Frankendress

Three garments that I couldn't wear became one that would:  That's a burgundy skirt for the main section (I knew it was too small when I thrifted it, but I loved the color, the beads and embroidery and fringe at the hem); part of a sheer sleeveless blouse for the yoke (I liked that for a while after I found it at a flea market, but one of the pockets got torn); soft printed cotton inserts below the armhole (can't see those too well here, but they're pink and floral).  Plus crocheted sleeves using whatever cotton was handy. 

Knit Wit

I was told by my midwife to take it easy and just cruise on the couch. That's not an easy thing for me to do, so I've been knitting. I found all of the patterns on Ravelry, but since you have to have an account (totally free and well worth the few seconds that it takes to set on up) to view the site, I've linked to the original location of the patterns.

 Pixie Baby Hat

 Baby Bonnet with Ears/Horns

Baby Bubbles Smock, Saartjes Booties, and DROPS Bonnet

 Lucille Cardigan and Bonnet

I've also finished Charlotte and Penelope's outfits for the open house that we're having in April. I wrote about the projects here and here a few months ago. The total cost of materials was probably around $15. The denim came from 2 clearance remnant bits, the lining was a donation from my mom (more than 15 years old), the lace was from a skirt I got in 8th grade (I'm almost 34, you do the math). I also used snaps, thread, elastic, hooks, and thrift store zippers, that I already had on hand.
 

McCall's 5791, a combination of views. The denim is not this dark in real life.

The jacket is View E from Simplicity 3513, and the skirt is McCall's 5461 (discontinued).

 

Blackwatch Baby & Delft Darling Dresses

Neither one of thee are spectacular or overwhelmingly complicated so I'm grouping them into one post.

This dress is actually a much darker, richer green, but for some reason it came outalmost like a teal in the photos. It's about an 18/24 month size and made of good old-fashioned velvet. I bought the dress at a thrift store about a year ago. It had a horrible crispy lace ruffle around the bottom and a HUGE ugly, stained white bib around the neck. I first removed both of those and the cut a new hem ruffle and a small stand up neck ruffle out of some plaid taffeta I had that is similar to the Blackwatch plaid. I hand sewed both ruffles onto the dress myself in a hotel room in Pensacola. LOL. I also hand hemmed the bottom ruffle. I had the plaid as a remnant for under $1 and the dress was thrifted for $1. Total cost of the re-do was about $1.30.

I call this dress the Delft Darling because it is white and blue like a piece of Delft pottery I used a 1970's pattern for the basic shape of the dress but made a few changes. Instead of one skirt, I made two skirts; I felt it added to the dutch look of the dress. I also gave it a stand up ruffle collar instead of a bib and I made contrasting cuffs on the sleeves instead of elastic on a single color. The dress is a small toddle dress, I'll have to dig up the pattern to find out exactly what the size is. One sleeve is NOT bigger than the other, it's just the way it looks in the photo because the wind was blowing it around. I hand sewed this entire piece at the hotel in Memphis. It's made from a pillow case (28 cents at a Salvos in NY) and about1/2 a yard of old $1-a-yard fabric I had laying around. The zipper is new and was about $1.30. The approx cost of the whole thing is $2.80. I plan to add an embroidered scene onto the over skirt eventually, either a design that mimics the fabric pattern or a small dutch pottery scene. It depends on how elaborate I want to get with it.

Jenny at Kerrfect!

Spring Fling Pillowcase Dress

I completely hand stitched this dress in a Residence Inn we stayed at in Memphis. I was bored and had brought some sewing supplies with me so I figured why not!? It's made from a 50 cent pillow case, about 10 cents worth of vintage lace from a thrift store and some green remnant fabric that I think cost me $1.20, but I only used about 3/4ths of it. The buttons were on sale at Jo Ann's about a year ago and were 20 cents. Grand total of approx $1.70. It's made from a 1960's pattern I had with me. I really liked the exterior fabric, The crisp white and bright flowers really got me. I simply cut the pieces and made it as the instructions said to. The only things I did differently was to add the lace trim on the dress and to substitute drawstrings in the bloomers for elastic. to do this all I had to do was to make the "string" out of the floral fabric by folding it over twice and sewing it down.




Jenny at Kerrfect!

$4.03 dress

So this dress started out as muslin for fit, but the more I sewed, the more I liked it!  I got the fabric for a dollar at a garage sale.  Pearl snaps were $2.70, zipper was $0.33, grand total was $4.03.  How's that for frugal?

Rather long-winded back story on this dress is on my blog.  I love how this dress turned out and can see myself wearing it often.

cheers!
Farah

Rosebud Pillowcase Dress

I made this dress from a pillow case I bought at a thrift store for 50 cents I think. The pillow case had a yellow cuff at one end and the main body was this white muslin with yellow rose buds. I used a vintage 70's patterns for the main dress shape, but I added the front ruffles, sleeve ruffles and other trim on my own. The lace trim was more thrifted vintage lace from a bag of various type that cost me $2, so I used probably 10 cents worth of that. The zipper is new and was $1.30. This makes the total cost of the dress about $1.90. I sort of had a mini-Marie Antoinette vision when I picked up the pillow case and examined it and so that's what I was going for here. I wish I had a little one to put in the dress so you could see it better but I don't It's a size 2 if I remember right. I made the front ruffles by folding strips of yellow over on themselves and sewing them down with a piece of lace over the seam, then while I was making the top half of the dress I just pined them on in a ruffled way and sewed up the seams, then I came back and hand tacked the ruffles down. I added the neck line lace and hem lace after the dress was completed. The arm ruffles were also added after the fact. They are the edge of the yellow pillow edge, folded just as they were on the pillow. I simple cut them larger then the arm holes, sewed up the under arm edge and ruffled as I sewed. The lace trim went on last to give the arm ruffles a more finished look.




Jenny at Kerrfect!

Yellow Rose Childs' dress

Here is another new dress I just put the finishing touches on this afternoon. This one too is made out of a vintage twin bed sheet I found in Memphis; it was $1.98. The vintage lace trim is also from a Memphis thrift store and cost about 30 cents. The buttons, chiffon for the sash, elastic, biastape and tulle for the petticoat are all new, but were things I already had (except for the tulle, it was on sale 50% off at Jo Ann's. The total cost of the dress & petticoat is about $4. I used a vintage 1959 Simplicity pattern (3413) in a little girl's size 8. I've found a pretty good way to make the petticoats I think, This one is slightly different than the one on the blue dress I posted earlier, but was much more simply made and seems to give me more poof. I've really lucked out with having just the right amount of trim for the dresses I've made so far! LOL. Hope to have some more stuff to post tomorrow as well.

Jenny at Kerrfect!

Lavender & Roses Dress

This is my latest completed project. The muslin I used for the body of the dress was a vintage twin sheet that I bought at a thrift store in Memphis for $2.50. The lavender lace trim on the neckline, hem and covering the belt buckle was also bought at a Memphis thrift store and cost me about 10 cents. The zipper and belt buckle are vintage, salvaged from old items. The only things that are new are the grommets and interfacing I used on the belt and the netting on the petticoat. I used about 2 yards which I just got on sale 50% off at Jo Ann Fabrics. The elastic and the ribbon I used for the petticoat were things I've had for a while, lol but they were used when I got them too. I'd estimate the total cost of making the dress to be about $5. To cover the buckle I simply wrapped the lace trim around it until it was completely covered and then I secured it with a few stitches. The dress is a child's size 8 and made with vintage McCall's pattern 5428 from 1960. The petticoat is of my own devising!

I am sorry I haven't been posting very much. I've been neglecting my own blog as well. I am trying to get into the local monthly downtown market as a vendor and I've been trying to build up and put the finishing touches on some of my items so that I can (hopefully) sell some of them and get more people interested in Upcycling items!

Jenny at Kerrfect!

A successful failure?

This is my first posting after reading this blog for quite a while. Finally, I've appeared in a picture, wearing a piece of clothing that I have made!

I found a really super comfy dress at our local thrift store, and I had to have it, since it had these really great blue and green hues. It is so comfy, and fits well, so I thought I'd try to copy it. Here it is:

My local fabric store had this great purple linen blend on sale for $3.50/metre, so I thought, hey, I'm not losing much if it doesn't work out! So, off I went, tracing sections of the dress in my haphazard sort of way. The waist is empire-style, with an elastic waistband. The waistband looked pretty blah, so I thought it needed a nice sash to cover it, and to give the dress a little pop of colour. The front and back, where they meet at the shoulder, didn't really.... meet.all.that.well. So, I wrapped the shoulders in turqouise grosgrain ribbon, and sewed on a turquoise button, just for the fun of it. (I even put the buttons on with my sewing machine! Yay for figuring that out!)
So, here's the failure side of it all: I think it's a bit short, the front gapes in the chest area (good thing I had good coverage with the camisole underneath!), and overall, it makes me look pregnant!!! Whenever I tryo something on in front of a mirror, I tend to stand tall, suck in and smile. Stuff always looks good when you do that! But 10 minutes later, out in public, my gut relaxes and the posture slips, and the empire waisted dress turns into a quasi maternity dress.

.....but it's oh so comfy. What's the verdict, continue wearing it, or file it under "fail"?

Dress & Cardi

Hello my people!! I haven't posted for a while, too busy fluffing about!. Have a whole heap of half finished bits and pieces and a HUGE stash of op shop finds waiting to be "reconstructed/deconstructed.

The crochet top (now cardi) is in the yummiest shade of cranberry. I cut it down the front and added a mens paisley tie that ive zigzaged and rouched till it made a lovely frilly type edge on the cardi. The photo isnt much chop coz my husband reluctantly took the photo (hes not talking to me because i got grumpy at him..............long story, we wont go there!!)

The other photo is my gorgeous friend Karen modeling a "work in progress" denim dress that was previously a pair of jeans and a mens tie. This will be in my Esty shop which is NOW OPEN!!!! arrrgggghhhh YAY!! fluffnnonsense.etsy.com CHECK IT OUT. xx Kel

Blue Summer Dress

I spent a couple nights earlier this week working on a new summer dress for myself. I wanted something flirty and comfortable to wear. I adapted the original pattern to have tiny little cap sleeves, raise the neck line, added a waistband and a ruffle on the bottom. I love how it turned out. Now if only it would warm up a bit more so I could wear it!

Grand total for this dress was the cost of a zip and thread. Can't beat that!

To see more pictures and read about the sweet story behind the material visit my blog here.

Cheers,

B

Why Hello There

Well Im a bit late on the introductions but better late than never.

Im Angie. Im a twenty something nursing student from Az. I blog at SewIThought.com

Here's my first project.

I got this dress from a thrift store a couple months ago for a buck. I liked the print but obviously it wasn't gona work without some real effort.

The drop-waist style added a bit of difficulty if I wanted to keep this as a dress so instead I cut it in half and made one elastic waist skirt and one sleeveless blouse.

Now I have two pieces that can be worn separately or together. Endless possibilities!!

You can see more on my blog. I am having a giveaway this week so come on over and add your input!!

Another Vest Dress

Yet again! another vest dress. This one is made from a vintage vest in black and silvery thread. Its got a lovely stretchy shirred waist. To this I attached a silk ruched skirt that has hankie hem. Both have the same diamond pattern on them and the skirt is lovely and swishy. Slowly but surely im getting some things to list in my etsy shop 'fluffnnonsense'.............watch this space!

Hello & A Dress

Hi, I'm Misty. I've been sewing for about 2 years now. I wish I'd started sooner since I love it!

The dress on the right (dark pink and sage leaves), I made by creating a paper pattern off the one one on the left. (Which I found at a garage sale.) I used fabric purchased at my local thrift store. Lucky me!

I think I'll do thicker straps next time. For more about me and my other "projects" please come visit my blog. Till next time, happy sewing!

Another Dress Recon

Hello again!

These dresses are becoming a regular thing for me! Whack something on the top of a skirt and VOILA! - Dress!!

THis one is still a work in progress. I bought the skirt at a car boot sale, i thought it was kinda interesting with its jaggered hem. You may recognise the top bit, its the leftover from the other dress i made. I was like......hmmm, what can i do with this leftover piece?! Then i remembered the skirt and kinda thought it might go together! The tie is a tie and also the tie around neck. im going to put some thin elastic around top to help shape and support the top a bit. What you think? Interesting??? any suggestions welcome xx

Vest Dress

This was a vest and long skirt with bottom frill and now a VESTDRESS with chenelle ribbon around join and added frock garnish of a detachable doiley flower. xx kel