Ooooo Jessica McClintock dress from a few decades back...

 This came from a thrift store for 
about $4.00. The bodice was actually really great with boning, and a zipper that worked in the back. It also fit perfectly. 

The problems with this dress included, but weren't limited to: 

1. The black skirt underneath had a 8" slit up the back. You do the math on where that would hit me.

2. That bow.

3. That white over skirt was poofy; WITH NETTING. It was pretty gross.

4. It's a fishtail skirt.

5. The white satin was wrinkled beyond almost all possibility of repair, not that it was really worth saving...

I took the skirt(s) off. It was terrible. So many layers!!!! I also kept the zipper in the back in place. I took a skirt with fabulous pleats, took it in to fit the bodice, and stitched the zipper into the back. Add one red satin scarf that has been hiding in my wardrobe forever, and voila! I am going to be wearing this with a lot of different belts to give it different looks.

A Lady's Top-Hat

I really like top-hats, but it was so boring.

 Netting, some trim, and lots of feathers! I've started another one, and I'm trying to convince myself to use more colors, but I love the black.

Vintage Wedding Dress

The before dress was pretty, but I couldn't move. At all. The sleeves and neck were so tight, I had no option, but to cut them out! I loved the button detail, and all the lace, but... well... It's a vintage wedding gown, and I wanna wear it!

So I cut them off, and finished all the edges. I just followed the natural line that the lining created (ha-ha) Then I added temporary straps because it needed them to stay up. It still looked like a wedding dress, and that really limits your wearing options, so...
 

 











  




I put in in a dye pot of teal. The dress was homemade, so I could only guess what it was made of. Thankfully, I had some material from what I cut off the dress to run some test dyes. I was teetering between bright orange, and this color. I went with teal because I have two other orange dresses. The color came out amazing! The lining turned robin's egg blue, and the lace has a more greenish hue.

 I added straps to tie because I don't always have someone to button me

 into it, and fixed straps would be very hard to deal with. The ribbon 

was an afterthought, and matched completely by accident. Now I can 

wear this to weddings, and no one will know what it used to be :)

Facinator

This used to be... yep, a sleeve from a bridesmaid's dress. I put it on a headband, and it scrunched over to the side like this on its own. There will be more experiments like this. I am going to be taking a lot of dresses apart, and I have to do something with the sleeves... They could be really fantastic clutches too. Stay tuned for that.

Classic bridesmaids dress (see 1980's) REDO!

Before.

There were two more matching bows on the back.

After!

We should only have one focal point per dress. Not seven.

$5 Chair (+$4 for the redo materials)

The $5 chair!

Back

Close up of the fabric. Check out that mauve stuff peeking through the plaid. Not as scratchy as the other stuff but still...

Mauve original fabric?

Loose joints need...

GLUE!

Newly stained

The finished chair! The new cover is a [was] a tablecloth.

 It's comfy too.

Clutch!

This clutch was a cheap white satin, generic, bridal clutch. It looked so sad sitting in the clearance bin, I had to buy it and give it some love. The fabric is a vintage napkin (I have 3 more waiting for their time.) I hand stitched it, and to cover the top edge, I used a velvet trim I got at a vintage shop. The flower had just been waiting to be used (and a good thing too. There was a light blue circular stain on the napkin that I needed to hide...) 

 

 I love this print so much, so I am very excited to come up with some other ways to use it in the near future!

The Purple Dress

A free dress

close up of details

Faboo sleeves!

The back is kinda unflattering

 

I loved the color, and the gathering on the bodice, but it made me look too old. I tore the sleeves out, and cut a bunch of the bottom off. I cut a slit at the neck, and folded it to create a "V" neck. I didn't like the way the shoulder straps sit, so I put safety pins around the bottoms, and made the shape of the neckline more pronounced. The gathering on the bodice became a detail that went higher, and the back of the needed no changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                 

Dance around!

 It's a very thin sundress, and I have no idea how it acts in

really warm weather, so that should be an interesting experiment.

A Sound Box

 

This is a standard wooden box that you get at the craft stores. The 

covering is scraps of fabric and watered down glue. It gives it 

a nice texture, and doesn't interfere with the box opening and closing. 

When the box is open, I can drop my phone (which has little speakers) 

in the box, and it amplifies the sound. Cheap volume control. It also 

works in the kitchen with mixing bowls...

Why you need to be careful about online second hand purchases...

This dress was an online purchase off of Etsy. It was on a mannequin,and I fell IN LOVE with the pattern. So many dresses in the stores have these wonderful florals, and I wanted it.

 Unfortunately, when the dress arrived, and I tried it on.... well... let's just say it wasn't quite what I envisioned... It was about three sizes too big. The front had a lovely v-waist, and that faboo collar... hot.

DONE!

I took the skirt off, and cut the V off the bottom. It brought the waist up. I took it in, and reattached the sash. I also cut the sailor collar off, and brought the shoulders up about an inch. The finished product has brought in many threats to steal it out of my closet. That's always a terribly good sign.

Playdoh

More excitement in college...

Playdoh at a coffee shop after an awful date. Therapy.

For the Kitchen

I made this for a friend's graduation present.
This especially amuses me because he can't cook. At all. 
Thankfully, he found it very amusing as well...