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.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Denim Dress to Jacket

 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. The focus is on rescue and restoration of victims but also prevention programs to those at-risk. $15 can pay for an online counseling session for a victim to begin healing. Please check their website for more information about all the work they do.

I love anything made of denim so let's look at this simple denim dress. 

Before and after. 

 

This is a basic pull-over style shirt dress. There wasn't anything wrong with it but I wanted an open long jacket.
 

I cut the dress open down the front. I made sure to cut right down the center. That would open the dress and I could make a long jacket.

 

This ribbon was part of the next step.
 

I sewed blue grosgrain ribbon to the cut edges. This would help stabilize the fabric a bit. 

 

I turned the ribbon in and...

 

 In again.  I stitched it down again. That would make the cut edges look nicely finished. 

 

My new jacket is nice over a dress. Or even other jeans. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

***Year End Update***- I have thrown this over several outfits already. Love!

 

 

 

 

Vintage Gold Sequins

  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. Trafficking and forced labor is a $236 billion business worldwide. Advocates wear dresses or ties all month to raise awareness about this issue.  I will be wearing and refashioning dresses all month. Visit their website to learn more about the work they do.

 Let's talk about vintage clothes. They're fabulous. The end. See you next time. Just kidding. But I really do like vintage clothes. This beautiful dress was waiting for me at a Goodwill store in Pennsylvania. 

 Before and after. 

This little tag is how I knew it was vintage. This little beauty was from Pittsburgh. 

Here is a good example of what can happen with vintage clothes. They can get damaged. They have lived a whole life before they found there way to me. Think of the parties this dress went to. I originally wanted to remove thye skirt and make pants. Then I was going to reattach the pants to the top and I would have a fabulous jumpsuit. That wasn't going to work because there were a few more damaged spots. 

I had to cut off about a foot of fabric. It was time for Plan B. That made the fabric too short for pants but it would be great for a shorter cocktail dress. 

I turned the edge under and made a new hem. 

I used my iron very carefully to press the new hem. Vintage fabrics can be fragile. 

 I shortened and hemmed the lining too. 

 

Look at this fun dress!

 

I liked this beaded jacket with it. I would love to wear it to a fancy holiday party. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

***Year End Update***- I will be going to Studio 54 ASAP!