ReFashioned Dress

Gertie, my dressform, and I have had a long relationship. I picked her up secondhand sometime in the 1970s and she was old even then. She has always had a deformed hip and now I see that her one shoulder is drooping. Getting old is Hell. But I've always envied her bustline.

Here we have Gertie modelling my newest creation. You may remember a few months ago I was on a kick to do some projects I have been "wanting to do but never get around to doing", some of my "good ideas" "what ifs", if you will. One of those ideas was to make some housedresses out of thrift store clothes. This is the first (and last) dress of that genre. To be perfectly honest, the time it took me to get all the pieces lined up and "right", I could have made 3 dresses. I believe I'll just cut any other saved clothes--potential candidates--for quilt squares.

This dress was made from a man's shirt and one of those awful denim dresses popular quite a few years ago. The only things going for them are the buttons and the yardage. (The pictured dress is one off eBay-but you get the idea)

A bit of raw edge applique done on my embroidery machine. I did a Robbing Peter to Pay Paul with the flower fabrics for the skirt and top.

Since this is such a conservative style, I wanted to have a little fun so left the collar to fray and will do the same for the hem.

If you haven't been out looking at clothes lately, the retro influence is everywhere---and so are DARTS! It may be time to add a few more miles to my morning walk! and I think a new dress form may be in order too.

I have all the embroidery done on the sheath dress. Two of those motifs take 100 minutes to stitch so while they stitched away, I made the housedress. It was a wonderful day and it reminded me of how much I miss sewing clothes. I think I'll return to clothes sewing for awhile.

Have a Creative Day! Fall is a great Time to Get Out and Take A Walk!