Wednesday, October 28, 2020

Upcycled Dresses

 If you have watched me shopping at a thrift store the past months, you may have seen me looking through the extra large skirts. I was searching for long full skirts, with only side seams, in fun prints, in non-wrinkling, stetchy fabric.  


My little girls needed play dresses, and I found that I could make a simple dress in a few minutes from a large skirt. I printed off the pattern for the play-all-day-dress and taped the pieces together. Then I laid the skirt out flat and folded it in half, which made four thicknesses of fabric. I laid the pattern on the skirt on the fold line (not the side seams) and cut it out. 

In the photo above, the fabric on the right is the extra. On the left is the folded dress piece. Since the skirt was folded, I had cut both the front and the back at the same time. Then I slimply stiched up the side seams, stiched the shoulder seams, and hemmed the neckline. I used a zig-zag stitch so that the fabric could stretch without breaking the thread. I kept the original hem and didn't bother hemming the sleaves since the fabric wouldn't ravel. I also didn't put any elastic in the waist.

By the time I had made my second dress, I had gotten even faster.



My girls love having new play dresses. And I love having so little time and money in a dress.

Do you have a favorite upcycle project?

20 comments :

  1. How lovely the dresses look. My current recycling project is making face masks for the family out of my husband's old shirts. Also making aprons and pillow cases from old sheets.

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  2. Sounds like an interesting project! Another idea is buying jeans from thrift stores, cutting off the legs, sewing it shut, and turning it into a purse.

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    1. I like that idea. Have used Jean legs to make little pouches for game pieces, so they don't get lost when travelling.

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    2. My sister-in-law used jean legs to create carrying bags for mountain pie irons! The hem of the jean leg is the top of the bag! You can even add carrying handles! Dirty mountain pie irons? No problem! Just turn the pouches inside out and launder with jeans!

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  3. That is brilliant! I will definitely be doing this for my great-niece!

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  4. Those are so cute, Gina! What a great idea!

    I have an entire Pinterest board filled with repurposing, upcycling projects!

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  5. I"m in awe! I wish I could come up with dresses that fast for me. They look very happy with their new dresses.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  6. I love upcycled items. My daughter helped me with a extra large moo moo type dress that we turned into a modest skirt.
    It came out really pretty.

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  7. I forgot to mention that your girl's dresses came out so cute!

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  8. In 2017 I "chaired" the annual quilt show for my quilt guild. I made it a theme with "The Shirt Off Your Back" - quilts made from men's shirts. I made 3. After the show I Gave each of my daughters one & my youngest brother one. I got my brother's quilt back this year because he died in December 2019 (2 brothers actually died within 24 hours of one another - unrelated deaths..) I spend a few minutes every month going thru the men's long sleeved dress shirt section at Goodwill hunting interesting prints. I can not help myself! It's incredible how much fabric is really in a men's XXL long sleeved shirt! I love the challenge & I love taking them apart & creating something new. I have also started buying flannel (flat) sheets at the thrift store to use as backings for my quilts. The flat sheets usually have zero pilling. I can't BUY flannel that big for $5! If I bought flannel by the yard, wide width, I would spend more than $40/$50 ! I have no qualms buying flannel sheets from Goodwill! I can not seem to get out of the habit.

    The play dresses you have made for your girls are such a great idea! They look cute in them as well.

    Thank you for sharing

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  9. Great idea! If you need more skirts let me know, I could thin out my closet.

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  10. Wow,those dresses came out beautiful. A really great idea using a large skirt!

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  11. I made a "seek and find" quilt for my grandson out of fabric scraps that I had saved from other projects. One of my son's has requested a denim quilt so I've been searching the thrift stores for well worn but in good shape jeans that I can cut into squares. The dresses you made for your girls are so cute. I will keep that in mind for my granddaughter!

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  12. How lovely! I love the Play-All-Day pattern, but I've never upcycled thrift store skirts. I'll give it a try. :)

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  13. GINA: ME ENCANTAN LOS VESTIDOS DE TUS HIJAS, SON SIMPLES, MODESTOS, Y LES QUEDAN MUY BIEN, YO TAMBIEN HE RECICLADO ROPA QUE NO USAMOS, ACABO DE DESARMAR UNA CAMISA QUE MI ESPOSO YA NO USA Y LA TELA TODAVIA ESTA BUENA, ESTOY HACIENDO UNA BERMUDA PARA UNO DE MIS NIÑOS, QUEDARA BIEN Y LA USARA PARA EL VERANO QUE SE ESTA ACERCANDO. BENDICIONES A LA DISANCIA.

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  14. Your dresses look beautiful, what a wonderful idea. I have a little granddaughter so hoping to sew more for her when I can send parcels overseas easily. Thanks for the inspiration. Best wishes, Pauline

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  15. I miss your posts. Upcycleing from the thrift store is fun. The dresses look great. My thoughts are with you and your family.

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  16. Excellent job. I love to up cycle too,especially men's shirts. I have mM

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