In the lead up to Me-May-May I made a concerted effort to finish off a few simple projects that have been whizzing around my head for some time. Not a total hand-made garment more a series of changes and modifications to existing RTW clothes that I wanted to re-fashion.
A friend gave me this beautiful hand-made silk dress that she bought from a charity shop in Putney. I loved the abstract print and the pretty colours but the length of the dress was VERY short so it sat in the back of my wardrobe never worn. I decided it would be worth chopping off a section and turning it into a top. I top-stitched a deep double hem to stabilize it and give it a bit of weight. I never got around to wearing it during May but on it's first outing last week the zip at the back of the top broke half-way through the day! Luckily I had a cardigan. Needless to say it is now zipless!
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| The original beautiful (crumpled) silk dress. Very short though! |
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| New top after chopping off about 40cm. |
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| Top-stitched and ironed. So much better now! |
I bought this bold and beautiful Monsoon maxi-skirt from Oxfam in Putney a few summers ago and it has sat in a bag for years. The length of the skirt didn't quite fall at a very flattering point for a maxi so I decided to give it a chop too! The fabric is a very soft lightweight cotton and was difficult to create a perfect hemline because the flared panels of the skirt. It's not too bad but probably not my finest hemming.
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| Original Monsoon maxi skirt with flared panels and white cotton lining |
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| The finished skirt is a much more wearable length! |
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| Two lots of hems! |
Have you modified any existing clothing to give them a new lease of life?
I haven't done this for a while, very inspiring. The fabric for both of these refashions are lovely. My local charity shops often have rather poor fare!
ReplyDeleteThanks Louise. I was glad to have done the modifications as I said in the post they just weren't getting worn in their original state. If they don't get much wear this summer then I will pass them onto another charity shop.
DeleteI've been meaning to do some refashions for a while so hoping your good work will help inspire me! :) I agree the fabric for both of these is lovely, hope you get lots of wear out of them now.
ReplyDeleteHope you get around to doing your re-fashioning because I'm looking forward to what you make / re-style.
DeleteWhat great remakes! I especially love the Monsoon skirt. Last week I made a maxi skirt from an East dress given to me by a friend. It didn't long but the result is great and I know that I'll wear it a lot. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks Caroline. I am looking forward to seeing your East 'skirt' when you blog about it. Your Me-Made-May outfits were great!
DeleteYour refashions are really inspiring! I love finding great prints thrift store garments that are totally worth salvaging :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Caitlin!
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