Sunday, April 19, 2015

Sunday Sew-Day: Floral Follow-Up

On Thursday, I shared with you my collection of refashioned floral dresses. Today, you get to see how a couple of those started out and how they got where they are today. The black and red number has been hanging in my refashion closet for a while now. I believe it came from a clothes swap, though I can't recall for certain. The navy and turquoise leaves set me back $3 at the thrift shop down the street. As you may surmise from the 'before' photo, it was missing a few buttons in... key areas.

Rockabilly Refash - BeforeIsland Style - Before

Let's begin with those little red flowers, shall we? The collar and cherry-esque print brought to mind a 50s rockabilly style, so I thought I would run with that. Instead of simply trimming the bottom and rehemming, I decided to chop out the middle section and use the wider bottom piece to make a fuller skirt. I made sure to salvage the buttons from the middle section too and add them to my button stash.

Rockabilly Refash - In ProgressRockabilly Refash - In Progress

I also used my seam ripper to open up the back darts and remove the waist ties. Then I stitched those darts back up again.

Rockabilly Refash - In Progress

Next, I put from bodice and skirt back together, lining up the button bands, side seams, and front and back darts. Since the skirt was wider, I had extra fabric between each of the pins, so I created little pleats in each section to soak up the extra width.

Rockabilly Refash - In ProgressRockabilly Refash - In Progress

Finally, I stitched the two pieces together, first with a straight stitch and then with a zig zag to minimize fraying. You could serge the edges instead, if you have a serger.

Rockabilly Refash - In Progress

And that was that!

Rockabilly Refash - AfterRockabilly Refash - After
Rockabilly Refash - After
Rockabilly Refash - AfterRockabilly Refash - After

Did I go too fast? Need another walk-through? Okay, sure. So we cut out the middle and salvage the buttons.

Island Style - In ProgressIsland Style - In Progress

Pick out the back darts and remove the waist ties. Re-sew the back darts.

Island Style - In Progress

Take in the sides of the bodice, if necessary.

Island Style - In Progress

Reattach the skirt, pleating as needed.

Island Style - In ProgressIsland Style - In Progress

If the original buttons stopped high enough as to be indecent when the skirt is raised, then top-stitch the button bands together below the last button.

Island Style - In ProgressIsland Style - In Progress

Use the buttons salvaged from the midsection to replace the missing buttons, and you're finished!

Island Style - AfterIsland Style - After
Island Style - After
Island Style - AfterIsland Style - After

And that's how you go from 90s frump to vintage flair.

Rockabilly Refash - Before & After


Island Style - Before & After

4 comments:

  1. Perfect ! Perfect choice of execution and Perfect outcome ! Carissa, you are so accomplished at these refashions and you have such a good eye for what should be done.

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    1. Thanks, Linda! Things don't always pan out as I imagine them, but then, sometimes they exceed expectations!

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  2. I missed it in the big post with allll the floral dresses and Chucks, but that Green belt with dress #2 is just brilliant!

    JJ
    www.dressupnotdown.blogspot.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, JJ! I love a brightly colored belt with a breezy little dress!

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