Dress Refashion

So I found this cute little dress at Wal-Mart. I was just passing through the clothing department and it grabbed my eye. I thought it was a cute little summer dress. When I got home and tried it on, it was a little short for my taste and a little plain.


So I dug through my scrape fabric stash and had just enough of some zebra print to add a little length.

The top of the dress has a cute lace around the neckline. But the waistline was missing something. It needed an additional touch too.

I just so happened to have enough fabric to make a belt as well. I didn't make it long enough to tie in a bow, so I formed a cute little flower instead. I think it turned out so cute.

And the final look. (Please excuse the unmade bed; I like to procrastinate!)

My only problem now is it has shrunk a little since I've washed it. So it's still a little short, but we will see if it will work.

Happy Wednesday!

T-shirt refashion into girls skirt

This is super easy to make and super cute! I can't wait to see this on my niece (I know I always say that, but I really can't wait). My mom gave me a trash bag full (seriously, a full trash bag!) of t-shirts. So I have a lot of refashioning to do!

I love working with t-shirts because it doesn't fray; makes my life so much easier.

Start out measuring the little princess, waist and length from waist to knee. Add an inch to the length (my elastic was 3/4" and I added 1/4" for seam allowance), and measure from the bottom of the shirt up. This way you can use the original hem for the bottom of the skirt. Cut straight across the shirt.

Turn the shirt inside out. Fold and pin the cut edge an inch, don't worry about the cut edge, it won't fray. Sew around the skirt leaving a two inch gap for threading elastic through. Attach a safety pin to one end of the elastic and thread it through. Make sure the other end does not get pulled into the tube!

Overlap the elastic about an inch and pin it in place. Stitch the opening closed and sew from top to bottom of elastic to hold it in place. I also sewed from top to bottom on each side so the elastic won't twist.

That's it! Your done! I told you it was easy!

Now it's time for the fun part. You can leave the skirt as is or you can embellish it. Embellishing is always fun! I cut out another strip from the t-shirt, about 1 3/4" wide and 8" long.

This was my biggest flower. I cut the other two flowers smaller because I didn't want them all to be the same size. Now, adjust your sewing machine stitch length to the longest possible. Fold the strip in half and sew along the raw edges, do not back stitch. When you reach the end, make sure you leave some extra thread. Starting at one end, pull on one thread until the fabric starts to gather. Form the strip into a flower shape and attach to the skirt.

How cute is that!?!

You can also do frilly strips of fabric instead of flowers. The possibilities are endless! Now I have to go make some more!

My First Re-fashion!!!

After looking at other re-fashion projects, I started looking through my closet. I found this skirt that I probably only wore once, and that was the Thursday before my wedding to our wedding kickoff party/surprise birthday party for my parents. I am proud to say that it still fits (or did before the re-fashion!). So I saw this in my closet:

And immediately thought of the super cute Kirstin skirts. Like this one found here. And by the way, I can't wait to make one of these too.

So with that inspiration I created this:

Too bad my adorable neice isn't here to model. It is not very different from the original and is not as bunchy as the Kirstin skirt, but I think it will be adorable on her. I removed the zipper from the back and sewed it back up. I added button holes (my first time doing those and I was pretty impressed!) and made a hem for the ribbon to go through. I can't wait to see it on her. Kris, its coming your way soon! I want to see pics!