Happy Mother's Day!! To celebrate the day I just couldn't resist going with a Mother of the Bride ensemble sent to me by Phyllis in Wilmington, NC. This piece was just yearning for a remake - hello early 90s!!
"Marisa, this dress was one that I found at my neighbor's garage sale. There is a hole at the bottom but thought you could do some magic! It was a dress my neighbor wore to a wedding of one of her son's and was never going to be used again. I mentioned what I was going to do with it and she's excited to have you give it a second life!"
Beaded collar, dangling beaded applique and a cape of sorts in ivory?! Hmm, let's see how much of that is left by the end of this.
First thing on the agenda is removing that beaded collar!
I used my seam ripper and began to remove the piece attached to the dress.
Now that it was off (woo hoo!)...
...the crepey material was going to be trimmed out next.
With a pair of scissors, I trimmed right up next to where the material hit the dress.
Once it was out...
...it was time to get rid of the cape and the sleeves!
With a seam ripper the stitches attaching the cape that was attached to the back of the dress and the sleeves started coming off.
Sleeves came off...
...and the new, sleeveless armholes were pinned next.
Because I didn't want to go full Dolly Parton, I trimmed off the dangling applique and just left the bead and sequin work around the neck.
I threaded a needle and began to stitch down the edges to keep any of the pearly beads from coming off as well as stitching the applique directly to the piece.
I wasn't going to leave it as a dress, so I got to cutting, because there was no way that this hole was going to fly!
Began to trim right at the bottom of the torso layer of the dress.
Once my piece was trimmed, I pinned the bottom to create a new hem and began to sew everything in place.
From Mother of the Bride dress to Daughter of the Mother top, the new tank was ready to celebrate my mama!
I got together with my family and spent the day brunching, watching the Lakers, and getting a pedicure...my mom does the best manis/pedis and even though it was Mother's Day, we both got something out of it. I got a fresh coat and she got a daughter with not so unruly/partially chipped/crimson toes. She might have been more excited that me :)
We also got to talk to my grandma/her mom in NC and came across this fab photo from a trip of hers to Hawaii.
I'm going to have to recreate this piece at some point soon!!
Got to have some QT with the family over cappuccinos, iced teas and rosemary potatoes.
Loved the final piece! From a great shell to wear under a cardigan or blazer or to pair with some fun colored jeans, the potential for this piece is grand.
I'll break this one out again soon...Phyllis and your fab neighbor, thank you for sending!!
Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing moms out there - we love you :)
