The Black Beaded Skirt?

Hello Refashion Co-op. I found a skirt so lovely I decided to make it a dress. As a skirt it was just a little too big and long. I could have fixed the big but if I hemmed the length I would have ruined the beading.

I added some straps made of grosgrain ribbon. So far, so good.

I took in the sides of the skirt so it fit a little better. I took in a little more than this.

 *Small child playing net to the sewing.

I tuned the back zipper into a deep V and added a ribbon sash at the waist to give the dress some shape. I also closed up the slit at the bottom hem. It was too high now that this was a dress.

I made some wrong turns along the way but I was really happy with the end result. And no beads were harmed in this refashion. For more pictures and details go to I Can Work With That.

Tie Dye Maxi Skirt

Hi there! Remember me?! It's been awhile since my last post but I haven't forgotten about you my dearest readers! I have been busy creating, but I haven't been busy posting.
At the end of July our friend threw a Harry Potter themed birthday party for her boyfriend (also our friend) and we hosted this party at our house. Since this was a Harry Potter party, obviously I needed a outfit to fit the theme.

I already had a Harry Potter shirt that would be perfect for the hot weather, but I did not have a bottom to go with it.



I found this dress? In the dress section of my thrift store. I really was not sure if this was an actual dress or skirt but I wanted it to be a skirt, so a skirt it shall be! The shirt I was planning on wearing was a dark blue like this skirt.

My shirt was also a blue and black tie dye and I wanted to make the skirt match.
After I got done tying up the skirt with rubber bands in preparation for the tie dye process it basically looking like a blue octopus.

I actually used my washer machine dye process for this, instead of squirting the dye onto the fabric and waiting like the normal tie dye process. I think it worked out very well, probably because I was only using 1 color to dye.


This was the end result!


Then I just needed to make the skirt fit like a skirt. I took in a little from one side. The other side of the skirt actually had a zipper, so I was able to make it pretty tight. The way the skirt fit made it a high waist skirt, which was very cool!


The top and bottom together! I was super happy with the way this turned out! I also like how the skirt had a little train at the back, made me feel very elegant!

Happy Refashioning!!!

Check out my stash of refashions on my blog!

The Dingy Dress

Hello Refashion Co-op. I recently made a skirt from this dress. The bodice was not a nice bright white anymore, it had become a little bit of a dingy gray.

 

No one likes dingy, so I cut the bodice off the dress.

And I made a quick skirt with an elastic waistband.

I couldn't bear to throw away the colorful sleeves. I cut them off the dress too. 

I used them to cover 2 oatmeal containers. They will hold all my sewing scissors. 

Thanks for reading along, for more pictures and details go to I Can Work With That.

The Pro Bowl Shirt

Hello Refashion Co-op. I had a men's shirt that did nothing for me and a skirt that was long enough to be 2 skirts. I didn't like the outfit they made but I thought they had potential.

I cut the collar and the sleeves off the shirt to start.

I cut a little more from the front to remove the big logo.

I turned the shirt around and used the back as the front. 

I crossed the open back over itself and tied the shoulder straps so the V-neck fit well.

 The skirt just needed a quick hem. I'm not sure what to do with the bottom half yet.

 My outfit was finished. I liked the mixed patterns together.

Thanks for reading along, for more pictures and details go to I Can Work With That.

How to take in a skirt in 20 seconds

Most of my refashions lately haven't been "refashions," so much as quick and easy tailoring jobs.

But one of the quickest tailoring jobs turned out to be the most interesting, since it ended up introducing me to a new and super-simple technique for taking in a skirt! Here it is!

You start with a too-big, loose and flowy type of skirt:

Then you pinch the excess fabric at two points in the back, and sew just the very top of each pinched area!

As long as the skirt already had a lot of gathers to begin with, the new tucks are hardly noticeable.

Here they are "in the wild:"

Best of all, sewing each one only took about ten seconds, so this is my new favorite lazy-day tailoring technique! A full step-by-step is available on my blog.

Thanks for reading!

--The Unfashionista