Sunday, February 22, 2009

re-cycling to make a pretty dress

Along the way of writing "Denim Revolution" I made more projects than could fit between the covers, and this was one of them - a favorite dress.

I adore vintage slips, all kinds. They are a lovely luxury but to wear them as day dresses I like to have a little more substance, so I re-style them by adding some other fabrics and materials. For this dress, I used rugged denim scraps that add a hip charm to the femininity of the slip.
Using two shades of denim cut from lighter weight cast-off jeans, I cut them into strips - the narrow band is cut on the bias, the other not - washed them, zigzagged the edges with a pale yellow silk thread and appliqued them along the bottom. The colors and pretty scalloped details are enhanced by the denim.
The leftovers were used to form bows with vintage rhinestone buckles. One bow gives the slip an empire shape and the pair of bows I wear as barrettes or shoe clips. I so hope it will inspire you to dig out some of your favorite "finds" and put them all together in new ways!

7 comments:

sallymandy said...

I love this, Nancy. The gray and blue complement the slip colors very nicely. It really doesn't look like a slip.

To save money I fixed up a couple thrift store sweaters for my daughter for Christmas. I love this approach for the economy as well as the recycling angle. Plus you get something no one else has.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

Nancy said...

re-styling thrift store sweaters for your daughter sounds like wonderful fun. i can imagine that these are among her favorites and she is thrilled by your creativity.

hannah said...

wow! stunning. i especially like the bow.

Nancy said...

hello hannah. and i love your blog - lots of ideas and fashion inspirations!

Lactose Intoler-Art said...

Thanks for checking out my blog! I really like this dress. Like someone already said, the colors go GREAT together!

As for my illustrations..I draw them in Flash ]

Nancy said...

so interesting for me, as i draw everything by hand, and so love your illustrations.

Jacqui said...

Hy Lovelysite I wish I had your creative instinct for the way things go together well, never know if it will look like a disaster when I try to combine outfits.
http://closetclearing.blogspot.com/