Women's Strapless Dress to Girls' Halter Dress

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This dress was the least drastic transformation, but it required a lot more work than most of the other dresses to do it properly. It started out as a women's strapless dress, so I just had to remove the cups, take in and reshape the chest and sides, then add halter ties. However, it is fully lined and I ended up ripping the whole thing apart so it wasn't as easy as it looks. It turned out really cute and fits her really well, though.

Take in a women's dress and add straps to make a girls' halter dress.

Add halter ties to a women's strapless dress.I like the idea of thinking outside the box and even if something doesn't fit or has features you don't like, you can redesign it and make it work for you. There are a lot of possibilities when refashioning clothing.

women's party dress to girls' halter dress refashion

refashioned girls' halter dress

back of girls' halter dress

Turn a women's strapless dress into a little girls' halter dress.Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

Sparkly Womens Tank to Girls Dress Top

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This dress was so simple to make, but my daughter loves it! The top is sparkly, the bottom is silky, it has a nice drape, and it is comfortable. sparkly womens tank to girls dress top

The outside is made from a women's sparkly tank and  the lining is made from a women's T shirt. The top was constructed using the Uptown/Downtown Dress pattern. This pattern is great for knit fabrics! I have used it several times just to save myself the hassle of drafting my own pattern for something so simple.

sparkly teal top girls dress

She wanted the skirt to be a high-low hem, but I messed up, so it isn't. It is made of fabric I got at a yard sale or something and I didn't even bother to hem it.

sparkly womens tank to girls dress

back of sparkly tank dress

I was really happy with how neat and tidy it looks on the outside and inside. I used a "burrito" method to sew around the arms.

sparkly tank top dress

inside of sleeveless dress

Overall, I like the simple design of this dress because it lets the beautiful fabrics stand out. I  had everything on hand and didn't have to buy anything, which makes it even better!

womens sparkly tank to girls dress top

Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

1950s Retro Dress

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I am a little behind. That is the story of my life. I ran out of steam and didn't finish the Easter dresses in time for Easter this year. I decided a happy mom spending time with her kids was better than a grumpy one frantically sewing. So, I finished them when I felt like it. The last one didn't get done until July 30.

And that is OK.

My "theme" this year was "upcycled" so this dress was constructed of a thrifted sheet.

1950s retro dress

halley back of dress wm

VIntage style dress made from a thrift store sheet

My 12yo chose a commercial pattern for her dress this year (Simplicity 8051). It is a retro style with a cute, triangle cutout in the back. We got it for $1 at Joann's so I was willing to give it a try. I have always hated patterns by those big companies. They are anything but "simple" and I would rather draft my own and figure it out myself. (I have found some pdf patterns by smaller designers to be very well done, however.)

rockabilly dress

open triangle back dress

She is also at a very awkward, in-between age. By measurements she fit a misses pattern, but I found that it wasn't designed for her body type. I had to remake the entire top and redraft the pattern quite a bit. Even then, I still had to make some changes. It was very frustrating and I could have just drafted it myself from the beginning.

retro dress

I learned some new techniques with this dress, but I did not like some of the construction process and ended up improving it. It meant a lot of hand stitching. It was tedious, but it looks so much better!

inside dress construction

I learned how to do a proper narrow hem on a curve. I was very, very happy with how that turned out.

narrow dress hem

I also made her a pettiskirt from a ruffled curtain, but she won't wear it. :(

Overall, the dress turned out OK. It isn't my favorite and doesn't fit as well as the ones I draft for her from measurements. It is a fun style, though.

I will be blogging about the rest of the girls' dresses in the next week or so, so keep checking back to see more!

 
The photo props...
Easy Ribbon Wands Tutorial
Link Parties where I sometimes hang out…

Wave Fabric T Shirt Dress

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navy-chiffon-rosette.jpg

When I was making Easter dresses this year, I started to run out of ambition. I ended up making a cheater dress for the youngest. She can't voice her opinion yet and my best friend reminded me that there are no others to pass it down to later, so it would get less wear than the other dresses. I liked that logic.

It is just a simple T shirt dress. I got a basic Garanimals shirt at Walmart for the top. I found this navy wave texture fabric in the remnant bin at Joanns for the skirt.

I chopped a few inches off the bottom of the shirt, sewed the skirt in a tube, and then attached them with my serger. It was ridiculously easy.

To add a little something to the top I made a navy, chiffon flower out of some scraps from the

bridesmaid dress

and sewed it on.

Even with my minimal effort, it is still a cute dress and it is a little more practical for a toddler, too.

So, that is it! These are all of the Easter dresses I made this year. I love the navy and white, which I have mentioned a few times already. You can see the other dresses by clicking on the pictures below.