Standing looking in to my closet I thought to myself "I am not wearing a couple of these dresses..............perhaps I can "revamp" them". Taking them out on their hangers I hung them on a door and stood back and for a couple of days thought about just what I wanted to do to them.
I hope you'll stay with this LONG post as I know it begins wordy but there are photos too. It needed explaination.
The first dress is long and although I did like it the fact it was ALL white made it appear almost like a casual wedding dress and so it wasn't worn much. It was a dress (like all 3 of them - purchased some time ago at Ross....all three actually white). All turned out to be the same label (which I had not even noticed before........Speed Control NY). All were gathered with elastic under the bodice and in the back from part way down.......it was the elastic parts I knew would be the first to go. 2 of the 3 were shorter dresses, both with embroidery (one on the bodice and one on the bottom).
Armed with a seam ripper I painstakingly removed each tiny elastic strips sewn in rows and then removed the stitching that held it. This took a lot of time so old classic movies on TCM kept me company while I set out removing all of the stitching on all three dresses. I tried to iron and steam out all the tiny gathering that resulted from the stitched in elastic.
The next step was to think about what I wanted.......color of course. Perhaps some embellishments with fabric and stitching as well. So I began with the long white dress and not using any kind of dye I chose to use fabric paint instead...........Dye-na-flow and others. I knew it wouldn't be an even job but that was fine with me. The dress had inset triangular pieces so I decided to play that up on the front of the dress, completely redo the bodice as well. But first the color to start........I hung it on the line and after it dried completely I actually hosed it off, yes with a garden hose and let it dry again. The blue came out in various hues, it was not my intent for a tie dye look so variations were fine. I decided I wanted the bodice green, a sort of lime. So once again with fabric paint that is what I did.....I painted it as well in those insets. On the back I added a panel of fabric and once again with the paint added color....it came out sort of uneven but again, I didn't mind. I added fabric around the bottom and when the hosing off began I realized "uh duh, it was going to run in those areas..." but I truly didn't mind. This dress was meant for fun, a real representation of me and whatever happened it no longer looked like a casual wedding dress but a whimsical bohemian one. I didn't even think about it when it was done that the colors were the same as the messenger bag I'd already made.
I did not take a "before" photo......I just wasn't thinking. Anywtay, here is the result of the long dress when I was done with it. Even though it's meant to be a sundress I will wear it with a jean jacket and maybe a tank under it in the fall/winter. That's how I roll.
I should have ironed it first.....oops.
Above is the bottom of the dress front....there are a couple dark spots that happened but oh well. I sewed fabric along the inset (dyed with the paint), added the "flowers" at the top of each one and a triangle at the bottom of each inset. I added fabric all around the bottom hem.
I added a fabric strip over the seams above the insets and then embroidered X's.
This is the bodice front. I added all the embellishments you see as well as fabric underneath othe bodice. Keep in mind again, this dress was ALL white before I started.
This is the upper back. I removed the elastic but left the stitching on this part. As you can see the green and blue ran down but I it doesn't bother me. This was once ALL gathered with elastic down to the end of the stitching you see below the fabric I added.
This is the full back. Once again you can see the mottle blues.
And here is the full front.......
The SECOND dress, once again I didn't take a before photo (what was I thinking?) It was ALL white as well, had the elastic "smocking" and embroidery on the bodice. I used the fabric paint to do varied colors of reddish/pinkish on the whole dress. I then added the fabric under the bodice and over the straps (it was black and white but I changed the white parts to match the dress). I then made all the embroidery on the bodice black so it stood out.
the back is very plain and the colors look a bit bright in this above image for some reason.
I also sewed fabric around the bodice edges.
I wore this with black legging-like pants under it over the weekend....they aren't tight fitting ones and it can also be worn over jeans. It's not real short so you might not think it looked ok with either of those under it but it does.
The final one..........well that was more of a disaster of sorts.
I removed the bodice all together because it had these ruffly bits on the front and well, I just couldn't fiddle with all that. So I removed the remaining elastic from the bottom, chose a top I had......cut the bottom off the top and sewed it to the bottom of the dress. It was a disaster I won't even show you. AND the bottom of the dress was supposed to be black but....well........it's now grey. It had embroidery on the bottom front so I just embellished over it. Right how it's a bottom without a top and is a work in progress. I don't mind the mottled grey if I can find the right top.
So there you have it............what I've been up to and what can result from standing in front of ones closet bored with what you see or not wearing certain items for one reason or another. Why get rid of it if you can revitalize it? Right?
Sorry for the long post, this is what happens when posts go so long in between. AND I thank you if you actually read it all!! Thanks for stopping by, I'd love to hear from you, especially if you've ever "redone" clothiung you already had!!
XOXOXOXOXO
