This is the costume that we had to work with for this project. (not sure what it was supposed to be???)
Monica was lucky because this costume had a very full skirt and gave us plenty of fabric to work with for her creation. In repurposing anything, you have to take a look at the available material in the item before you can decide what you can do with it. If its a size 2, you won't be able to make it become a size 12 without some really strange additions.
1. KNOW YOUR OWN MEASUREMENTS:
I like to keep a small index card in my wallet with the key measurements for my girls and anyone else I might be sewing for from Thrift store finds. Hips, waist, Torso length, skirt lengths,etc...are helpful
2. CARRY A MEASURING TAPE:
Keep one of the small soft tapes in your purse so that when you find a garment that would make a great project, you can check to be sure that there is enough to work with right in the thrift shop. Measure the width, length,etc..and compare it to the project. If you have a dress with a 45" wide skirt at the top and 60" at the bottom with 25" in length, you know that you can make that mini skirt for your skinny little daughter with 34 inch hips. ( always fun too!)
3.CHECK QUALITY OF FABRIC AND MAKE SURE IT DOES NOT HAVE STAINS OR SMELL BAD:
If it is badly stained,unless you plan to dye it later than pass on it. Most likely it was donated because of the stains or damage.
4. LOOK IN THE MEN'S DEPARTMENT:
Often overlooked but so many great shirts,jackets,etc...in that section.
Moving on with Monica's skirt, she laid it out to find what fabric she had to work with and using her own measurements, cut the existing dress into three sections for her skirt. Monica's design has three layers with the lightest color on top.
This was some super slippery fabric so we carefully pinned the tops of each skirt section together so that she could work on shredding the bottom. This fabric was perfect for shredding as it was already partially cut up and it was a nylon blend that would not fray.
Shredding is an art and I have to admit that it frustrates me a bit. I am not gifted at it one tiny bit and have spend way too much time drawing it out so it would look natural. But not my smart girl, she has the magic touch. As she expertly shredded the bottoms of each section, she commented to me that "it was like imagining this is the fire and you are cutting the shape of the flames"!
WOW, seriously this young lady is brilliant. I love that I am learning from working with her. I told her next time I need to shred a hem, I will hire her to do it for me.
Monica and I put all three layers of the skirt, one on top of each other with a gathering stitch. It was difficult to work with this slippery fabric and thanks to her mom going to the fabric store twice, we had everything we needed to finish in 2 hours.
A wide black elastic was used for the waistband. This is the trendy style now to have your skirt on 2-3" wide elastic in all the stores. Monica is a very fashionable teen. (notice the jaunty red beret in today's photos)
We gathered the skirt and attached it to the waistband underneath for a nice smooth finish.
We kept being a bit distracted by just how awesome this was turning out and in the middle of the lesson, Monica was up and sketching another idea for the future. Never one to stifle creativity, I love it when she grabs some paper and starts drawing. She has some gorgeous ideas for Halloween Costumes.
The finished skirt was exactly what she had imagined!
I think it looks FABULOUS!!!
and,
YES, we did this in 2HOURS!!!!
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