by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 13, 2011 | Clothing-Tutorials, Craft, Tutorial
This is another dress re-make I did a while ago ^_^ Originally I bought this dress at a thrift store for like $8 and I loved it to death because it was super comfy as well as being nice and cool for Summer. Unfortunately there are only so many times you can repare something so when the strap broke for the millionth time I took it as a sign it was time for a re-make. Then I left it sitting in my sewing pile for 2 years because I’m lazy.
I still love the skirt part, looks especially good with big dramatic heels, so I chopped off the top.
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I picked out some nice stretchy white cotton and used a singlet I knew fit well as a template.
I cut out two pieces like this:
I overlocked the sides and around all the raw edges.
Next it was sewing the two pieces together.
Done:
As you can see there is a fairly noticable colour difference between the new fabric and the old, such is life unfortunately but after giving the whole thing (minus the coloured parts at the bottom) a nice dunking in some bleach it all matches again. I have also been considering dying it a completely different colour but can’t decide which one! |
Anyway back to the actual sewing part…
I used some eyelet lace to edge the top section on the sides:
Then after measuring the length I used the eyelet lace as straps and for the front section edging as well:
Taadaa:
So that’s it! Another nice comfy dress saved and reworked to something more current-wardrobe friendly ^_^
And here is what it looks like on. Zombie dress rises from the dead to live again!!
I haven’t bleached or dyed it yet but once the rain lets up I think that’s my next project ^_^
Hope you enjoyed the remake ^_^
by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 12, 2011 | Clothing-Tutorials, Craft, Tutorial
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:
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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:
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:
I measured how much fabric I needed for the bust part and cut the shirt like this:
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.
Then threaded a needle…
And did a running stitch up and down the front to the second pin.
Pulled it nice and tight and you’ve got a gathered front 😀
Next! With the skirt right side out and the top bad side out I put it over the skirt like this:
And overlocked them both together. Turn it right side out and bam you’ve got a dress!
I can’t wear strapless clothes so I decided to add straps with the left over fabric…
I measured the length and over locked some strips into tubes.
Sewn in place:
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.
By stretching the elastic while I was sewing I ensured a nice snug fit.
Lastly I added a couple of bows with the left over fabric.
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.
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 😀
Only thing left to do is wear it out 😀
Nice and bright to try and get me in a more summery mood!
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by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 11, 2011 | Hair, Hair-Tutorials, Tutorial
There are just some days when dressing up awesomely is out of the question. Lack of time, restrictive dress codes or just a lack of motivation can all be killers but sometimes it’s good to just relax and take a beak from it all. Because I work from home I spend most of my time inside behind a computer with not much contact with the outside world so I live in roomwear a lot of the time! On days when I’m not going out or have client meetings at a ridiculous time in the morning I like to do this style because it takes 2 minutes to do but is still cute and can be jazzed up with the right accessory. Also it’s good for summer because your hair is off your neck!
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What you need:
- Brush
- Hair tie
- Cute accessory, I’m using a bow
- Bobby pins
Pull your hair up like this with your thumbs
Hold it up and grab the ends:
Here you have two options depending on how round and fluffy you want the end result. You can either roll the ends under so it goes in a big cylander (super fluffy) or fold them under like this:
If you choose to fold it backwards then you can skip the pins altogether and hold it in the hair tie when you make the original ponytail. That doesn’t work for me anymore though because my hair has too many layers so I have to use pins.
 Either way hold the ends in place with one hand…
Then pin them in place!
Once it’s secure fluff it all out to the sides and hair spray if you need to. The back should look like a much neater version of this:
From the side:
And the front! Big and loopy and a nice change from a standard bun ^_^
Start by tying up your hair in a high pony tail.
If your accessory is on a hair tie like mine then add it now too, if it’s on a bobby pin you can do it later. |
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