Thursday, January 10, 2013

Project Run and Play Week # 1 The Party Dress Remix

Isn't ironic that my first post on the new blog is Project Run and Play, but here it is!  I love Project Run and Play, it feeds into my desire to create.  This week's challenge was the Party Dress Remix!  If you are unfamiliar the tutorial is here.
I did some serious remixing and here is what I came up with.....





I started out wanting to do a high/low skirt thinking that would be an interesting twist on the design.  I like to upcycle material so I went to goodwill looking for one of those long pleated women's skirts that every person in America owned during the eighties.   I wanted a solid color but was excited when I found this funky patterned skirt.


For the bodice I wanted something velvety so I found this stretchy black velvet shirt that was pretty worn around the sleeves and collar but had great material in the middle.


I used the bodice pattern from the party dress and squared off the neckline a little bit.......but when I went to sew the bodice (with a flannel lining) the stretchy material was less than cooperative.   When I was finished sewing the bodice I hated it and was about to throw it in the trash.  I decided to try it on my daughter to see what the fit was like.   My daughter is seriously my muse because when I went to put it on her, she put it on backwards.  I realized that while it didn't look right as a bodice, it looked great as a sort of vest.   I still wanted the skirt part to be included so I slit the front down the middle and seamed up both the sides.

I attached the skirt to the bodice and made a skirted vest.   I decided to do buttons down the front and found these great gold and velvet buttons that matched the bodice perfectly. 


I loved the sash on the original dress, but it wasn't going to work for this skirted vest.  So instead I created a belt with a design using the different fabrics from the outfit.  I acctually used one of those stretchy workout headbands as the belt and attached the decorative piece to it.  


Finally I paired the skirted vest with a pair of black leggings and a white t-shirt and she is ready for a party.  It is not quite a dress, but certainly party worthy.  I loved using the party dress for inspiration and am very excited by this outfit!

4 comments:

  1. That is so cute! I love your take on this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the poses that your daughter did for the pictures, They made me smile as I could tell how proud she was of her outfit. Great job Mom.
    Deborah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, my daughter loves to take pictures even after gymnastics, a long day at the sitters, and two hours past her bedtime :-) lol

      Delete