I Can't Stop!

Yep, you guessed it. I made yet another tank dress today. This time I chopped off the skirt part of this dress...

and attached it to a black tank top. I really did not wear this dress much before because I always found the top to be a bit awkward. Maybe because I wore it right after I had Ava and filled it out more. Or maybe because it was low cut and not good for everyday wear especially around my 3 year old. So since I bought it 3 years ago for my HS reunion, I decided it was worth it to cut it up and recyle it into my favorite style of dress.

Here is the after photos...I am dork. Did not like any of the photos I took (although I never really do) so thought I would give you all 4 dorky self portraits of me in the after version.

Still think I prefer the ones where you don't see my face. Ha!

Tank Dress

Once again, I decided to recycle some of my clothes. This time an Old Navy tank top that was WAY too long and kind of boxy and an ill fitting strapless dress from Target. I loved the dress last year but after wearing it a few times the chest part got stretched on one side and was a bit off.

So, I cut off the top of the dress (but kept a few rows of the shirring) and cut off most of the shirt to make this cute little empire waisted tank dress. I love it! These are my favorite pieces of clothing this year (if you can't tell) and I am so glad it is so easy to make them...especially when you are using 2 old pieces of clothing. Very little sewing my friends!

I also think next time I make a dress and have to make the skirt part myself, I will opt to do rows of shirring at the top as it looks better than elastic, is more comfortable and gives it just the right amount of stretch there. The only way this dress could be better is if I had taken the time to take the skirt apart and put pockets in. But I did not want to bother with that since it was already sewn. I'm lazy, what can I say. But I do love me some pockets.

PS. Sorry for the lame photos but no one is around to take my photo so my bedroom mirror & bad lighting will have to do!

Something for Me...Again!!

So I decided to try another project out for me...shocking I know! I have this old v-neck shirt that I bought this past fall for $4 and I really liked the fit of it. I wore it ALL the time.

Problem was, all that wear, made it get these little holes at the bottom...ugly!

I was going to throw it in the trash but then decided to save it to try to make a cute t-shirt dress out of it. I bought about 5 or 6 of this style dress this season (sleeveless instead of short sleeves). So I knew that I would like this style. With a bit of one of my favorite fabrics (from Patty Young's Mezzanine line -- I got the end of bolt at my fabric store for 30% off!), I whipped up this little dress this afternoon. No real pattern, just kind of figured it out. I even added pockets which is my favorite part! In my opinion, dresses with pockets are just all kinds of awesome. What do you think?

And I love how Ava just had to snuggle up to me (in her princess dress of course) for the photo! I think that next time I make this, I can do it more easily and probably even better. Just goes to show you, if you like a tank top or t-shirt and it gets those tiny holes in it, you can save it and make something really cute out of it.

Alteration

What is it with all the super short dresses lately? I mean, I like short dresses but recently the ones I try on are so short that you are afraid to move as you might expose yourself. I've bought a few of these to pair with leggings but seeing as it is 90+ degrees here, I don't always feel like wearing them.

So why I am talking all about this (other than to hear myself talk), you might ask? Well I was at Target today and found an adorable black dress for $7. Really cute, very flattering but SUPER short. I wavered back and forth about buying it. Finally I decided to buy it and to attempt to alter it by adding a solid color fabric to the bottom.

I quickly headed to my local fabric store to get a plain green (my favorite color!) cotton to add to it. While Ava napped, I quickly added about 4 inches to the dress thus making it wearable. What do you think? (sorry there is no before -- I forgot! but you can imagine this without the green at the bottom, right?)
I personally, am really happy I spent the $7 (plus the $5 for a yard of fabric of which I used only about 1/5 of). Finally a finished project for me!

P.S. That blue, half finished painting with the birds is the new artwork I am working on for Ava's room since the silhouettes I had planned to do turned into a disaster. Stay tuned for the finished product.