Outfit Remake: Velvet Babydoll Dress

Happy January 6th, friends!! I took a little new year road trip break last week and headed to a place that I had never been to - the Grand Canyon!  It was magical!  I'm back in action now, woo (!!), and this one was brought on the road with me.  It also happens to be one of my favorite photo sequences.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

I saw this velvet babydoll dress in a pile of goodies and got it solely because of the rad lace collar and the pearly buttons.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

It was hard to tell in my hands that it was tiny, but once I put it on and tried to get it over my chestal area...we were having some issues.  No amount of sucking in was gonna get this bad boy on.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

The more I tried to get it on, the worse it was trying to take it off.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

I had some serious work on my hands!!

I wanted to maintain the parts of the piece that I loved the most, so in figuring out how this would work on me, I decided to cut the piece in two.  A top portion (that isn't getting used this go) and the bottom portion which is going to become my new skirt.

I used a rotary cutter to trim the piece in half...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

...but left a bit of velvet at the top of the skirt part.  There were two ties attached to the seam of the velvet portion, so I left this area intact.  I was going to take off all the velvet and add accents at the pockets, but I liked that the velvet was going to look like a belt or sash.  I didn't need to add a button or zipper because the skirt fit over my head and the sashes cinched the waist, however adding either one of these would work well.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

I stitched down a new seam at the waist...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

...and had a skirt ready for the first stop on my road trip to the GC!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

I paired my skirt with a white Ralph Lauren button-down that I've had for years, a pair of tights, and my most comfortable leopard flats (they were super easy to pack too!)

I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel (got a STEAL using the Hotel Tonight app - $40 for the night...) and loved that all of their elevators had quotes from songs with "elevator" in the lyrics.  I tried my best peace sign/sunglasses on at 9am look to shoot this one.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

It was the perfect thing to wear - the weather was just cool enough to make the tights and long sleeves comfortable without needing a jacket!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

I think my sunglasses stayed on the whole time.  That's what happens when you mix gambling (I met a rad group from TX and one of their names was actually Bradley Cooper - he also wore mismatched shoes on purpose, so there you go), people smoking inside, and lack of sleep for me :)

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

I must say, this Vegas trip was super tame - I made a sequined dress last time for the wedding of one of my BFFs at Madame Tussaud's and will have to bring the sequins back for my next LV trip!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage babydoll dress - velvet

Viva Las Vegas!!

Kammy's NDAD Creation

Light denim shirts are all the rage and Kammy's piece is totally on trend!!  I crafted my own denim dress last fall (click here for a refresher!) and still am on the hunt for more vintage denim!  This piece is amazing and I'm looking forward to finding my own shirt to transform.  Check it out...

I don't have a special story in particular, but ever since I came upon your blog, I've been following it religiously (as well as other refashion/upcycling blogs) and finally decided to give it a try!

I started with an old button up that belonged to my dad...

New Dress A Day - DIY - upcycled denim shirt

What will Kammy turn this into??

I resized it to fit me!

New Dress A Day - DIY - upcycled denim shirt

It fit pretty well except for around the armhole area, so I decided to try and add darts.

New Dress A Day - DIY - upcycled denim shirt

That failed miserably hence the bows I added to hide them, but overall I'm pretty happy with this attempt.

New Dress A Day - DIY - upcycled denim shirt

Thanks for the inspiration, Marisa!

I love what you did, Kammy!!  You totally followed the "try, try again" mantra until you got this piece to a place you were happy with and it looks fantastic.  Darts didn't work, so add some bows!  You win the "Make It Work" award for the week, hands down.  Thank you so much for sharing!! Can't wait to see what's coming next.

Erica's NDAD Creation

I love my girl Erica at Recycled-Fashion in Australia - even though she's enjoying summer right now, she sent over this fab remake using a striped sweater!  It's a little 2-for-1 action going on!  Check it out...

In an effort to keep warm, this is my second sweater skirt sewing refashion! I found the striped jumper in the sale at a local church affiliated Op Shop (Australian thrift store) for $2.50. It always makes me smile to find a sale at an Op Shop, considering the original prices are so low anyway.

New Dress A Day - DIY leg warmers - upcycled sweater

I think you're going to love what Erica makes...

 I've snipped off each arm and neckline...

New Dress A Day - DIY leg warmers sweater skirt - upcycled sweater

...and crafted the body into a skirt...

New Dress A Day - DIY sweater skirt - upcycled sweaterNew Dress A Day - DIY sweater skirt - upcycled sweater

...and the arms into leg warmers.

New Dress A Day - DIY leg warmers - upcycled sweater

I serged all raw edges and added a casing band to include elastic to the top of both pieces.

Absolutely adorable and so practical for the cold temperatures.  If you're not going to wear the piece as is, why not make it into two pieces that will be worn over and over again??  Rock it out, Erica!!