What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. ~ Martin Luther

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Sew Crafty Friday: Dress Makeover

It is ALMOST Friday, in a few hours...so I am going to post my Sew Crafty Friday project now, before bed. I have some free moments~ the children are all nestled, snug in their beds and the husband is out in the garage bottling some homebrew. Since I am accustomed to going to bed at the same time as Mattie, I have some time to kill.

My project for this week is one I am really excited about. At the start of winter, I was shopping at the thrift store when I spotted this dress. Nicely made, corduroy, and in a very quaint style. It is hard to find non-sleezy dresses once you get into 'girls' so you gotta snatch 'em up when you can. Only problem was-I hated the drab color. I am not a gray kind of girl-especially when that is all there is! It lacked pizazz.



AND-it's previous owner decided (for some unknown reason) to cut/rip a slash in the front of it. That slash probably hindered many potential buyers but it was actually the thing that made me WANT to buy it. Why? Because when I saw that slash-I saw new potential! I liked the look of the slashed asian-esque v-neck. So I bought it and tossed it in my to-do/mending pile.



The other day I brought it out hoping to get Corynn into a new dress this winter. She doesn't have too awful many cute ones. I found a GREAT fabric and began the make-over. Here is how it turned out:


I love it! So does Corynn. She insisted on wearing it through the house for two days straight. The skirt twirls really well and the matching purse has been filled, dumped, and refilled many times. Only problem? She SWIMS in it! Her skinny little arms look like the scrawny sticks popping out of a snowman. Alas. This dress will have to wait until next year to be worn. She was devastated!

Here is a re-cap of what I did to jazz it up-and break up the awful monotony of gray...


I bias-edged the neck and formed the rip into the design, making it a cute and trendy V shape.


I pleated the edging of the skirt. First time I have pleated edging. I don't know if there is a science to it or not. My unromantic tool of choice was a butter knife. I folded the fabric over the butter knife every two inches.

I added a sash around the waste and tossed the old, crusty corduroy belt that was on it before. The sash is a huge improvement.

Then, I had just a bit of pleating edge left so I decided to use it to make a small purse to go with it. As you can see, I love my new sewing machine and am having LOTS of fun with all the neato stitches!

The handle of the purse was just a single crochet chain. I wanted to add beads to the sides and let Corynn do that part of the job. She chose coordinated colors-and then added a few jingle bells too! I wonder if that will thrill her when she is eight and can actually WEAR this thing?!? :-)

For more Sew Crafty Friday entries, visit Sew Crafty Friday.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

How adorable!!! You need to put this stuff on Etsy, too! What a beautiful knack for sewing you have. Wish I did.

Anonymous said...

What a great job and so creative. I am sure she will love it as much next year. She can always wear a heavy sweater under it and wear it around the house a bit this year. Sleep well! Good night. :-)

Kelli said...

That is an amazing makeover, Rebecca!! I LOVE pink and brown together and the fabric you chose is so happy and perfect!! I can see why Corynn wouldn't want to take it off!
Hugs,
Kelli

Mrs. Hurzeler said...

You did a fantastic job. Just wonderful. Corynn will be so blessed to wear this dress next winter. Hope you had fun making the adjustments. God Bless.

Bonnie said...

How cute! I would probably have passed it ovet too, with the rip in it, but now... great idea!

Terri said...

That turned out so cute. I love it!

Terri

Full of Grace said...

This turned out beautiful...You turn the mundane into exciting! You are a very talented woman...

Tracy said...

It looks wonderful!

Reviekat said...

What a great job! I love the colors you chose as well as all the neat additions - the pleated edging on the bottom is my favorite!

Shereen said...

How very exciting is this!! Oh, the buttons, you did something to the buttons as well, right? I never would have pictured a beautiful dress out of that first picture. I hope Corynn grows into it soon. I can imagine her disappointment. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

How totally awesome! I love what you did to transform drab into fab. You did a great job. What a wonderful idea to use thrift store finds and making them designer clothes. I hope that your daughter will be able to fit into it soon. You know how fast kids grow. Thanks so much for sharing.

Anonymous said...

You have such a creative eye....I would have just passed on the dress...but you made it so cute!!

Crystal in Pahrump

Mom2fur said...

It's gorgeous! You're so clever! Now I'm wondering, if Corynn wore a heavy sweater under it, would it fit her then, like a jumper?

Rebecca said...

I thought of the sweater but too. Since it is corduroy with no sleeves, it was meant to be jumper style anyway-with a turtleneck or something. Right now, adding a sweater would help the armhole problem but It would still look frumpy on her. And the pleating would reach just above her toes. She could get away with it, but she would look more like a ragamuffin. I might let her do it once or twice, though, just because I enjoy seeing how excited she is when I create something for her...

Shereen~you are very observant! I forgot to mention that I covered the plain white buttons with smaller, coordinated pink and purple buttons. Thanks for noticing the details!

Thanks everyone for sharing in my enthusiasm over the dress. It is always much more fun to create when there are people to share your creations with! :-)

Gena said...

You did a great job! That is so creative and it looks just beautiful. I, too, love the pink and brown combination.

LBP said...

Wow! What a fantastic job! I bet she'll be in it before you know it!

Blessings

Linda

Charree said...

I really like your makeover, you really brightened it up. It is so precious. I really like the button on top of button idea. I never thought of doing something like that before. You did a great job!

Liana said...

The dress is TOO cute!
great job!

Mom2fur said...

Well, she'll grow into it. And it's a classic design, so it won't go out of style if it takes a few years.
I'm glad you like the dress I'm working on! I actually cut the real fabric today for the top part. It's a much darker and prettier pink. Now I have to find fabric to match for the skirt part.

Dana said...

Adorable! What a great idea!

Blessings--
Dana

Mrs Abbott said...

Rebecca,

I love it! It is sooo cute!

smilnsigh said...

You are sooooo talented!!!!

Mari-Nanci

Carmichael Family said...

Rebecca, that is adorable! You turned a plainish-looking dress into something quite classy and colorful! It will look darling on Corynn when she grows into it.

Abigail said...

I love this. I'm coveting it, actually. Wonderful job! Where did you find that marvelous fabric?