Altering Vintage Without Damage

Hello Readers. Hello Readers. It is time for the annual Dressember Fundraiser. What Is Dressember? They are an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor in the U.S and all around the world.   Since 2013, Dressember advocates have raised over $20 million to support International Justice Mission (IJM) and its partners. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month in honor of this mission. You can learn more at Dressember.org

 I found this fabulous red dress at a local charity shop for $1. I didn't realize it was a dress at first. I thought it was a long skirt. When I got home I realized that the dress was a vintage dream. The color and the style were so fun.

Before and after. 

Look at the amazing one-sided cape? Big open sleeve? Let's just call it a sleeve. This sleeve is so long on me. It covers my hand, I can't push the sleeve up in a way that will stay. I wanted to fix it but did not want to damage the dress or change it dramatically. Vintage is so fun because it is different than what you find at stores today. I didn't want to ruin it by making it something it wasn't.

I had an idea. I could use some matching satin ribbon and tie up the dress. 

I gathered the sleeve at the top where the shoulder seam was. The was very sheer and delicate. I didn't want to sew or pin it because it would leave pin marks and possibly damage the fabric. 

 

This fabric was thin so it was easy to pinch it all together at the shoulder. I made it into a little pile of fabric right on top of the shoulder. 

 

I used a piece of ribbon. I slid the ribbon under the shoulder of the dress and pulled the ribbon ends up and over all the gathered sleeve fabric. I didn't need much ribbon to tie around the gathered fabric, only about 5-6 inches. I think matching the color was important though. I am actually going to hide the ribbon. If it was a different or contrasting color to the dress, it would be much more difficult to hide.

 

I tied the ribbon in a knot to keep it all together. Just a basic double knot, nothing fancy. But look at the long loose ends of ribbon. That is not good, I want that hidden. 

 

I carefully cut the extra ribbon away with some sharp sewing scissors. I didn't want those ends showing. I made sure not to cut the fabric of the dress. One snip and the dress would be ruined because that sheer fabric would fray a lot and quickly. 

 

I wanted hide the ribbon if I could. I am going to use this pin that I had on hand. (It means happiness.) Any pin would do, a special holiday pin would be fabulous to wear at this time of year. 

 

I positioned the pin so that it would be under the ribbon but NOT through the fabric itself. I wasn't sure if the pin would leave pin holes if it went through the fabric itself but I thought it would. I didn't want to damage the fabric at all. The ribbon will hold the pin in place and the pin will hide the ribbon nicely.

 

These tags cracked me up. There was a tag in back of course but there was also an extra tag so I would know where the front was. They were helping me get dressed.  

 

The pin stays in place and hides the ribbon. That is just what I wanted. The gathered fabric is out of my way but it is still loose and flowy. I liked the new shape. 

 

That's it for me. I need to find a dressy holiday party to go to ASAP! Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dressember Dresses; The Maternity One

 Hello Readers. It is time for the annual Dressember Fundraiser. What Is Dressember? They are an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor in the U.S and all around the world.   Since 2013, Dressember advocates have raised over $20 million to support International Justice Mission (IJM) and its partners. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month in honor of this mission. You can learn more at Dressember.org

Edited & Updated -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 (53). 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. (I added it at the hemline and wore it as a belt.)

 

(I really love dressing up for the holidays.) Thanks for reading along, and Merry Christmas if you are celebrating today.

The Tie Dress

  Hello Readers. Hello Readers. It is time for the annual Dressember Fundraiser. What Is Dressember? They are an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor in the U.S and all around the world.   Since 2013, Dressember advocates have raised over $20 million to support International Justice Mission (IJM) and its partners. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month in honor of this mission. You can learn more at Dressember.org

 I have been wanting to make a dress out of ties for at least a year. I have been collecting ties at every thrift store and clothes swap I have visited. I am wearing dresses all month but you can also wear ties. Sometimes dresses don't work for you or your daily activities but maybe a tie would work. Today I am wearing both at the same time. 

A fun dress made of men's ties.

I have been collecting ties from thrift stores and clothes swaps for a year or so. I also took a couple from my husbands closet. (Shhh... don't tell.) I gathered all the ties I had on-hand and spread them out on my sewing table. I tried to scatter the colors and designs to get a lot variety from the arrangement. I didn't want striped patterns next to striped patterns or plaid next to plaid. I used 24-25 ties all together and tried to mix the colors all around as well. 

 

I wanted to sew the ties together. I wanted the wide ends sewn to the wide ends and the narrow ends sewn to the narrow ends. I put the ties with the right sides or the front of each tie, facing each other. I sewed the sides of the ties to each other using my serger to start. I broke so many needles that I switched to the sewing machine. You can use what you like but I think the sewing machine was better for this project. 

 

I sewed tie after tie together like this. This took a little while. When the wide ends of the ties are all sewn together and they will make the bottom of my dress.

 

All the wide ends of the ties will make a great A-line shape for the skirt of this dress. It wasn't difficult to sew but as I sewed, the ties got heavier and heavier. This piece is the back of my dress. It was 11 ties wide. I had to hold it up to myself to see if it was wide enough. I ended up adding another tie just for some extra breathing room. The ties are all different sizes. Some are wider than others. You will need to check your measurements and measure how wide your ties are when you sew them together.

 

This is the front of my dress. I made 2 separate pieces and clipped them together in the center of the skirt to check the fit. I wanted to check the size of each piece together. When I put them on my dress form I could see that one side was more narrow at the shoulder and added a tie to that side to make it even in width. I sewed the center seam of the skirt together and kept the low v-neckline. I can wear a shirt under it, this made it easier to make the dress fit and not need to be perfect in the waist and bust measurements. 

 

I put a long zipper in the skirt on one side. The zipper connects the front and back pieces. I sewed the zipper to the front of the ties, one at a time.

 

This is a look at the inside of the dress where the zipper is located. I used light thread so it would show in the picture. The front of the zipper is sewn to the front of the ties. The sewing is hidden in the dress when it is worn. 

 

I sewed the other side of the dress by connecting the front piece and the back piece together with the ties facing each other. Now I had a dress shaped piece.

 

This is a look at the back of my dress at the shoulders. The ties were much taller than I needed for my dress. I cut the narrow ends of the ties off so that the top was at my shoulders. I used sharp sewing scissors to cut through all the thick ties. 

 

I pulled one side of the front of the dress to the back. It came over the shoulder at an angle and I cut it so it matched where the back piece was cut across the top. I wanted to sew the front to the back across the cut edges.

 

I used my serger to connect the shoulder seams. The needles kept breaking so I moved to the sewing machine. 

 

The sewing machine worked much better. I broke a couple needles on my machine too. The ties are thick and the whole dress was a bit heavy to sew through but it was worth it. 

 

The front and back are sewn together across the shoulders and all the raw cut edges are hidden inside the dress.

 

The dress fit the dress form well, but the side of the dress stuck out a bit. 

 

I wanted to put in a tuck to make the front of the dress fit better at the sides. I folded the edge to see how much needed to be removed. 

 

Here is a look inside the dress. I folded the side of the dress where I wanted the tuck and sewed a narrow triangle. This will make the side of the dress fit much better.

 

I cut the tuck out because the material were so thick. It was too lumpy to leave there in the dress. 

  

 I sewed along the cut with a zigzag stitch to keep it from fraying. Over time it would get more and more frayed in the dress.

 

The tucks made the bodice curve along the bust and fit nicely. 

 

There was so much color and pattern in this dress and I didn't want to wear a shirt that distracted from my fun tie dress so I thought a black shirt was the best. Thanks for reading along with this project, now go make something fun for yourself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun For the Holidays

Hello Readers. It is time for the annual Dressember Fundraiser. What Is Dressember? They are an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor in the U.S and all around the world.   Since 2013, Dressember advocates have raised over $20 million to support International Justice Mission (IJM) and its partners. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month in honor of this mission. You can learn more at Dressember.org

This refashion was a fun dress for Christmas. Want to be an elf? I've got an idea for you.

It started with these leggings. Leggings that were covered with the cutest ginger bread people you could imagine. I thought they were super cute and fun.

And really comfortable too.

I also had a big red sweater dress to go with the leggings. This would be a perfect match for the leggings but it was a little plain.

I made a little ginger friend out of felt and sewing notions in my sewing supplies.

This was easy to put together and yes, I wore this to work.

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

And Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating today.

The Most Versatile Dress Ever

  Hello Readers. It is time for the annual Dressember Fundraiser. What Is Dressember? They are an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor in the U.S and all around the world.   Since 2013, Dressember advocates have raised over $20 million to support International Justice Mission (IJM) and its partners. I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month in honor of this mission. You can learn more at Dressember.org

Hello Readers. Let me show you the most versatile dress I have ever seen and worn. It's fun, it's cute, and it's easy to wear.

  This sleeveless red denim dress is so versatile! (Similar here.) This sleeveless style is so classic, it works for so many seasons. It is casual, but not too casual. The styling possibilities are endless. Let me show you what I mean.

  

Just a note, if you need to alter a sleeveless dress you might want to keep the fit a bit loose. If the dress is very tight or very fitted, it limits the options you have to wear the dress with other clothes. I had so many ideas and outfit plans for this dress and some of them required some extra space in the dress. 

This dress is great all by itself. I liked it as it was. The style is simple and clean. The fabric was cotton and felt like a lighter weight denim. The sleeveless top is perfect for hot summer days. The light denim has enough body that it doesn't cling to any lumps or bumps. That makes it really flattering for a lot of people. It fits well but I have room to move around easily.  

If it's colder outside (And it is!) I won't want to wear it by itself. I added tights and a long sleeve t-shirt under it. This extra layer under the dress would be warmer. The dress fit on top of the shirt well and looks just as great as it did alone. And the light denim doesn't cling to the tights. I didn't need a slip or anything like that. (I hate nylon slips. They always feel itchy. That might be a me problem but I thought I would point it out.)

 

Let's imagine it is REALLY cold out. December is really cold and wet and windy where I live. I added tall boots and a thick heavy pullover. That will be nice and cozy on a cold day. The collar on the dress works well with the neckline of the pullover. The boots will keep my legs warm. This is a good winter outfit for me.  

Getting dressed with a dress this versatile the different styling possibilities are fabulous. Thanks for reading along, now go style up something fun for yourself. And stay warm out in that cold winter weather.