Since dye week and Halloween weekend came to an end, I had to go out and snag a non-dye-needed piece to create for the day. I thought this dress would work perfectly for the day because there is a celebration to be had for my awesome brother/blog photog's birthday!

The ruffles remind me of layer cake so it just made sense...

I'm not going to keep this a dress, so I began by trimming off about 2/3rds of the mauve fabric that made up the skirt.

After adjusting the length, I got to the neckline because I was not in cahoots with the crew neck. This piece needed to be opened up a bit, so I trimmed a few inches down the center to prep for a V-neck!

After trimming, I pinned under each side to get the top ready for the sewing machine.

I sewed over the pins and tacked down the fabric at the neck.

As the piece was rather large still, I decided to use the extra fabric to make a handy sash to go around my waist. This was going to make a great belt to tighten the top up without having to do any size adjusting with my machine. One strip for the belt, the other strip for another bit of flair that you'll see in a few...

Outfit was ready to go partake in a little birthday celebration for the most fab brother around, my sib, DL. Tonight's menu?? Japanese BBQ!!

The sash went around my waist and a little rosette was made with the other strip!

Taking the other bit, I rolled the fabric around and around to create a little rose that I pinned to my sash! It was the icing on the soon to be nibbled cake!!

What was getting nibbled on next was some awesome pieces of chicken, shrimp and filet on our personal table grill!