Sheath Dress for Dressember

 Hello Readers. I have been wearing and refashioning dresses all month in honor of Dressember. This is an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor. They estimate there are more than 12 million child victims right now. Dressember works to get victims out of these situations and help them recover. You can go to Dressember to learn more.

  I like to collect vintage patterns and use them when I can. This plaid dress was fun to make and taught me to never use this kind of gauzy material again. We live and learn, right? 

Plaid for the holidays? Sure, why not!

 

Pattern 4598 from Pattern Service NYC. This pattern is pretty old and I have never heard of this company but they are still around.

 

This fabric has been in my sewing stash for a while. My daughter bought it and never used it. (She said I could use it for this dress.) The red caught my eye because it looked a little Chistmas/festive. 

 

The reverse side of the red was this bright blue. I really liked that color so I switched it up and made a blue dress.  

 

This gauze-like plaid was annoying to work with. I didn't realize how much it would fray until I was in the middle of making this dress. I was determined to finish this dress no matter what. It was kind of a pain in the neck but I hat unfinished projects. I cut out my pieces. 

 

 I put the front and back together. I put it on my dress form to get a feel for how it would look. This material was soft but somehow still stiff. It was weird. I barely had enough fabric to cut out the pieces. I decided to just push through and make this dress no matter what.

 

The fraying was crazy! 

 

I made the hem.

 

I put in the zipper.

 

I really liked that blue! Thanks goodness I was done and it was wearable. Some projects do not go smoothly, that's OK. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 ***Year End Update- I am glad I pushed myself to finish this. I love the blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another Sweater Dress for Dressember

 Hello Readers. It is Dressember season. What is Dressember? They are an organization that works to fight human trafficking. Dressember's focus is advocacy, prevention, intervention and empowerment of victims. $40 can give a child everything they need to go to school so they can make a future for themselves. Things like a uniform, books, supplies, school fees... $75 can give a family what they need to start a small business for themselves so they can provide their own necessities and live in freedom. Go to Dressember to learn more.

Let's look at a dress I refashioned and wore in honor of Dressember.

 

Before and after.

 

This dress was ... fine. It was soft and comfortable but I just felt like it was dragging me down. If I was tall and slender maybe this would look better. But I am short and lumpy. This isn't a great style dress for me. I need a shorter length and a more defined waist. 

I can make that waist and "shorten" the dress at the same time. I can add elastic to make a waist. I planned to sew the elastic around the inside of the dress. I can use the color blocking as a guide for where to sew the elastic. 

I stitched the elastic to the inside of the dress and stitched right where the colors changed. Following the color line will make my new waistband straight and even. I used a zigzag stitch and tugged on the elastic gently as I stitched.

The new waistband changed the shape of the dress so much. 

Close-up look at the gently gathered waist.

Thanks for reading along, I know this is a busy time for everyone. I hope you are having a peaceful, restful, happy December. Holiday stress is real, but I hope you can avoid it. 

***Year End Update- This is a simple dress but it is so easy to wear and layer to stay warm in winter.

Sweater Dress for Dressember

 Hello Readers. I am still refashioning and wearing dresses all month in honor of Dressember. What is Dressember? They are an organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor. Just $15 can provide internet access so that a victim can receive after-care counseling where ever they are. 

Let's talk about one of the dresses I refashioned and I am wearing this month. It was a sweater dress made from a natural fiber I had never seen before.

 

Before and after.

 

This sweater is made from baby alpaca. (They just shave the wool off, no baby alpacas were harmed in the making of this sweater dress.) Alpaca wool is very good quality and warm as can be... like it's super warm... like too warm... I am too hot... I can't wear this dress. I start to over heat every time I put it on. I was going to pass out, but I had an idea.

I decided to open up this sweater. It is going to have a new life as a long cardigan. To start, I cut the sweater right up the middle.

It looked like this. Would that cut edge fray? I wasn't sure.

 

 It didn't seem to be fraying at all but I wanted to be sure it wouldn't fray over time. 

 

I used my serger on that edge. I started at the hem and went up one side of the opening and down the other. I used black thread so it would blend in.

 

When you use a serger it leaves threads hanging off the at the end of a seam. I used a needle to tuck those threads under the stitches inside the sweater. This will keep it all nice and neat.

 

Here is a look at my new cardigan. 

 

Does this still count as a dress? I love it either way. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 ***Year End Update- I have worn this many times as a sweater to stay warm this month.

 

 

 

 

Plaid Dress for Dressember

 Hello Readers. I am wearing and refashioning dresses all month to participate in the Dressember fundraiser to raise awareness about human trafficking and forced labor. Dressember estimates there are currently over 1 million victims in the US. Female and young victims are more likely to experience violence as well. It is too huge of a problem to ignore and there are ways we can all help. Go to Dressember.org to learn more. 

 

Before and after.

 

I grabbed this plaid flannel shirt at a clothes swap. This was a men's XL. That was just big enough to make a short dress. 

 

First, I cut the sleeves off and saved them for another day. I was just making up a plan as I went along.

 

I cut the shirt under the arm holes. The bottom of the shirt will be the "skirt" of my dress.

 

I cut a front/back piece with straight open sides. I was starting to get a clearer idea what I was doing. 

 

I removed the pocket from the front. I unpicked the stitches carefully so I did not rip the fabric.

 

I serged all around the edges and turned them under to stitch them down. 

 

After I stitched the edges down. I liked my open sides but I realized I needed to connect the front and back with something so I could attach the skirt all around. You can see the little pieces pinned in place here. The skirt will get sewn to the bottom of this.

 

Close up view. This is a piece of fabric folded in half. It's about 4 inches long. 

 

I serged the edges of these little waistband pieces and then stitched them to my new dress. 

 

I put the right sides together and clipped the skirt in place. I wanted the buttons in the center front and I wanted the skirt gathered evenly all the way around the dress. 

 

When I was done attaching the skirt it looked like this from the side. That little side piece is really necessary.

I love this little dress over jeans. I felt like modern Mrs. Claus. (HO HO HO!) I think I will make another dress like this when I can. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

***Year End Update- This was cozy and I added pockets a few weeks later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(P)Leather Dress for Dressember

 Hello Readers. It is Dressember. I am wearing and refashioning dresses all month to help raise awareness about human trafficking and forced labor. Dressember helps victims escape and recover by assisting with housing, counseling, legal aid, job training and more. You can learn more at Dressember.org

 Wearing dresses all month isn't difficult. especially when one of the dresses is this olive green pleather dress. I found this at a clothes swap. It was brand new with tags and I thought it was fabulous. 

Leather? No, Pleather.

I loved the dress and the pleated skirt was amazing. It seemed a little too long on me so I knew I would shorten it. The more I looked at it, the more I thought I would like the top as a jacket. It would make a great light-weight jacket. That meant it was time to start cutting. 

I was really afraid I would mess this dress up but I tried to be brave. I cut the top of the dress off. There was a little waistband between the skirt and top. I kept the waistband attached to the skirt. The pleather had a bit of stretch to it. It allowed me to pull the skirt on and off easily. The material did not fray at all so the waistband of the skirt was done.

The skirt needed to be shorter so I cut off about 6 inches. The skirt of the dress was originally not hemmed. It was just a raw cut edge. That made it easy for me. I measured and cut it  carefully. I folded the cut portion of the skirt over and onto the skirt to make sure I was cutting the same length. I left the cut edge of the new hem just like it was originally.

The top needed something to finish it at the waist. There was no snap or any closure at the waist.  Luckily the dress had a sash/belt to tie abound the waist of the dress. I had to use that finish the jacket somehow. 

I thought I could sew the belt right on to the cut edge of my new jacket. It would look nicely finished and I could tie it in front of the jacket to close the jacket at the waist.

I was afraid that this pleather would stick to the presser foot. I thought it would be a battle to sew this. It was fine. This was so easy. I was so nervous and anxious about it and it was all for nothing. I made sure to leave the ends of the belt hanging in front of the jacket evenly so I could tie them closed when I wore this jacket. 

I liked how the tie at the waist worked out. 

Look how great the stitches turned out!

Look at my smooth neat stitches! I tried to sew right over the stitches that were already on the belt. This material was so much easier to work with than I thought it would be.

 

I love them as a 2 piece sort of suit. The shorter skirt looks good with the jacket.

 

I wore the skirt over a denim dress because it's Dressember, not "skirtember". I am not much of a rule follower but I will try to wear dresses as directed this month. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

 

 ***Year End Update- I love this and it is a new favorite. The jacket is great alone and so is the skirt.

 

 

Sheer Lace for Dressember

 Hello Readers. I am focused on refashioning dresses all month in honor of Dressember 2023. This organization works to fight human trafficking and forced labor. According to Dressember there are 50 million victims worldwide facing this situation. Trafficking is present in every country. Dressember.org has more information about how you can help fight this issue wherever you are.

 This is my first dress refashion for the month. I loved this blue color and the lace was so pretty. As pretty as it was something was missing though. 

Before and after.

The lace was see through and the skirt was lined. But the top was not. The top seemed like an important part of the dress to line for me. Maybe I am super conservative but I need more coverage in my tops. I had an idea though. I have seen sheer dresses over jeans and a t-shirt and thought that might work. 

 

I decided to cut the skirt lining out. I cut it out close to the seam so fraying wouldn't be an issue. 

 

I went casual to see how I liked it. 

 

 I could also dress it up. This dress was really fun and wearing jeans under it made it easy to wear and still do all the things I had to do that day. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

***Year End Update- Y'all I ripped this dress the day I wore it. I haven't had time to fix it yet.

 

Dressember 2023

Hello Readers. It is December 1st, 2023. The first day of December is also the first day of Dressember. Dressember is a charity organization that works to fight human trafficking and forced labor world wide. They work with victims to help them recover and start over. I will share more information all month.

I have been participating in this since 2017! The idea is to wear dresses (Or ties!) all month. Why dresses? Statistics show women are much more likely to be victims of human trafficking so we wear dresses to remember them. If dresses are not your thing you can wear a tie each day.

It is fun to join a team or do this with some friends. I like to refashion clothes so I will be refashioning dresses all month as well as wearing them each day when I go out. You can come back here to the blog to see the refashion details and you can follow my daily dress wearing on Instagram. If you want to join my Dressember team, I would love to have you. You can learn more about my team here. 

***Year End Update- I wore and refashioned dresses all month. Thanks to all who donated.