Bridesmaid Dress Refashion

We are in the thick of wedding season right now, and Drew and I attended our second wedding this past weekend. When the invitation arrived, it called for black tie attire and my first thought was “oh crap, what do I wear?”. My second thought was “oh yes, what do I get to make?!”

The first step was to research what black tie actually meant, and I stopped at Rent the Runway for some inspiration. There was nothing I fell in love with but I did get a better sense of what was appropriate. Generally full length dresses but not ball gowns. This wedding was also when I would be meeting Drew’s boss and co-workers, so anything revealing was out of the question.

Of course, time went on and I still didn’t start making anything. The Spring/Summer is a really busy time at work so it just wasn’t in the cards to make a full handmade dress. I rummaged through my closet just for materials I could re-use, and instead came across the bridesmaids dress I wore for my cousins wedding.

This was not my favorite dress. It was short, and the color wasn’t meant for someone pale, but the top had some beautiful detail. I thought it would be a great base to start with, and all I needed to do was add a new skirt!

I started looking for fabric online, with the idea of a print in mind (since that’s my style) and needed something to match the “champagne” color. I wasn’t finding exactly what I needed so I went shopping in my own stash! I came across a print that was left over from this dress, and everything fell into place.

This refashion was so simple – and it resulted in something so different from the original piece! I took a maxi skirt sloper I made for my black maxi to make the skirt- just a basic sloper with darts removed.

I was able to leave the zipper in place and sew the skirt right to the zipper, making this dress – FREE! I also wore the same shoes that I wore as a bridesmaid!

The wedding was stunning. It was a very intimate ceremony and reception – we were part of the 75 invited guests. It was a fun night of dancing, with the Empire State Building so close by.

I do have one more formal wedding coming up in November, another of Drew’s co-workers. I’m really hoping I have time to make the Leanne Marshall pattern I picked up, but fall is another busy time at work, so I will have to get started soon!

Have a great weekend!