closed to keep it all together. 

 

My new fun Christmas dress is ready to wear. It's perfect for this time of year. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

Happy New Year! 2025

 Hello Readers. I am wishing you a happy 2025. May it be full of peace, love, joy, fun, and health for you and your loved ones. 

like to look back every year and see what I got done and comment on how it held up over the year. I will add a note at the bottom of all my 2024 posts so you can see what I thought too. 

As always, thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

Chickie

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.