A Boohoo.Com Challenge.... updated

A little while I ago I received an email with a very interesting proposition.

I was asked whether I'd like to take up the creative challenge of re-fashioning any item of clothing from Boohoo.com

Now, I absolutely love a creative challenge, so of course I jumped at the chance. Anything that gets me thinking outside the creative box is fun!

I chose this Sandy Scoop Neck Maxi Dress as there was plenty of scope for refashioning, and I know that orange suits my skin tone.

Please excuse the photo quality - it's the only full length mirror in my house

The first step to shorten the dress using my totally not-technical method.

This is how I determine the hem length on all my dresses - I just put the dress on and then clip up the hem until it's sitting at a length that I think is flattering.

I'm a little bit obsessed with Peter Pan collars since making my Alma blouse, so I decided to add one to the dress.

I simply traced the curve of the neckline of the dress and created a little paper template using graph paper.

I cut two collar templates in fabric, interfaced one of them to add structure, placed them right sides together and sewed along the bottom curved edge. I then trimmed and cut into the curved seams before turning out.

It just so happened that my Linear Design fabric in tangerine colourway matched the dress perfectly!

I placed the collar onto the top of the dress and stitched it into place, before stitching binding over the top to cover the unfinished collar seam.

I'm obsessed with pockets, so there was no way that I could forget them on this refashion!

I simply made myself another paper template in a shape that I thought would be flattering for the style of dress. They're just two pieces of fabric placed right sides together, stitched, trimmed and turned out - easy peasy.

I matched up the straight edge of the pockets with the side seams of the dress, and then simply stitched around the curved section to attach them to the dress.

The final piece of the refashioing puzzle, was to create a pretty belt to cinch in the waist (or for me, to try to create the illusion of a waist)

To create the belt, I used a method very similar to the belt in Nikki's You Sew Girl book

I love the funky red belt buckle that I had in the stash.

I used my 25mm bias tape maker to make some very simple belt loops and hand stitched these to the side seams. I can't stand it when a belt slips around up and down - belt loops are a necessity!

This is just another random photo because I LOVE the collar.

......et voila - here's the finished dress.

It turned out so much better than I'd even hoped.  Can't wait to give it a whirl!

Edited: Here's a little snapshot of what it looks like on.... I accidentally cut my head off - it's really hard to do a self-photo shoot!

Disclaimer: This is NOT a sponsored post, but I was given the dress as a gift from Boohoo.com

A Teeny Tiny Too Tight Dress Re-fashion

I picked up this gorgeous vintage dress at the oppy a few weeks ago (I can't quite remember which one as I seem to visit lots of oppies and collect lots of pretty things and lose track of where they came from).

Although it fitted me, can you see just how tight the elastic waist was gathering in the before photo?

When you can't breathe anyway, having tight elastic around the bottom of your ribcage is really really uncomfortable!

It was also ever so slightly too long for me.

It took over an hour of unpicking to open up the elastic casing and then unpick the elastic which had also been sewn into the middle seam of the dress (they certainly sewed things to last back in the day), but it was really simple to overlock it and sew it all back together again.

I now have a cute dress which I can wear in Summer (as long as it's not too hot as the fabric is quite un-natural), and over a long sleeve top and leggings in Winter. Perfect!

Why hoarding is a good thing

Because you know that when you buy a cute little $10 top with white buttons that you don't like...

It only takes five minutes to change them when you get home.

A 15 Minute Re-fashion

I have a massive range of clothes in my wardrobe. My weight tends to vary over three different clothing sizes depending on what's happening in my life (skirt is gathered and pinned at the back to fit Frances.... I am nowhere near this size).

I try to clean it out and donate things to the oppy every so often, but there are some pieces that I just have to hold on to.

Does anyone actually remember when ankle length denim skirts were fashionable?

I bought this skirt on a holiday in Queensland somewhere around 1999 or 2000. I used to wear it with a pair of black high heel lace up boots that I bought at the Queen Vic Market...... ahhhh the memories.

It's been sitting in a drawer gathering dust for years, and has even survived the massive wardrobe cull of two house moves, so I thought it deserved a new life.

Bring on the rotary cutter, overlocker, sewing machine, and a spare 15 minutes..... and this is what you get.

All of a sudden, I now have a wearable denim a-line skirt. Perfect!

Suave - Part One

Little Moo Moo is turning four this week - wowee how time flies!

He was just a little bubba when I began blogging..... his first birthday seems sooooo long ago now.

Now that he's a big boy, I thought that he needed a sophisticated and suave new outfit, and Bec had sent me a link to this supercute tutorial for a little boys vest.

When I went op shopping last week, I was also in search of a pair of mens plaid pants to transform into a vest, as per the tutorial, but instead, I actually bought a complete mens suit for $7.
So instead of following the tutorial, I made myself a half pattern from one of Moo's t-shirts (as per the tutorial), and then just winged it instead. The little sketch above shows how I laid down the pattern piece and cut out the vest. I've taken advantage of the original buttons and buttonholes, and the nice curved section at the bottom of the jacket.

I sewed the front and back pieces together, and then took it for a fitting. My original armholes were too small, so I had to increase them.

To finish off, I just added some binding to the neckline and armholes.

As I've only cut up the mens suit jacket so far, I still have an entire pair of pants that I can transform.... maybe Moo would like some matching trousers?

Fifteen Minute Refashion

I bought this tunic style dress a little while ago, but I've hardly worn it because it didn't really fit properly.

I have very narrow shoulders, so a dress with a very wide neckline wasn't the best choice. I was constantly dragging the shoulders back up after showing off my lovely bra straps!

It was such a hot day yesterday, that I thought it was high time that I fixed this one so that I could actually wear it (keep in mind that Dear Headless Dummy Frances is two sizes smaller than me and has harldy any boobage - hence the dress looks a bit tent-ish)

My solution was to first take to it with the rotary cutter and chop off the arms - no measuring required, I just folded it in half so that the arms were laying on top of each other, and guessed where to chop.

I had to actualy think about how to solve the shoulder issue as I certainly didn't want to go to the trouble of unpicking the sleeves from the body.

I ended up putting this little dart in the centre back of the dress, which has worked perfectly.

Unfortunately, none of this has fixed the issue of this dress not really being suitable for my skin tone. I think I'll be calling on the services of my dyeing buddy to turn this colour from drab to fab!

Finally

It seems like I've been harping on about this woollen jumper forever.... until lastnight, when I finally tired of it sitting on my craft bench and mocking me while I sewed!

The photo above is the style that I was aiming for. All I did was to cut it down the centre front panel, and then hack the arms off with a pair of scissors.

I really liked the look of the short sleeve cardi. I didn't like the fact that the arm holes were actually cutting off my circulation. I have my hands on my hips in the photo because the arm holes were so tight that I physically couldn't put my arms by my side.

Luckily for this project (unluckily for when I actually try to buy clothes), I have really narrow shoulders which are quite out of proportion to the rest of my body. My shoulders are actually the perfect size for my poor little shrunken jumper.

I kept hacking at the arm holes trying to fix the problem, but it seems that the arm holes had other ideas, so I hacked off the arms entirely...

.....and ended up with this.

At least it's a beginning - I'm looking forward to trying out some felted refashioning projects after looking at even more inspiration this week here and here.