Refashion Your Summer Wardrobe - Dress to Top Refashion
Hello, hello! Earlier this month I received an email from Heather, who writes the blog Feathers Flight, about doing a Refashioning Blog Tour! If you've been reading my blog for some time, you know I love refashioning, so I was in! Heather & Kali (from Kali Nicole Creative) are hosting "Refashion Your Summer Wardrobe" and a giveaway!
The idea is to transform current pieces in your wardrobe to make them summer ready! We all have those pieces in our closets that we love, but don't really wear - and this is a great idea to take some of those pieces and transform them into something for summer!
I am trying to weed out my wardrobe and after Me Made May, did a huge clothing binge. I decided to get rid of some of the dresses I used to wear years ago, but didn't get much use out of lately. There were a few in particular I decided to keep because I love the prints, and wasn't ready to see them go. I decided the best way to keep them in my closet, and get to wear them again, was with a super simple refashion!
I bought this dress years ago at Target, and wore it a lot when working retail, but haven't had a chance to wear it in years. My closet is overstocked with dresses, but I needed some "going out" tops for fun summer nights. Turning a dress into a top is so easy, it's really just a quick hem job- but I've listed a few tips to make the sewing easier!
First thing's first. Put your dress on! I like to imagine the outfits that I would put together with my new top; is it something I will wear more with shorts, jeans or tuck into a skirt? For this particular dress, I would most likely wear with jeans, so I didn't want to make it too short. Put on a bottom that will work with the refashioned piece and in front of a full length mirror, fold the hem up to where you would like the new piece to lay.
After finding a good hem, pin in place while still on your body. This will be "final hem", not where we are actually making the cut. Take the dress off and measure how much of the hem you pinned up. Since I get nervous about making something too short, I usually add an extra two inches to the pinned hem. You can always cut more off, but adding more to the hem is difficult!
I prefer to do 1" hems, with the raw edge folded up 1/2" and then folded again to enclose the raw edge. If your dress has a lining, you will want to use the same measurements for the outer layer to hem the lining.
Give your new top a quick press and you are ready to show off your refashion!
I've done a few dress to top refashions, so this idea is really full of possibilities!
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Don't forget to enter the awesome giveaway over at Feather's Flight and Kali Nicole Creative!