It’s warm outside and the summer soirees and (bridal/baby) showers are in full effect! Even though I have plenty to wear, I was excited to craft a dress for a girlfriend’s baby shower! She’s having a boy, so I went with something blue to tie into the theme. I hopped over to JOANN to grab all the accoutrements to craft my dress!

I was inspired by a blue Dolce & Gabbana lace dress from 2012 and knew this was the piece I wanted to recreate. I started with a cotton dress base. (I had this one in my closet and it needed a refresh! Go with something you own or pop into a thrift store to score the perfect piece)

You'll also need:

Beads (Mix it up! They’re for the center of the flowers and I went with some shinier black ones.)
Fabric Dye (I picked two shades of RIT - Evening Blue and Royal Blue.)
Thread (Something that matches the beads or dress shade.)
Appliqués or Ribbon (Flower shaped lace or appliqués are perfect for this piece!)

It’s dye time! Begin by rinsing your dress and appliqués in water to fully saturate before adding into your dye bath or washing machine.

Next add them into your dye bath. You can do this on the stove top in a pot or use your washing machine and the amount of dye used is dependent on how dark or light you want your piece to be. I wanted a light blue shade, so I put in two capfuls of Evening Blue with a few drops of Royal Blue in hopes for something lightish blue.

I always get so excited to see how the color turns out post-wash

I was especially excited to see the appliqués because they’re made of all different kinds of materials (polyesters, cottons, linens, oh my!

Now that the dress and appliqués are dyed, it’s time to stitch the beads to the center of the floral appliques. String a bead onto a piece of thread attached to a needle and weave through the center of the floral appliques and out the bottom. Tie a knot to hold into place. (I went with 1-3 for each flower depending on size.) Continue until all flowers have center beads.