Julia’s NDAD Creation

It’s a little San Fran weekend with readers from Northern California getting DIY love!  Yesterday we saw Linda’s skirts that she tweaked after bringing them to my book signing at RGB Shop + Gallery and today we’re seeing Julia in the dress she upcycled to wear to the event!  There was a little sneak peek yesterday…

Teaser!!

…and today you get the full rundown!

I found this Krist Gudnason housecoat/muumuu at a local thrift store for $6.  Pretty sure it’s from the ’70s – what a great print!  It fit great but I didn’t like the neckline and the length was weird.

Julia – Before

It had these cool decorative frog closures at the neck and at the top of the side slit.

Side view with frog!!

Let’s see how Julia tweaks this puppy into something super fabulous!

I started by removing the frogs and cutting off the mandarin collar.

Ready to reattach!

I first cut a V neck but that looked wrong, so I used chalk to mark a scoop neckline that suited me better. 

Old Neckline

I used some black bias tape I had in my stash to finish the neckline.

New neckline!

I shortened the length and even had a misadventure with a puckering hem-stitch, so I decided to just leave the hem as a raw edge.

Length adjustment!

I created 6″ slits on both sides of the skirt and positioned the frogs at the top of each slit.  Yay!  Finished dress ready to go meet Marisa!

Julia – After

(How fab does Julia look???)

M & J

We had fun at our little signing party enjoying citrus sips by Strip And Go Bare…

Event Signage with cocktail sponsor Strip And Go Bare!

…and amazing art on RGB’s fabulously striped walls.

RGB’s fabulous walls!

The lovely Faithy who owns RGB was so gracious to host our little party and do a fun little intro before I jumped into the DIY project!

Faithy (RGB maven!)

We had fun consulting…

Serious fashion talk with E!

…going over ensemble ideas…

What to do?!?

…and checking out the book.

Sign time!

I even had fun taking some solo shots before everyone arrived!

Selfie!

I’m setting up a few more events over the next few months, so stay tuned!!  Julia, thank you SO much for sharing your gorgeous dress with us.  If I lived in SF, I’d be borrowing this from you often!