Remake: Pink Embellished Flower Dress

When I saw this pink floral number, I just had to have it.

Those little floaty floral embellishments on the top and bottom of the dress were amazing!

Just wasn't happy about the waistline. It had no shape (thanks so some worn out elastic)...

...but that's an easy fix! Time to Fit-It Felix!! (any other Wreck-It Ralph-ers out there??? I finally just saw and loved!!)

Had to start with that elastic waist!!

I removed all the old, worn out elastic first.

Next, I pinned new elastic to a safety pin and wove it through the waistline.

With the old elastic out, I measured the right amount that would give me exactly the waist cinch that I needed.

I stitched closed the opening where I wove the elastic through and then cut my dress a bit shorter!

I didn't want to say goodbye to the flowers at the bottom, but I'll find another use for those soon! I stitched a new hem next...

...and had my dress ready to wear!

I paired the dress with a fun vintage-y pink belt just to give a little extra color to the ensemble.

I just love those flowers at the top of the dress!

I love the new length and it's totally perfect for summer!

Just the thing to wear to a Venice BBQ. I felt like I was on vacation right at home!

This bubblegum pink just might me my new color of the summer? Thoughts? Any other pink takers?

Outfit Rewind: 60s Floral Dress

I'm going back to my first year of blogging for today's rewind piece!! It's always so incredible looking back at the pieces that started this blog! The photos are obviously not the most amazing quality, but that was when I was using my point and click and before I even owned an iPhone. Original post date: 6/21/10

The Before Look: (Click here for full project steps and original post!)

My $1 dress, after a little cutting and pasting, turned out looking like the below.

The After Look:

For the second wear, I switched it up a bit.

Check out the newly styled look...

To break up a bit of the pattern while still keeping it feminine, I added a layer skirt on top of the dress!

One of my favorite summery skirts by Trina Turk, layered on top of the upcycled dress from four years ago, makes this rewind look even better the second time around!

A pair of Candie's mules and Urban Outfitters sunnies round out the vintage-y look! I love how it looks!

The skirt over-the-dress move is such a slam dunk. You might be seeing this trick again soon!

Remake: Blue Satin Bridesmaid Dress

You got the teaser of this fabulous blue party dress last week...

...and today it's time to see the upcycled results!

I started off by removing the pouffy sleeves.

Just to get an idea, this is the purplish discoloration underneath that was found under both sleeves. Cute, eh?

Once I got rid of both of the sleeves...

...the top portion of the dress looked just like this:

Because the trim is a bit much at the neck, I started to remove it with a seam ripper, right at the bust.

With the trim removed from the front of the dress, I was left with this train o'trim!!

To hide the leftover portion of the discoloration at the arms, I stitched down the layers of trim right under the armpits.

Now I'm still going to work with this frilly trim, but turning this dress into a halter and using these guys as the straps! I cut the center in half and moved on to tweaking the length next.

I want to make this fun and flirty, so a big portion of the length of the dress got cut off.

I pinned under the raw edges of the dress...

...and stitched down a new hem.

I ironed down the straps...

...then pinched and cinched the bust line, adding a safety pin to the center of the dress for a bit of ruching. My new party dress was complete!!

I love that this dress still has the party vibe essence! It still has a vintage-y feel, but it doesn't scream 80s anymore!

Those ruffles are hidden now!!

Except for a few hints of the ruffles in the back. I liked keeping the back of the dress' ruffles as they were, but it's always an easy tweak to stitch them down to match the area at the arms if I change my mind.

I think this makes a perfect wedding guest dress or one that's ready for a summer cocktail party.

Paired with a vintage shell purse and a pair of yellow BCBG shoes with bows, the accessories had just the bit of bold color flair to make the dress pop even more!!

After a long day of sewing, it's time to kick up my heels!!

Next time I have to remember not to lean all the way back when I'm sitting on a ledge right in front of succulents. Yep, there's now a band-aid on my back covering the little puncture wound. Oh the pains of fashion...