Week 14: Melanie

January 18, 2012 with 28 Comments

Miss Melanie sent over this most fabulous piece from Boca.  I absolutely loved the short, yet sweet note:

“Two words – sweater dress.  Two more words – shoulder pads.  Sorry, but I just couldn’t resist!  Make it work, Mel :) ”

Week 14: Melanie - Before

Week 14: Melanie - Before

It felt very Mona from Who’s The Boss…

Mona loves sweaters!

Mona loves sweaters!

…but I really can’t get away with wearing it as is!!

I started off with some trimming!

Grab those shears!

Grab those shears!

I cut the dress in half!!  Leaving about 18 inches below the trim (working on an easy skirt with the leftovers) I decided to keep this a festive sweater.  The striped sleeves were awesome and I couldn’t have been more obsessed with the rhinestones around the neck.

Snippy McSnipperstein

Snippy McSnipperstein

In true 80s fashion, there were shoulder pads!!  Shoulder pads in sweaters, why not.  I think that was the thought coming from the Pierre Cardin and Esprit headquarters in 1983.  “When in doubt, shoulder pad it out!!”  (Yeah, I totally would have been on payroll back then if I wasn’t three years old…these taglines would have been my goldmine!!)

Shoulder pads, out!

Shoulder pads, out!

Because of not wanting the mohair to shed and fray, I quickly stitched around the bottom edge to avoid potential disaster.  There’s a chance that I would have left a trail of purple sheddings if I hadn’t stitched.

Edge stitching!

Edge stitching!

Just a simple adjustment to make this piece workable for today!  I was totally into the sleeves, and liked the billowy, ok well billowy for a sweater, nature.

Week 14: Melanie - After

Week 14: Melanie - After

If I wasn’t so attached to the neck stones…

Rhinestones, you had me at hello...

Rhinestones, you had me at hello...

…I would have adjusted the neckline.  Luckily for me, I was off to see two of my favorite children in life (and their equally amazing parents) and they don’t judge – tweaked or untweaked neck, they still show the love!!

My favorite kiddos!!

My favorite kiddos A & O!!

I was given an awesome dance performance and was schooled in some iPhone app games.  With a 26 year age difference between us, they probably text faster than me and are the duo between “tianarox” who kicks my tush in Words With Friends games.

Cheese!!!

Cheese!!!

You can see my shoes above, tossed off to the side…  That was right after this happened:

Baby's got a new pair of shoes!

Baby's got a new pair of shoes!

Elmo pj pants with size nine flats – classic combination!!  This could be the newest trend, thanks to Lil’ A :)

The rest of the sweater will be tackled tomorrow.  Knit skirt for a chillier Southern California January day, check!!  Thank you Mel for the sweater dress of fabulousness!!

 

  • http://profiles.google.com/giafrank gia frank

    So brave, to alter mohair!! The sweater is darling, can’t wait to see the skirt! Have a blessed day:)

    • Anonymous

      Thank you Gia!!  Hope your day is wonderful too :)

  • DinaB

    Lil’A would make a great model if you ever had a kid size redo! It would be great for all those family hand-me-downs (like the ones I grew up with).
     Lovin the sweater :~)

    • Anonymous

      That is definitely something down the road!

  • Tollyfaye

    Cute sweater re-do! Love the stripes!

  • Desiree

    When reading your posts I often visualize what I think should be done to the original piece.  This time I thought you’d remove the sleeves (they’d make some wicked-awesome leg warmers!) and tweak the dress for a sleek and chic look.  I’m constantly amazed by your ingenuity!  Can’t wait to see the finished skirt!

    • Judy B.

      Yep, I thought the same thing. A sleeveless knit sheath in that fabulous color, maybe with a wide belt . . . .

    • Anonymous

      Ooh leg warmers!!! That would have been wicked awesome!

  • Janelle

    what did you have the machine set on to stitch that hem? 

  • Raven Vancil

    Nice job. I couldn’t have shortened that dress, especially right now with Decora fashion, and 80′s reunites. LOL It just needed an oversized belt like the good old days. If I had adjusted it, I might have added updated studs and possibly taken the hem line up enough to be a long tunic. Although, at a later date, you could always add another color to it to give it  a fresh appearance again. Save this one for sure, that has so many more redo options!!!! 

    • Anonymous

      Oh, I absolutely will Raven!

  • http://www.wom-mom.com/ Wom Mom Ethne

    The billowy striped sleeves turned out much better as a sweater than sweater dress.  I’m not a huge fan of boatnecks, but agreed, rhinestones are too classic to cut out.

  • rojopaul

    Stripes are very in now.  Loving the re-do.  And I enjoyed reminiscing about the ’80s when we all had big hair and wore shoulder pads in EVERYthing.  :-)

  • Ashley in ohio

    I think this would also look cute if you still put a belt around it! Great Idea I wish I could be as creative as you are.

  • http://pioneerprincess.wordpress.com/ Pioneer Princess

    This one I really can’t believe you pulled off.  I would not have seen the potential.

  • Melissa

    I got married in those shoes!!

    • Anonymous

      They’re the best!!  You picked well Melissa!

  • Lindasews

    I wore a sweater like that in the 80′s. Only it was navy blue and had a big white anchor on the front. I’m sure I wore red button earings and red shoes with it. Yes, I was a teacher.

  • Lauraly

    Kinda cute, I like the rhinestones too:)

  • Pratima

    Cute! <3 the baggy-ness. :) And the rhinestones add a nice flair. 

  • Cathryn

    Love this as a top! I’m amazed at what simply pushing up the sleeves did! A & O are adorable.

  • dosfashionistas

    Love the re-do! The boat neck looks good on you…don’t automatically go for the v-neck look alllll the time. What stitch did you use on the bottom of the sweater? I have done simple hems with a zig-zag stitch and it worked better than I was expecting. I love how you share your life with us…Thank you!

  • Liccie

    I would love to have seen this made into a sleek, two piece knit ensemble with a sleeveless top and slim skirt. You could even have taken a smidgen of length from the bottom and transformed the neck into a cowl. 

  • A.B.

    Fantastic transformation as always!!! And I love your ‘lil helpers :)

  • Maggie

    If you had shed purple fuzz it could have been PURPLE RAIN! I miss the 80′s or was that one early 90′s?

  • Maureen

    Pulled a pic from the late 80′s of me in a beauty school glam shot! Was rocking a sweater think this one had a big black stripe down the front.The color of my hair was called audacious red!! Love me  a bright sweater so great redo!

  • Lovestosew

    I love the sweater.  Are you going to make a Winter skirt out of the piece you cut off?  I can picture a sexy pencil skirt.  The color is great.

  • Juan Carlos

    We dudes were not immune to the shoulder-pad-mania of the 80′s.  Check out my Spandau Ballet look circa ’86! LOL!

    Mona from “Who’s The Boss” LOL!  Maybe when you get to the age to be a sexy cougar like Mona, you can put the shoulder pads back in! LOL!