Tuesday, September 20, 2011

a little repurposed dress

Recently I was given a huge bag of baby clothes. I kept aside quite a few items for the coming summer for Violet, but there was several things that just didn't fit due to an ample cloth nappied bottom. Most of these were in stretchy knit fabric in assorted florals and stripes. So with the purpose of repurposing I decided to cut them all up.


I cut them into squares and rectangular shapes, even managing to salvage a few pockets along the way.
At first I thought I would make a skirt, before realising that I had far too much fabric pieces and the skirt would be way too long. So I decided to make a skirt style dress with straps instead.

Once the pieces of fabric were sewn together, I then trimmed and joined these strips together. Stretch fabric can tend to look a little bulky when sewn together, so I ironed all the seams downwards and topstitched to hold in place.




Using a stretch needle on my machine, I hemmed the bottom of the dress.  I then turned down the top of the dress twice, pressing well with the iron. I sewed a seam to allow for the elastic, leaving about an inch gap. I top stitched the very top edge which I find helps hold the elastic in place better. I then threaded the elastic through and sewed the seam closed.

Taking two long rectangular pieces I sewed the straps by folding in half, sewing down the edge and turning inside out. Then these were attached to the inner seams.



And now we have a soft and roomy little summer dress. It was made at no cost (except a little time) and may be turned into a skirt as Violet grows.

20 comments:

  1. What a great idea! Very thrifty and Violet looks lovely in it :)

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  2. Cute cute cute! What a clever thrifty project. Love the idea of it becoming a skirt in the future too. Your little Miss looks very sweet in it. :)

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  3. too cute tania. how sweet does she look. clever lady!

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  4. Gorgeous looking little dress Tania. You are very clever...

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  5. Your so talented Tania! It's such a little Violet dress too...
    I so must get me a decent sewing machine, oh and a little extra time would be nice too!! :)

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  6. Gorgeous! I need one of both - a pretty dress and a girl child (a little one)! xx

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  7. Hi, I'm a new follower! LOVE your beautiful blog (I have envies over all your lovely vintage things - though it must be said that I have quite a large collection of my own - as my partner will attest!). Also love your creative makings, this dress is super cute!

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  8. Aren't you one cool thrifty mama...that dress is so darn cute!! Miss Violet looks so gorgeous in it and my how she has grown :)

    x

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  9. What a great idea. Looks fantastic.You are the Queen of upcycling!

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  10. Looks fabulous, Tania. You have a great eye to put all that fabric together and for it to look so complete. Love the look of our weekend also - gorgeous!
    x

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  11. So clever! She looks gorgeous in it too!

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  12. I know it's a cliche to always dress little girls in pink - but gee, pink suits Violet so well.
    (and love those little toes!)

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  13. very cute. even cuter on your wee cherub! x ashley

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  14. You are so clever Tania and so creative. Violet is the perfect little model for that dress. It looks very sweet on her. xo

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  15. THAT is SO sweet! Good work, Tania! You have totally inspired me to give this a go - I am not repurposing as many things as I could... I want to tackle some pj's using a few old shirts of hubby's.

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