Dresses

Animal Print Dress Refashion

December 15, 2014 By Mary Peterson 4 Comments

Hello Everyone!

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Sometimes it really is as easy as you think! Check out this after! Her you see it with my leggings and ballet flats ready for work, but I have also worn it with boots and jeans! I love it!

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It started out as this very unfortunate yet once expensive dress by Carole Little. It had a horrible handkerchief hem!

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All I had to do was cut off the awful bottom and 1/4″ top stitch a new hemline and I was ready to go!

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Look for Part 2 of my winter coat series this weekend!!!!

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’til then…

Love ya,

Mary

So-So Maxi To Fabulous Caftan Style Top!

November 25, 2014 By Mary Peterson 21 Comments

Hello Everyone!

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I am loving this comfortable printed caftan style top that began it’s life as a baggy busted maxi dress!

Here is the offending dress. You might not think it looks too bad, but trust me when I say that the fun print covers up a lot of sins in this picture. The pleats on the bodice were too deep and the bustline too low. When you put it on it looked like someone blew up the bodice with a bag of air. Not pretty! See how I saved it below.

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Step 1) Cut the bodice from the skirt

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Step 2) I put the bodice on my dress form and put the pleats at a more fashionable number and depth so the bodice would not poof out like a balloon.

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Step 3) I sewed the pleats down to keep them from shifting when I put the skirt back on.

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Step 4) I attached the skirt back onto the bodice at a more flattering tunic length after taking out some width. That way the top would lie flat across my stomach. In addition, I also raised the bustline to empire length. No more puffy bustline!!!! Yay!

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Let me know what you think!!!!

“til Later

Love Ya!

Mary

Chiffon and Silk Refashion

November 11, 2014 By Mary Peterson 26 Comments

Hello Everyone!

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Here is my latest AFTER without glasses so you can see my refashioned lashes, as well as this great blouse/tunic I refashioned over the weekend.

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I have been wanting to jump on this trend for a while now, and finally the perfect pieces presented themselves to me in the thrift shop. Below you see the two inspiration photos that got me thinking. I wanted to put these two ideas together in a way that works for my life. I love the chiffon see through pieces that have been appearing on different styles over the last few months and I believe I have married these 2 ideas in a perfect combination for me.

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Here are the two thrift shop pieces that made it happen. The first is a beautiful, lightweight, raw silk blouse. It was way too big, and I had already chopped off parts of the sleeves for another project

The second piece was a very ugly chiffon dress (bought strictly for the chiffon) with a printed branch across the waist YUCK!

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Here comes the tutorial:

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Step 1) First I cut off the sleeves and took out the 90’s shoulder pads.

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Step 2) I put the blouse on the form and fit my basic tunic/blouse pattern on the front.

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Step 3) Put the front down and cut. Put the fronts together and cut the other side to match.

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Step 4) Do the same process with the pattern on the backside of the blouse.

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Step 5) Sew the side seams leaving room at the bottom for possible slits in the side. At this time I was not too sure how long I wanted it to be.

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Step 6) Cut out sleeves from chiffon dress. Now I remember why I hated chiffon in design school. It is a very unstable wobbly fabric.

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Step 7) Cut a band the desired with for the sleeves and stitch it to the bottom of the sleeve.

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Step 8) Turn the cuff, press, pin and edgestitch the sleeve band

Step 9) Overlock the sleeve together and stitch on the sleeve cap to ease into the armhole.

Pin and baste the sleeves into place.

Step 10) I determined the length of my hem and finished it with a 5/8″ topstitch with 3 !/2″ side slits.

Let me know what you think!!!!

I love it and feel I am ready for any holiday parties that come my way!

‘Til Later

Love Ya!

Mary

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Maxi Dress/One Pattern Many looks Part 10

March 9, 2014 By Mary Peterson 17 Comments

Hi Everyone!

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I hope everyone is doing well this week. My family and I survived the torrential rains (Yuk! but we needed it). Now report cards (Double yuk!) and Spring Break (YAY!) are just around the corner! I am planning to have a real sew fest while on vacation, then rest up for the remainder of the school year.

I have not had much free time this last week so that is why my post is a bit tardy. Not to fear though, I have an offering for you now. This beautiful maxi (see below) might have been just the thing in my twenties and early thirties, but I don’t wear a bikini top ANYTHING these days. I am all for a cute dress, but I do like more of a sleeve and a less revealing neckline. Besides, I spend the majority of my week at work and I need tons of cute top choices for jeans.

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Here is the after…

This style is totally work appropriate, jean friendly, and simple. Remember, I am not one for fussy details. In this case the print does all of the talking and fussy details are not neccessary. I am also a border print junkie so this print is me all the way!

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Oh Yes! I made the necklace too… This one came from bits of chain from broken jewelry, beads from my collection, and a very ugly over-sized earring. Now it looks great as a necklace.

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Here I am huddling under the patio cover to hide from the rain. So hopefully you’ll forgive the picture quality. I can also see this styled with sandals and capri pants for summer. What do you think?

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Following is the tutorial:

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Step 1) I cut off the bikini top and a few inches from the hem. Always check the hem on maxi thrift purchases. They drag on the ground and can be quite ragged.

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Step 2) I chose my pattern that has made 9 past looks. All I had to do was add some length to the body and straighten the hem. When you cut a border pattern you must study it to be sure you place it symmetrically. I always cut the front, back and sleeves seperate in a single layer to make sure I match things up perfectly. Never cut border prints on the double.

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Step 3) Sew the side seams and set in the sleeves (not pictured)

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Step 4) Add bias tape binding around the neckline and sleeve hems. Stitch in the ditch to finish.

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Step 5) 1″ topstich the bottom hem.

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Before I go, I would like to give you the links to my friend Beth Huntington. She is the genius behind “Refashion Runway.” You may remember I was a contestant for season 1. Last week, BurdaStyle asked her to teach a live Web Seminar on refashioning on March 31. I will be there and I hope you will be too. She is so inspirational and a wonderful person as well. There is always something new to learn!

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Here is the link to thecourse description and registration:

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http://register.burdastyle.com/Course?CourseId=9000-51

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In addition, this is the link to her post about the seminar:

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http://chicenvelopements.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/mom-burdastyle-is-on-the-phone-for-you/

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You will not be sorry. She is awesome!

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Well that’s it for this week.

As always, I would love to hear what you think.

’til then…

Love Ya,

Mary

One Step Dress Refashion!

February 23, 2014 By Mary Peterson 12 Comments

Hi Everyone!

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Refashioning doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, sometimes the refashioning can be extremely simple… just a matter of one little change. This little dress is an example of that.

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It fit very well for the most part. It was just a little too tight across the back ribcage. I spent days conjuring up all kinds of fixes but never got started because my idea was labor intensive, (adding strips up the side seams) and I was loathe to get started. Then it came to me!

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ADD AN OUTSIDE STITCHED ZIPPER MARY!

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Here you see it pinned and ready to go up the center back.

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Below you can see on the inside view that sewing the zipper on the edge gave me at least another inch across the back.

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This kind of thing happens to me all the time. It is the reason why I always have quite a few projects going at the same time. Sometimes you just don’t feel the solution and you have to walk away and find something else to work on in the meantime.

As always, I would love to hear what you think.

’til then…

Love Ya,

Mary