Sunday, March 10, 2013

Refashion an Op Shop find

This weekend I physically exhausted myself in the garden (did not take long!!! - a couple of hours each day), which left me with heaps of time to sit and sew for relaxation.

Inspired by my recent finish of a recycled quilt  I went through the stack of unfinished projects by my machine. There was a dress I had bought about a month ago from a Save the Children Op Shop in Christchurch.

I am not very good at sewing clothes for myself from scratch, but if something fits I know I can generally make it look better.

One of the things that really bug me about ladies clothes is NO POCKETS - why why why. Yes I carry a handbag but it is so handy to have pockets. And why was there no fastening at the waist? - so it gaped - no dome or button or anything.

So I made a new collar, new sleeve end, stitched a pocket into the waistband but floats externally, shortened the length and added some bias, added a $1 belt also from the Op Shop and presto - A new outfit that I am thrilled with.

I wore it to church today and heaps of people commented on it.
$10 dress
$1 belt
$5.50 fat quarter of green and black flower material from quilters quarters in Rangiora

Refashion a dress
The finished article.
The before (sorry not good photo)

The before on my dress model

Worn to church this morning
icky 80's collar

off with the collar and half the sleeve


On with a new collar
on with a new cuff

Add an external pocket

jazz up the bottom of the skirts. Shorten by 1 inch and add bias
DONE - I link up to these places






href="http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com">
 March Finishes

49 comments:

  1. That is so cute! I love the dress, it looks really lovely on you

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    1. thanks Jess, I felt a bit more glam than usual

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  2. WOW Karen, what a great frock. Shape and colour suit you so well. L.o.v.e the new neckline and collar...very 40's tea dress-esque. x

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    1. that's exactly the look I was going for. Another ladies lunch needed to use the dress more??!!

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  3. It looks fantastic well done. You've made it so much nicer than it was :0)

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    1. thanks Miriam, I loved the we movie you put on your blog about giving appreciation. We need something like that in one of the gap filler projects

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  4. Karen, Thank you for visiting my blog and your gracious comments. I am with you when it comes to making and remaking outfits that work for me. I love your dress and the black and white with a little punch of color is so in for spring. Also love the quilt on your header one of my favorite patterns.
    Enjoy,
    Peggy
    http://gardenhouseliving.com

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  5. That is a beautiful redo! I love it.

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  6. This is great. Love to see someone around my age making neat clothing to wear.
    Nina

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    1. Thanks for visiting and following Nina. i enjoyed your blog about camping outside in your own backyard

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  7. I love the remake of your dress, it looks fabulous. Visiting from Sew Darn Crafty.

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  8. Really nice refashion!
    What I love most are the new neckline and the green bias :)
    MammaNene from

    SergerPepper.blogspot.it

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  9. Loving the remake this is gorgeous
    Thanks for visiting my blog via Show and Tell

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  10. You are so talented! That dress is adorable!!! The color is fabulous and the green ribbon just pops!

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  11. I love the refashion and how it looks is so much more "hip". ha ha Thanks for showing how. Maybe I'll take a look at some older clothes in the closet. I'd love to have you share this at What to do Weekends Party, too. Followed you. Linda

    http://www.craftsalamode.com/2013/03/what-to-do-weekends-9.html

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    1. Hi Linda. Thanks for following and the invite. Am popping over now.

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  12. You look amazing! Get to that ladies lunch.

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  13. The refashion is great! Thank you for sharing and thank you for the visit and sweet comment at The Dedicated House. It means the world! Would love it if you would share this at my Make it Pretty Monday party which is live. Here's the link if you want to check it out. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2013/03/make-it-pretty-monday-week-40.html Hope to see you at the bash! Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

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  14. Fabulous transformation - those changes really make a difference! Thanks for linking to the Craftastic Monday party at Sew Can Do:)

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  15. What an awesome change-- definitely from frumpy to fabulous! Love what you did with it. :)

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  16. Wow what a fab revamp. The collar and belt just set it off too.

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  17. That is absolutely stunning on you!!! No wonder you got so many compliments :) A brilliant upcycle!

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  18. Wow. A new neckline, collar...trim on the skirt (and a Belt!)...what a difference those details made! I'm inspired. Thanks so much for sharing. Lynaea @ EverydayBloom.com

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  19. i just keep looking between the two, hard to believe it is the same dress! your've done a great job, i love the bands of green and black at the bottom, give it a nice contemporary look: and i'm with you, i wont buy unless it has pockets! great to have you linking, have a great week x

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  20. wow thats fabulous! you look so super cool in the altered version x

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  21. what a fantastic job you've done! it's awesome!! and yes the pockets thing... if there were more pockets i'd try to leave the bag at home! well done- it's an awesome dress :)

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  22. What a transformation! Well done!

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  23. What a great upcycle! You are very clever!
    xx

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  24. What a fabulous refashion!!! With just a few changes, you have made a BIG difference to the look of the dress. Great job.

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  25. Oh my dress! It made such a huge difference on the dress. It doesn't even look like the same dress after the collar and some added details. So awesome what you did and it looks way better than the original condition. I too don't understand why there are no pockets. That's why I love thrifing for vintage clothes because a lot of the clothing do have pockets on both sides. :) Love it! Visiting you via Recycled Fashion Friday!

    Adin B
    http://www.chetopianfamily4.com/2013/03/my-sahm-style-salmon-y-mint.html

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  26. And oh, I love that quilted blanket of yours. So beautiful!

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  27. My goodness ... what a wonderful transformation! Your 'new' dress looks terrific. I love the bit of green you added.

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  28. Gorgeous transformation! Thanks for sharing at The Weekly Creative.

    Shannon @ Sewing Barefoot

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  29. I've featured this at the newest Craftastic Monday Link Party at Sew Can Do & pinned it as a favorite pick too. Stop by to check it out & grab a Featured On button:)

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    1. Ohhh Cheryl thanks so much. I will do that right now. You make me feel very proud of my creation

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  30. You stopped by my blog today @ http://createcraftchere.blogspot.com/ and left a nice message. It inspired me to drop by you site here. I am so glad I did. The dress transformation is a great idea, love it!

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  31. What a lovely transformation! The "new" looks so fresh for spring!
    I'm jealous I can't sew a stitch!

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  32. Clearly, I need to learn to sew, This is darling!!!

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    1. Hi Shannon thanks for visiting. You so do need to learn. I learnt by sewing kids clothes which don't need to be so accurate.

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  33. Wow! What a great refashion. I've seen lots of dress refashions, but yours has definitely transformed the original dress. The fun details you added totally changed the dress and put your personality into it.

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    1. Thanks Sarah, I am working on my next refashion and it wont have quite this pizaz!

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  34. I love the colar :D
    So beautiful!

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  35. Karen, that is absolutely beautiful! The "before" was definitely drab and out-of-date. You made that dress look absolutely amazing; so stylish and VERY flattering! You look lovely in it! And the price? You can't do better than that! Congrats on an amazing transformation and thank you for linking up!

    xo -E

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  36. What an amazing transformation! It's adorable.

    Blessings from Harvest Lane Cottage,
    Laura

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  37. I liked this very much.
    mirjam

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Thanks so much for stopping by. I love that you took time out to comment on my blog.

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