Kristen's NDAD Creation

Today's piece made by the lovely Kristen is something that's totally my style. I would wear this all the time!! I'm on the hunt for a similar top to recreate myself! Check out what she did...

Hi Marisa!  I've been reading your blog for years and have seen you make so many dresses into cute shirts...so I'm super excited to share this dress I made FROM a shirt! I picked up this silk/cotton blouse at a thrift store for $3 without a real plan in mind. I just loved the fabric and all the awesome lace and embroidery details. So it came home with me and sat on the top of my sewing pile for a few months.

In the meantime, I totally fell for the "Blanchefleur Dress" from Free People.

I love that super airy, high-low hem, so I decided to try and replicate it with my thrifted blouse.

Let's see how Kristen works out her thrifted piece!

The first thing I did was cut off the sleeves and take in the extra material around the bust. I was sad to lose the sleeves, but they found a purpose later in the process. 

Then I stitched up the new short sleeves by hand.

At this point the dress was SUPER SHORT - like tunic length (or teddy length) - so I used the fabric from the former long sleeves to piece together a 4-inch hem.

It was a bit of a stretch, but I made it happen - I pinned this to the original hem of the shirt, which already had a slight high-low shape. Fin! I love how many ways this dress can be styled! I topped it with my floppy felt hat and lace blouse for a ladylike look.

Then I went a bit more (shall we say) Coachella...and wore it belted with a little vest, headband, and these feather earrings, courtesy of my backyard chickens!

Cheers! Kristen

Kristen, I love your remake! Way to be inspired by the Free People piece to create your own version.  It looks gorgeous and can be worn so many different ways to enhance the boho chic-ness!  I'm on the hunt for mine now!

For more from Kristen, click HERE!

Remake: Vintage Bathing Suit

How about this for a swimsuit?

The under-workings of the piece fit perfectly, eh?

Yikes!

That's right, I'm doing a swimming stroke.  Outside.

I think this can be something super fun and wearable, outside of a swimming pool!!  Let's get on it!

I started off by getting rid of the warped bust cups.

They shrunk, got wrinkled, and were in no shape to stay in place.

With the cups gone...

...it was time to tackle the lower portion of the suit!  I started cutting off the area below the skirt with some scissors...

...until it was completely detached.

Someone spent a LOT of time sitting on concrete!  Look at how much this suit got pulled!

To give this piece a little bit of flair, I took some vintage rhinestones and placed them on a few of the flowers on the suit...

...and then used some gem glue to keep them in place.

I let the gems dry and then moved onto some cinching and pinching on the front.

I pinched the center section and pinned it with a safety pin to create a ruched look.

The suit's transformed!!!

The low back is my favorite part...

I created two different looks to wear the suit with.

LOOK #1

I'm reusing the lace cover up that I wore with my Game of Thrones costume on Halloween (click here for a refresher)!  It doesn't feel as costume-y when there are normal clothes being worn with it.

It's like a little boho ensemble, worn with a pair of vintage velvet slingback heels.

LOOK #2

I went with a leopard print sweater and some boots for another dress down, casual look to complement the suit.

It takes the suit, which has turned into a super feminine top and gives it a bit of edge.

And because it's still a suit, I had to pretend that I was back in the ocean again.

This turned into a super comfortable piece that can really get layered with anything.  But I still love the fact that this was something that was solely meant for the ocean in its past life.  I might have to keep my eyes peeled for more of these guys!

Happy weekend, friends!!

Remake Teaser: Vintage Bathing Suit & Striped Quilted Dress

I'm in the process finishing up two super fun pieces - one will be up later today! I found this amazing bathing suit a little while back and have been wanting to work on it.  I mean, come on paisley!  Also, it's super warm in LA right now, so I'm taking advantage of what might be some of the last warm (80 degree) days of the year.

And this one is a new favorite.

The detail on the front of this dress is sick - it's like a little quilt!  You'll see more close up shots of this one in the full post.

Stay tuned!!