Repurposing, upcycling, refashioning, sustainable sewing, whatever you call it, it's one of my favorites. I have taken a woman's dress and transformed it into a girl's dress several times (
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). Today I have another one...
This a pink dress refashioned from a Laura Ashley 100% cotton bridesmaid dress (made in Great Britain) from 1989.
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| Front |
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| Back |
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| 4 flaps in the back, 2 small, 2 large |
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| piping along front neckline was removed and reused |
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| very well made dress |
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| all 5 fabric covered buttons were reused |
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| side zipper |
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| bonus! 2 extra fabric covered buttons hidden inside the skirt! |
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| circle skirt = lots and lots of fabric |
I wanted to stay with the sweet, soft, feminine, romantic style of the original Laura Ashley bridesmaid dress. So here is what I did.
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| removed zipper |
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| separated bodice from skirt by cutting with scissors |
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| bodice and skirt separated |
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| sleeves removed from bodice |
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| original back became the back for the new dress |
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| one large flap removed and ironed |
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| large flap opened up, permanent crease inspired pintucks |
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| pins in a line, fold on pin line |
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| iron on fold line, then topstitch |
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| pintucks, 3 on left, 3 on right, all 1 inch apart |
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| bodice cut out of pintucked fabric |
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| 3 fabric covered buttons added to bodice, original piping at neckline, bias tape sewn onto armholes |
For the skirt I took 3 skirt panels from the original dress keeping the original hem. I added in-seam side pockets to the skirt as well as lots of pretty pleats.
All done, already worn, and a very happy customer. Now off to make an 18-inch doll dress out of some of the leftover fabric...
PS Did you watch the Great British Sewing Bee series 2 episode 8? For the alteration challenge they were asked to breathe new life into an old wedding gown, turning it into a little girl dress! Wow, what fun! They were given only 2 hours for that challenge, what a challenge that would be!
