I am always so jealous of folks who take an existing garment
that is rather drab and re-fashion it into something amazing. Sure, I have taken old clothing items
apart, but I would say I use them more as fabric yardage.
And I was in desperate need of a quick project. My velvet dress is not abandoned, but on hold
for the moment. More than anything, I
want to assure myself that I am still able to finish something in less than a
month!
For some reason, I purchased two of these cotton dresses
back in 2007 at Old Navy (thank you Gap Corp. for putting dates on your tags). I plead cheap clothing insanity.
There are certain styles that I just adore, however, I do
not adore them when they are on me.
Every time I see an old Audrey Hepburn photograph, I want to put on a
pair of cigarette pants and a striped sweater and flats - but I know that I would not be happy with the
look on my body.
And as much as I love the trapeze line that Yves Saint Laurent
created for Dior, they just do not work for me, either. I did wear the black version of this dress with a thick cinch
belt which looked rather cute, however, belting the dress raised the hemline a
few inches too many for my comfort level.
It would have looked great with a pair of tights, but that defeats the
whole purpose of a cotton summer dress, doesn’t it!?
This weekend I was attempting to find some extra room in my closet and rediscovered these dresses.
I measured from the hem up, wanting to keep the existing faced hemline in place. A few gathers, a
placket for the zipper, and a waistband, and I have a couple of "new" skirts! All that I needed was a
zipper and some thread to complete them.
Cotton is not exactly suitable for this frigid
weather we are experiencing, but I just know that these skirts will get more
wear than the original dresses ever did!
Hooray for refashioning! And now I can get back to a more involved project . . .
