March 10, 2011

DOUBLE-HEADER FRIDAY: Dress Re-Style (third time’s a charm!)

Posted by Lori~

OK….to tell this dress re-style story in its entirety…I must go back to WOM-filled weekend where Ethne and I purchased some gems at the local thrift store that were inspiring!  We saw dress re-style potential (remember Ethne’s muumuu).
UN-FLATTERING!

Notice my hot pink dress….this was to be my first crack at it…however the pink re-style was a TOTAL DISASTER.  Let’s just say…a glass of wine, a mini fight with my husband, and a pair of crafting scissors put the pink dress in its place. I am not really sure what came over me…but out of some sort of sacrificial statement I felt the need to destroy the dress with a pair of scissors.  That’s right!  Dress number one…DONE!

Remnants of dress one DISASTER!


Now onto dress re-style number two.  I purchased this 80’s style midnight blue and black number at my local salvation armory. 

I NEED TO MAKE A MAJOR QUANTUM LEAP!

 
It looked inspiring and I saw so much potential—so much potential that my friend Reagen created an inspiration board for me. 


The inspiration was INSPIRING...the dress not so much!


But there was one problem…the dress didn’t fit!  My advice to anyone looking to re-style is to pick a dress that is too big….not a dress that is too tight, uncomfortable, and already completely unflattering.  (Steve said the dress fit perfect…it accentuated the positive and covered-up the negative (or what I would perceive as negative).  Notice:  the bubble skirt!  Dress number two…DONE!  TOTAL FAILURE!

Now onto dress number three…well, it isn’t actually a dress. It is a shirt that went with a dress.  That’s right, back to WOM-filled weekend!  For some reason the thrift store in Ethne’s big city, MN town sold dresses with two pieces separately and not at the most reasonable price for two pieces.  So I opted to purchase the jacket instead of both pieces (I apologize to the person that would have liked the jacket that went with the dress). 

 
NEEDS A NEW LOOK!
This shirt isn’t bad…possibly a little outdated but the style reminds me of something that my mother (aka Crafty G-Ma) would have worn several years ago (I call it the elementary school teacher look). 


What is up with that slit?

After much debate (notice the crazy slit (meant to be there) in the back of the shirt)…it was decided that I would chop this shirt up…that’s right!  Reagen I looked at this shirt perplexed and came up with the decision to create a “shabby chic” scarf out of it. 

So the scissors went to town…I started by cutting off all the buttons (these would be used on the scarf). 
CHOP!  CHOP!
 I then cut the fabric away from the lining, cut the sleeves off, and cut 5 inch strips.  From there I cut the strips diagonally (some were large, some were small—I wasn’t going for even steven at all).
 
Semi-even cuts..but not a big deal!
 I then stitched them all together creating a long scarf.  From there I sewed a basting stitch down the middle (a gathering stitch) and gathered the scarf up.

Using my retro-singer (courtesy of my grandma!).  It works slick!

simple sewing project
 
Last but not least, I attached four buttons to the bottom of one end of the scarf.  Voila!  COMPLETE!  Finally…a re-style that worked!  The best part of this restyle is that literally I used almost every inch of fabric, every part of the shirt! 
my "shabby chic" scarf
Now, some people may not be super crazy about this “shabby chic” scarf…but what a thrifty way to create a fashionable scarf out of a thrift store find.  My co-worker Cathy wasn’t lovin’ the scarf and referred to it as elegant slime (she was confused and meant to say “shabby chic”), but I think that statement says it all.  She didn’t love it, but that’s OK…different strokes for different folks.

I would love to hear feedback on the scarf, but please (pretty please) be positive and constructive.  I do plan to do many more re-styles in the future! 

3 comments:

Melisa said...

I would have never thought to make a shirt into a scarf! You ladies are so clever. I think it has the perfect poof! Love you gals! ♥

WOM-MOMS said...

Hi Melisa:

Thank you for the comment. I had NO IDEA that I could make a scarf out of a shirt...until I purchased THAT shirt! I like it too.

www.wom-mom.com

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful and delicate looking. I happen to love that color and think it could be worn a great deal!