Lengthen a Dress with Color Blocking

I bought what I thought was the perfect summer dress online last year.  Loved it.  Wore it, washed it (cold water and drip dry) and it shrunk up way above my knees!  Grrrr!  Sadly, my way-too-short dress hung in the closet for the rest of the summer.

Last week I realized I had some raspberry colored gingham that perfectly coordinated with the dress and set to work color blocking to lengthen the dress.

 

First I slipped on the dress and measured where I wanted the first band of gingham, marked it and then cut the dress:

 

 

Using the strip I'd cut from the bottom of the dress, I used it as a guide for cutting my first band of gingham:

 

 

Then I pinned the gingham strip to the cut band of the dress:

 

 

And sewed the two pieces together so that it looked like this:

 

 

I repeated the process with a second, thinner band of gingham before sewing the new, gingham, two-banded piece to the top (bodice) of the dress.  I finished it all off with bias tape along the hem line ~ this helped me keep more length and it's easier than sewing a hem.

 

 

Now it is the perfect summer dress!

 

Men's Shirt Refashion Tutorial {Dress Sewn for $6}

I made this dress in a couple of hours for just $6.

 

Talk about a lucky score!  I found a stash of enormous men's dress shirts at the Salvation Army for $2 a piece.  I grabbed four of them in this pretty, robin's egg blue color, and another four in a soft, buttery yellow.

I normally repurpose men's shirts into aprons like these (click here for details in a prior blog post):

 

 

...But decided to give dress-making a go this time.

I started by taking one shirt and narrowed the sleeves and bodice:

I picked the pocket off of a second shirt...

...Then cut it in half, just below the arms:

I baste stitched along the cut line then pulled the threads to gather it:

Then stitched closed the button placket:

I pinned the gathered shirt to the first shirt and sewed them together.

 

I topped stitched the waist, where the bodice meets the skirt:

 

 

The dress was complete.  Until I tried it on and realized it was way too short (at 5' 10" this is a very common problem for me!).  So, I took a third shirt and cut several inches off the bottom...

...And pinned it underneath the hem of the dress.  Following the hemline of the dress, I top stitched the pieces together and stitched down the button placket of the third shirt.

Dog walking on a sunny spring day was the perfect excuse for donning my new dress.  Notice Twyla's collar corsage?  Click here for the blog post on how I made it.

 

Oh, and why wear just one pearl necklace when you can pile on 7?!

 

I love it when I can elicit a big eye roll from Captain Project!

Glad Rags Vintage Clothing Documentary Filming

(Photo courtesy Glad Rags)

 

The Glad Rags team (that's Vallerie Perrault on the left and Brianne Richard on the right) visited Retro Revival to film a segment for their documentary film series, "Glad Rags."  The gals are traveling across the USA, from Boston to Los Angeles, exploring the history of textile production and sustainability of vintage clothing, by interviewing people who buy, sell, live and love vintage.

 

Brianne contacted me a few months ago after discovering this blog.  Isn't Blogville an amazing place?!  She and Vallerie were interested in filming me and learning more about how I collect and upcycle my found vintage linens into aprons.

 

I was nervous about their visit, not knowing what to expect and never having been filmed before this.  Turns out, I had no reason for worry because they were the sweetest young ladies!  So smart and passionate about vintage linens and clothing, and within minutes we were laughing and chatting like old friends!

 

(Photo courtesy Glad Rags)

 

They're heading to Raleigh and Florida next, and then on to Atlanta, Tennessee, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and ending in Los Angeles.  If you know a person or place of textile interest, please let them know!  Their email is gladragsdoc@gmail.com.

 

(Image courtesy Glad Rags)

 

 

The team, including their friend Heather on the left, wrapped filming by playing a bit of dress up in my aprons ~ so fun!

 

You can learn more about Glad Rags and their mission by visiting their website.  You can also follow the adventure on their Facebook page, Flickr page, and Instagram.  The documentary series will hopefully be ready to debut sometime after the new year ~ of course I'll keep you posted.

 

Vintage Clothing $50 Gift Card Giveaway!

Are you familiar with Shabby Apple?  I'm obsessed with this online, vintage style clothing, woman-owned business!

I've got my eyes on these beauties:









Vintage-inspired with a modern twist ~ gorgeous, right?!  They also offer a big range of other vintage clothing and accessories including skirts, tops, home accessories, maternity wear, kids clothing, and awesome retro bathing suits.

Thanks to Shabby Apple (they have not compensated me) you can take a bite of the Apple!  I'm giving away a $50 gift card ~ woo hoo!

You can view all of Shabby Apple's vintage clothing by clicking on this link:

Vintage clothing http://www.shabbyapple.com/c-458-vintage-style.aspx vintage clothing.

Shabby Apple's website is full of pretty images.  Head on over and I'm sure you'll enjoy it!  Then come back here...

1. Become a follower of my blog

2.  Leave a comment

...and you're entered!  Hurry though, contest ends in one week, at midnight EST, May 9th.  {Shabby's rule that this contest is only open to US residents ~ sorry!}

Have fun & good luck, friends!

For Fancy Occassions

Getting ready for my son's wedding last month I realized I had nothing appropriate to wear!  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know...doesn't everyone say this?!  But really, I didn't!  I do have several gorgeous warm-weather day dresses but nothing for cold weather.  I ended up making do with a sleevless wool dress that I had worn several years earlier to a corporate Christmas party.  After the wedding I resolved to find something for my next fancy, cold-weather occassion.

Score!  I came across a wonderful Etsy shop, Alice and Clara.  Jennie, the shop owner, made me this fabu dress from a 1954 Simplicity pattern - isn't it gorgeous?!

It's a light weight, all-weather, dove grey colored wool - perfect for Florida winters.

Jennie has always loved sewing and was an artist/animator early in her career.  As a stay at home mom of five girls (2 sets of twins!), she perfected her sewing and began concentratng on historic and kid costumes and wearable art.  As her children grew, Jennie got a job as costumer in a theater that had a museum-quality costume collection that gave her the opportunity to study, alter, remake, repair and recreate every decade of clothes, all the way back to the mid 1800's.

Now that her kids are all grown, Jennie's open for business on Etsy and says, "I gives me fun projects to sew in addition to my first career as a book illustrator."

Jennie altered the pattern to suit my specific requests and updated me with pictures of her progress.  She changed the skirt so that it is totally gathered:

And added three-quarter length sleeves (original pattern had capped sleeves):

I nagged her until she relented and sent me a picture of herself:)

(Just as pretty as she is talented!)

Thank you Jennie, I absolutely love my new retro dress!

Several of you have commented about wanting a retro dress in a modern size; well, AliceAndClara is the answer!  Contact Jennie and she'll accommodate your requests, keep you updated on specifics and sew you YOUR ultimate, dream retro dress!

Please leave a comment for a chance to win this month's giveaway:

My New "Vintage" Dress

Looky looky at my new dress!

This is my "Alice" dress from Kim at Time Machine Vintage.  It's a kitschy vintage reproduction wraparound dress from an original 1950's pattern.

I am in love with this dress because it's just so darling (dotted swiss fabric), very comfortable and especially because of the custom hand applique Kim did on the pocket:

How cute is this?!  My retro lady - yay!  Cannot wait to wear this dress to my upcoming fairs!

A little about Kim...

Kim's been providing custuming and creative design for local Vermont theaters for years while selling some of her vintage clothing collection on eBay.  Over time, she began hearing from women looking for vintage cotton day dresses in modern sizes (very difficult to find).  She seized the opportunity to use her skills, creativity, vintage patterns and fabric collection to launch Time Machine Vintage.  Great decision, Kim!  In just a few short weeks selling on Etsy, she's already sold 27 dresses - woo hoo!

I've got my eye on this one now:

(You choose the fabric and Kim fashions it from original vintage patterns)

(This is Kim, my favorite retro creationista!)

In addition to her fabu dresses, Kim's beginning to expand her product line to include vintage separates - skirts, blouses, slacks and even bathing suits (you've read about my obsession with vintage bathing suits!).

Please check out Kim's shop at Time Machine Vintage it's the place to find the perfect retro ensemble!

September blog giveaway: it's easy to enter for a chance to win this great book...

...Just leave a comment on any or all of my September blog posts and you're automatically entered to win.  I will draw the winner's name on September 30th.