Upcycling!
So, this weekend I forced some friends to go thrift shopping again with me (why so much? I'm going to a fancy dress party on the 5th, and I need a fancy dress!)
One of the non-fancy dresses I found was this gorgeous black and white print. The problem? A big pretty much non-fixable tear in the center of front of the dress, with a matching one in back. Still, that meant that I got it half off, for less than three dollars!
The skirt was constructed with a pretty structured waistband and the inner lining was divided into a top half and a bottom half. It looked like it would be pretty easy to turn it into a skirt! I started picking out stitches Saturday afternoon, and I was done by 10:00 that night. I hadn't even noticed the zipper when I bought the dress, but I had to pick the whole thing out.
I tried a double folded hem for the waistband, but I really thought that that made it too thin for the pattern. So, It's just a single fold hem with a zigzag stitch. Not the prettiest, but it will be covered with a blouse most of the time, anyway. I reused the zipper, dropping it down to where the skirt starts, and planning to cut it down to size after installing it. I actually forgot, because this turned out to be the best zipper installation I've done to date. Not pretty enough to take a picture of, but I was so excited that I forgot to sew on the hook and eye and cut down the zipper before taking a picture of it and washing it!
So, here is the completed skirt, a two day project. It's a bit longer than I usually like, coming to just below my knees, but any shortening would ruin that gorgeous pattern! I can't wait until it's warm enough to wear! In fact, I wonder if I could just wear it tomorrow with my new black sweater and some warm tights...
(Now if only I could figure a way to fix the lovely sweater I also bought, but didn't notice the big hole in...)
One of the non-fancy dresses I found was this gorgeous black and white print. The problem? A big pretty much non-fixable tear in the center of front of the dress, with a matching one in back. Still, that meant that I got it half off, for less than three dollars!
The skirt was constructed with a pretty structured waistband and the inner lining was divided into a top half and a bottom half. It looked like it would be pretty easy to turn it into a skirt! I started picking out stitches Saturday afternoon, and I was done by 10:00 that night. I hadn't even noticed the zipper when I bought the dress, but I had to pick the whole thing out.
I tried a double folded hem for the waistband, but I really thought that that made it too thin for the pattern. So, It's just a single fold hem with a zigzag stitch. Not the prettiest, but it will be covered with a blouse most of the time, anyway. I reused the zipper, dropping it down to where the skirt starts, and planning to cut it down to size after installing it. I actually forgot, because this turned out to be the best zipper installation I've done to date. Not pretty enough to take a picture of, but I was so excited that I forgot to sew on the hook and eye and cut down the zipper before taking a picture of it and washing it!
So, here is the completed skirt, a two day project. It's a bit longer than I usually like, coming to just below my knees, but any shortening would ruin that gorgeous pattern! I can't wait until it's warm enough to wear! In fact, I wonder if I could just wear it tomorrow with my new black sweater and some warm tights...
(Now if only I could figure a way to fix the lovely sweater I also bought, but didn't notice the big hole in...)