Hey all! Today I have a quick re-make that I put together a week or so ago that I am rather proud of, and wanted to share! If you remember from this post, we girls purchased 3 khaki dresses from eShakti about a year ago. Well, I have a story to tell about my dress that I didn't reveal in that post...
I was the first one to purchase my khaki dress, and I was SO excited, because it was my first store-bought dress in a long time! I got it in the mail, it fit perfectly, and everything was spick-n-span and doodle-li-doo! I put it through the laundry, and something went completely bizerk while it was in the washer: when I pulled my dress out, lo-and-behold, there were the biggest, baddest peachy-yellow bleach spots splattered all over the bodice! Oh the horror! And this was just before the photo-shoot for the sister flair! I sobbed and mourned over my permanently mangled dress, attempting to figure out a way to style it still for the upcoming engagements that I needed to wear it to...
Fast-forward a year, and I place that same dress in my mending pile and decide to finally make something more wearable of it. Well, I finally summoned enough courage to pluck out the seams of a professionally manufactured garment (gasp!) and fashion myself a skirt! I have illustrated my process below:
It was fairly straight-forward, how I did it: I first spent an evening and morning ripping out the zipper and skirt. I sewed down the pleats of the skirt before I removed it from the bodice, because who wants to lose such a tediously created effect? Not me! I then scrimped out the waistband pieces from the bodice back, darted the skirt on one of the side-seams to fit a tad better, and sewed everything together! Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy :)
I am absolutely in LOVE with this skirt, and am thrilled to wear it more in the Autumn and Winter months!
Re-made anything remarkable lately?
xoxo,
-Charlotte
CREDITS // Author: Charlotte Boyer; Photography: Jessica Boyer; Graphic: Charlotte Boyer; Photos edited with VSCO Film Presets
Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Naomi!
Deletexoxo,
-Charlotte
the blog designer + photographer
I love it! It looks gorgeous and I love the red color on you! It's funny, I got the navy blue version of this dress a while back, but I must have done something wrong when I ordered it, because it didn't fit or look very nice on me. The other day my eye fell on the dress and I thought "I bet I could make a skirt out of that!" And then lo and behold, your blog post! Did you have to re-put-in the zipper?
ReplyDeleteLove,
Hannah
Hi Hannah!
DeleteYes, I did have to re-sew the zipper back in, but it was easy as pie to do so :) The zipper was an invisible zipper, which I find to be one of the most easy fastenings to put in once you get the hang of it! :)
Thanks for commenting!
xoxo,
-Charlotte
the blog designer + photographer
This is fantastic! I was just discussing clothes with my mom this morning and we were both saying that we feel like summer is the time to wear lots of dresses because, obviously, layering is not going to happen. But once fall comes, we suddenly want lots of skirts and pants because they're so much fun to style and layer with. I love this idea of tucking a cardigan into a skirt!
ReplyDeleteThis inspires me to re-make more of my clothes. My latest remake was huge success. I had a navy blue long sleeved t-shirt that was boring me to no end. :) It's edges had also become stretched out for some mysterious reason and I wanted to freshen it up. So I went up to the sewing room and dug through my mom's and my collection of vintage lace. Lo and behold, I found a lovely circa 1940s lace collar that was begging to be put on this shirt. It turned out gorgeously and I've gotten several compliments on it.
Aw, thanks so much! Your refashioned shirt sounds fabulous! I love adding a bit of lace or trimming to an other wise boring garment to give it some personality :)
Deletexoxo,
-Charlotte
the blog designer + photographer
So cute! What I really love, however, are those shoes! Where did you get them?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I purchase my shoes at DSW last year, and they are from the Crown Vintage brand. I LOVE them too :)
Deletexoxo,
-Charlotte
the blog designer + photographer
Oh, and is that an invisible zipper? Would you consider doing an invisible zipper tutorial?
ReplyDeleteThis looks BEAUTIFUL, Charlotte!! You did a marvelous job! And I absolutely love the shoes which you have paired with it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't mended/re-made anything recently (our vintage sewing machine finally conked out--it needs servicing) but I have several things waiting in closet to be attended to. :)
Thanks Genevieve :) I know what you mean about remakables piling up: my pile is more than ample ;)
Deletexo,
-Charlotte
the blog designer + photographer
Wow! can you make me one? (JK!) That's awesome, you're great!
ReplyDeleteDaughter of the Prince of Peace
Haha! We girls get asked that often about out clothes that we make ;) Thanks much, dear!
Deletexo,
-Charlotte
the blog designer + photographer
Good job! It looks store-bought, not refashioned at all!
ReplyDeleteWith the coming of fall, do you girls where hoodies? If so, how do you style them? They are a staple of my college wardrobe in the colder months, and I was wondering how you would where them.
Thanks!
Wow! Thanks Miriam :)
DeleteAbout hoodies: no, we don't wear hoodies at all really. If we do, they are merely for walking/working out/grubby clothes. Styling them is an interesting idea for a post, though!
xo,
-Charlotte
the blog designer + photographer
Hi! I hope you don't mind if I comment on this. :) I do wear hoodies in the fall sometimes, and try to style them classily/femininely, particularly for weekdays where I feel like wearing something casual (like a Friday), or if I'm going somewhere where I know everyone else will be wearing jeans+hoodies and I don't want to seem too dressed up. I typically will find hoodies that are a bit more fitted and that are in attractive colors. Then I pair them with a complimenting fitted T-shirt and usually a denim skirt. One of my favorite combinations is my denim skirt, my coral pink shirt, and a zip-up grey hoodie.
DeleteHope this helps! :)
Hannah
Wow! You are a very talented seamstress, Charlotte! :) What a lovely skirt!
ReplyDeleteBubbles and blessings,
Erica
I never would've known it wasn't a skirt to
ReplyDeletebegin with! You did a great job. Ouch though-
I'd cried too!
Natasha
www.natashaatkerson.blogspot.com
Great! You salvadged a ruined dress into something perfectly wearable and lovely. :-) I hadn't done anything like that in a while, but it sure feels good to be able to. ;-)
ReplyDelete