Friday, March 18, 2011

Evening Gown Turned Tutu

I am attending a friend's birthday party tonight, the theme: Tutus.

Although I have quite a collection of costumes, I had no tutus. My daughter (a lively 3 year old with a love of all things frilly) has 4 tutus, they won't fit me... unless I wore one on each thigh that is -- so headed to the thrift store in search of anything that could work...

I am a dedicated follower of the Slow Fashion movement and try to limit my clothing consumption to only sustainable, secondhand, and re-fashioned pieces. Like many other contributors here, the thrift store is my go-to for clothing, accessories, materials!

I really lucked out when I found this beautiful girls size 12 bride's maid gown:


It was practically brand new, and only $5! Although it was not a tutu, it had 2 yards of netting underneath its full-length layers. Instead of just harvesting the netting (and saving the excess for another project later) like I had originally planned, I decided to include some of it in the design: like the front petal opening and convertible straps...

Here is the finished tutu:

I used the lining, netting, and some of the exterior fabric along with some elastic that I'd saved from an old pair of leggings that lost their stretch (and were subsequently transformed into leg warmers). My favorite detail are the two little roses I made from some of the extra material and the ties made from the straps -- style details I took from my daughter's tutus.

Tonight I will be sporting this evening-gown-turned-tutu to the birthday party. I just know it'll be a hit!

You can read more about my Slow Fashion obsession at www.SlowFashioned.com!
~ Jessica

7 comments:

Huli said...

Love it!

Trudy said...

What a wonderful idea. It's gorgeous.

jessica said...

The parts that you salvaged really make this an unique and beautiful tutu! gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

I love it, love it, love it! And so would my tutu-wearing little one! Hope you had a great time at the party.

Refashion said...

The waistband detail is really nice too. Any plans to make something with the rest of the dress?

Bryony
EOD

Bean said...

I could see this as a funky cocktail skirt, great job saving that dress, it is a beautiful colour!

Slow Fashioned said...

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments!

Update: I had a great time at the party, everyone commented on the tutu & have been commissioned by the birthday girl to teach her to sew and help her with some costumes in the future. Which will be so much fun!!!

The scraps are going to make a great 3T size version for my daughter but I am having a hard time finding tulle that matches the wine color (since I used all the tulle that was original to the dress).