Refashioning: Anime Graphic Dress

Here is another graphic added to an article of clothing refashion. I like this one a lot.

I bought this T-shirt years ago in Korea, but the bottom hem was coming out.

I got this dress from Goodwill.

Here is the problem with it. The grommets were coming out.

See? 

Cut the graphic out.

Spray adhesive time.

Okay....this was the annoying part. Because the graphic was kinda rubbery, the needle wouldn't do a zigzag (aaaaand Blogger just deleted my picture), so I basted it on.

Then I turned it upside down and zigzagged it that way....Following the basting.

Finished.

The End!

Refashioning: Pleather Skirt from a Jacket

I'm really excited to share this post with you!

So, I found this really cool pleather jacket for one of my friends. However, she informed me that she already had one almost exactly like it. I hate to admit it, but I was kind of excited, because I knew it would make an awesome skirt!

First, I lined up the front and back bottom hems and cut across the armpits. This part will be the bottom of the skirt.

Then, I cut a big trapezoid out of the top back of the bodice. This will be part of the top of the skirt.

And then I cut another trapezoid out of the front top of the bodice. This will also be part of the top of the skirt. I kept all the linings intact with the pieces I cut out.

I also cut out two rectangles of stretchy fabric for the sides. This will make sense with the next picture.

This is actually upside down, but I folded the pieces above in half and pinned them to either side of the trapezoids I cut out. (The picture shows that I unbuttoned the front piece, so I could lay it all out flat.

So, pinned together, this is what the top of the skirt looked like:

I sewed up the sides.

You will notice that it is gapping pretty badly at the waistline. Time for draping and pinning!

So, I pinned it and sewed it down. It lies much better now.

I like how the stretch fabric almost looks like a racing stripe. Notice that the bottom hemline is all wonky. I cleaned that up with scissors before moving to the next step. Also, if you do this project, and if you "got back" like me, make sure that the back hemline is slightly lower than the front, so that the skirt hangs nicely.

Then, I pinned the bottom of the skirt on and gathered it by doing little pleats in specific and symmetrical places: two in the front, two in the back, and one on each side.

I sewed it together. I think it's interesting how it makes a very unique skirt, but you can also see the remnants of the jacket. For instance, the front pockets are still there, and I kept the button placket intact as a means of getting in and out of the skirt.

Instead of hemming the top hemline, I finished it with lace binding. (Not pictured: I added two black snaps between the gaps in the front buttons to keep it from gaping when I sit.)

So, I found I could wear it a few different ways. This is with a sweater tucked in.

This is with a sweater un-tucked.

And you can wear it like a skater skirt when you fold the top waistband over.

The End!

Simple Alterations for a Dress with a Gathered Skirt - Red Lace Dress

Remember when I made this Dolce and Gabbana inspired red lace dress? Well, ever since then, I try to be on the lookout for lace dresses. I got the one below from Goodwill for a dollar!! (Can you believe it???) It's obviously too big, so this blog is about how to do simple alterations to a dress with a gathered skirt.

First step is getting rid of those horrid armhole ruffles! They were actually sewn right in between the top layer and interfacing, so I simply cut them off, cutting really closely to the seam without snipping the important layers.

As you can tell from the picture above, the dress is just too wide for me, and the skirt is a tad long, making the dress look frumpy. 

There are several ways to go about altering a dress like this one. You could cut it apart and dart it and reattach the skirt. You could sew a seam from the arm hole to the bottom hem on both sides. I chose the method below because this dress has two layers to every part (lace over top a layer of white).

The first step in alteration was to sew a basting stitch about two fingers down from the waistband onto the skirt. This was primarily to keep the two layers together, but would also help me re-gather the skirt later when I reattached it.

A close-up.

In case it was too hard to tell from the pictures above, you can see the line I stitched onto the skirt here. (I'm pointing at it.)

The next thing I did was to cut right in between the waistband and the basting line I just stitched.

Here it is completely cut apart. See how important it was to baste the skirt before cutting? It stayed together in one piece this way.

Next, I sewed seams on either side of the bodice from the armpit to the waistband. I would have actually darted the bodice, except there is a little bit of elastic in the waistband and darting it would have made the waistband pucker weirdly.

Then, I trimmed the sides and overcasted the side seams.

Then, I grabbed the loose ends of the threads I used to sew the basting line and pulled at them and worked the fabric around until the skirt waist was the same size as the bodice waist.

Then, I pinned the bodice to the skirt, right sides together, and flattened the skirt back as much as possible to add a second row of pins. This second row was to help me as I sewed to keep the skirt gathers out of the way of the machine needle as skirt gathers like to pucker and jam in sewing machines.

This is after sewing and then overcasting the skirt to the bodice.

Then, I trimmed the excess fabric away from the waistband.

I look kind of gross here. It was the end of the day and I didn't feel like reapplying makeup!

It fits better now!

The End

Modification: Turning a Girl Scout Park Ranger Style Dress Into a Cute Jacket

If most of my posts live by the credo, "Make Lemons into Lemonade," then this post lives by, "Make Really Sweet Lemonade into Lemonade that Works with My Body Type." In other words. . .I really regret that I don't fit into this dress, but. . .it is a size 2, so. . .I guess it's understandable!

I just really love all the weird angles and design details. It looks like a girl scout/forest ranger from the future. Can you believe I got it from a thrift store for only 20 cents??? And it still had the tag on it! I guess I'm not the only one that it's a little tight on. . .

So anyways, this was another item I tried to sell on eBay only to get no takers. I didn't want just to give it away because it's so stinkin' cute! I really didn't want to cut it apart, but I knew I wouldn't be able to wear it otherwise. Well, I sucked it up, took a big breath, and started cutting:

As you can see above, I followed the diagonal of the waistline with my cutting. In other words, it comes down to a point in the front and the back and is higher up on the sides of the hips. This design gives the would-be jacket an edgier sort of retro/futuristic peplum. I also harvested the bottom seamwork, because. . .someone did just such a great job on it, I couldn't bear to see it go in the trash.

Here are some close-ups. I'm really proud of how it turned out. It looks like it was always supposed to be made this way!

I'm ready for a cameo in Moonrise Kingdom Part 2!

The End!