I like re-working things in my wardrobe. I like it a whole lot because in a few hours you can completely change up half of your wardrobe.

So I had two things I didn’t want anymore: a pink striped polo shirt from when I was 15 and a dress my mother bought me that I liked the skirt part but not the top. I don’t think I have before photos of them but oh well!

This is the dress, to get to this point I chopped off the bust and up. It was kind of cream beaded crochet and majorly ugly but the skirt part is cute and floralish:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

To get the polo to this point I cut off the white trimmings and the sleeves to give myself as much plain material as I could to work with:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

After thinking about it for a while I layed out what I wanted the finished product to look like. Top part stripes and bottom floral:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I measured how much fabric I needed for the bust part and cut the shirt like this:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I then found the center of the fabric and put a pin in once for a seam allowance and a second one a few cm up from that.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Then threaded a needle…

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

And did a running stitch up and down the front to the second pin.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Pulled it nice and tight and you’ve got a gathered front 😀

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Next! With the skirt right side out and the top bad side out I put it over the skirt like this:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

And overlocked them both together. Turn it right side out and bam you’ve got a dress!

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I can’t wear strapless clothes so I decided to add straps with the left over fabric…

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

I measured the length and over locked some strips into tubes.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Sewn in place:

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

To make the waist more fitted and therefore more flattering on my figure I stitched a small piece of elastic around the middle at the seam.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

By stretching the elastic while I was sewing I ensured a nice snug fit.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

Lastly I added a couple of bows with the left over fabric.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

And then with a left over strip I made a little circle of fabric which could be used either as a matching hair bow or a belt to add another detail to the dress.

Pink Dress Recycling Tutorial

All up it probably took around 30 minutes to do, I cleared space in my wardrobe by turning 2 things into 1 and I have a pretty dress ready for summer 😀

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Only thing left to do is wear it out 😀

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Nice and bright to try and get me in a more summery mood!

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