4.05.2011

Go To Dress...#4 Linen Refashion

My mom bought me a linen dress for family pictures in 1999.  I loved it-it was my lounge around the house on a Sunday afternoon and the dress I wore during my 8 and 9 months of pregnancy.
It is long and just the right fabric weight.

But after many years of wear it started to tear and rub holes.  I was sad, and am planning on making a dress similar to it this summer.  When I was sketching ideas for the go-to dresses I remembered this linen and knew what I wanted it to look like.
 
The Go-To Dress pattern is found HERE
Here is what I did differently...
 Cut longer and a little bit wider, the shoulders are also longer.
Because linen is more of a summer fabric I wanted this to be a short sleeve dress.  I widened the sleeves and made them longer.
 The fold of the sleeve is a seam from the dress.  I pressed it to give it a crisp edge.
 The back of the dress was also cut on a seam.  I cut a 2 1/2 inch slit on the top.
I sewed the shoulders together and sewed on double fold bias tape on all edges.
 The bias tape was also sewn on to the sleeve edge and the dress hem.
When I got to the slit at the nape of the neck I sewed a small loop out of bias tape for the button.
 
Once the bias tape was sewn on I added the sleeves.
Now on to the fun part...
 
 Sew the double fold bias tape together-it makes a stiffer narrow ribbon.
 I sewed the stems and leaves directly on to the dress-using a zig-zag stitch.
 For the top flower I zig-zagged the bias tape into pleats.
 This is what it looked like when it was done.
 Add the petals however you want them to appear.  I found the diasy petals are best if you make a figure 8 and sew in the middle.
 I debated about added a waist band, but because there is no stretch to the fabric I opted for no waist band this time.
 She loves it!  After the photo shoot she asked if she could wear it today.
This dress to a bit longer because of the bias tape-using what I had on hand I had to pick out a few stitches because it didn't catch the edge of the dress.  But once I figured out what to do it wasn't too bad.  Next time I think I would make my own bias tape-and make it a touch thicker.
Just one more dress to show you.  I hope you have enjoyed these dresses as much as I have.

21 comments:

Misty said...

This is so cute! Love the flowers! Great job! :)

Jill said...

It is a beautiful dress - great you've given it a new lease of life!

I would love if you came over and linked this project to my weekly Round Tuit party at:
http://jembellish.blogspot.com/
Have a great week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success

lourdi lourdaki said...

EINAI MIA ΓΛΥΚΑ ΠΡΑΓΜΑΤΙΚΑ!!!!!
ΚΑΛΗΜΕΡΑ ΑΠΟ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ!!!!

Tara said...

What a beautiful dress! I really enjoyed this post. Thanks for sharing at Trendy Treehouse!

Emily said...

Gorgeous! Great job! I will have to relook at that pattern. Love the adjustments you made.

Alison @ mommadidit.blogspot.com said...

How darling!

Shannon @FairfaceWashcloths said...

That is seriously cute!! I love refashions and this one is one of the best I've seen in a while. I love the black accents. Lovely job!
shannonsews.blogspot.com

nest full of eggs said...

fabulous !

cookieandclaire said...

This is beautiful! I love the black and khaki linen together. I am a new follower. Stop by cookieandclaire.blogspot.com if you have a chance!

Hanna said...

holy cow! This is CRAZY gorgeous! You could make money selling these. seriously! Just beautiful. I wish I could sew:)

xoxox Hanna

amy@flexibledreams said...

This turned out SO cute! Seriously nice work.

Melanie said...

Super Duper Fab!
I'd love for you to come link up!
Smiles,
Melanie
Reasons To Skip The Housework
Tuesday Time Out Link Up Party

ByNightCreations said...

It's gorgeous! Beautiful work and fantastic idea!

The SPANGLER said...

Gorgeous dress! Love it! Found your blog via the linky at Blue Cricket... Stop by and say hi if you get a chance - am off to follow you about now!
Cheers
The Spangler @
The Quick Unpick

Jessica at Me Sew Crazy said...

this came out adorable! love it! Great job, caught my eye at Blue Cricket's link party :)

Stephanie @ henry happened said...

Aww, that is so super cute. Makes me wish I knew how to sew... stopping by from Creative Juice Thursday!

Two Shades of Pink said...

This dress is just stunning!

Tara-ComfyandPrettyBlog said...

I love the embelishments and the sleeves

chris said...

Beautifully done! What a lovely way to get more use out of your dress.

Sachiko said...

How unique and fun! I love what you did with the dress, great job!

nicolette {momnivores dilemma} said...

Those flowers remind me of a skirt I had when I was in college...LOVE!

Thanks for sharing at Creative Juice. Hope to see you back this week...

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