We're in the thick of summer and all the warm weather recreations that are getting sent in are making me very happy!! I want to have a little sew afternoon with you guys to create new pieces to wear in this glorious warm weather!! We might have to get on a workshop train to make this happen :) Check out Kimberly's amazing piece...
Hi Marisa! I love following your blog--you are a fabulous inspiration. I've been remaking clothes I find at the thrift store for a couple of years, but I had to share with you this dress I wore to a friend's wedding. I work as a corporate flight attendant and as an instructor, I get to interact with all the flight attendants at my company. I was telling a group of flight attendants in my class about my sewing hobby and a couple of weeks later a lovely woman and friend sent me a beautiful silk dress to redesign. I call my creations "alterKTions" because I often go by my initials (kT).
I loved the beautiful fabric and I couldn't wait to wear this to my friend's wedding in Austin, TX.
The dress was a little bit too big, and very 80's chic, but I saw some promise in the fabric and the beautiful opalescent buttons! I hiked the waistline up to my chest and then decided that I would use the button placket to make straps. I cut off the top from the waist up, leaving the button plackets and I finished the seams, sewed the plackets criss-cross in back, and used the leftover fabric to make puffy, fabric flowers to cover the straps in the back. The dress simply buttons up the front!
I do believe I was ahead of the curve on the whole "mullet dress" fashion trend. The dress naturally fell longer in the back than the front. It was perfectly flowing and swingy on the dance floor, too. I threw on a great $3 metal vintage belt (Thank you St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store!) and the look was complete!
The whole project took me about 1 day and I was so pleased with the results. Folks at the wedding kept asking me where I bought the dress and I was so tickled to be able to say I made it. When the friend who sent me the dress saw me wearing the final product, she almost cried she loved it so much! It gave me great joy to see the look on her face and made her happy that the beautiful fabric found some new life. This dress is definitely my "go-to" for spring and summer fancy dress-ups!
UPDATE!! Here are back shots of Kimberly's dress...
And an ECU...
I LOVE this dress, Kimberly! The friend who sent this your way has had her mind blown, period, end of story. The dress print is so fabulous and so perfect for summer that I can only imagine that you'll be in this for each and every summer soiree!! Bring on more compliments!!
