What’s better than unearthing a fantastic vintage find in the thrift store? How about discovering a heap o’ classic treasures while helping Great Auntie clean out her storage room and getting to take it all away because she was going to “toss it out with the rest of the trash“? hmmm…I wonder if future generations of the family will be as excited to dig through my old junk!
I created the Lurvly Lamé ensemble above with 2 of my recent inherited acquisitions & a couple of bits from my stash. Have a peek in your own and create one for yourself in about an hour with a lil’ vintage glitz: a thrifty dress refashion:
Grab a long sleeved shirt & a tank top.
Here’s a close-up of the exquisite 1960’s luster-y lurex lamé top pilfered from Great Auntie…shiny!
Grab the tank top & give it some embellishment love! I chose a pretty vintage quilting patch & pinned it to the back.
I dug out my fancy gold thread (another inherited bit of awesomeness from the 1960’s).
Stitched it on following the outer edge as closely as possible.
Then chopped out the tank top fabric from behind the patch.
Pretty!
Next, snag the long sleeved shirt, turn it inside out & slice it under the arms (set aside the top bit for now).
Chop off the bottom hem of the tank top.
Put the bottom of the shirt over the tank top, right sides facing, raw edges together & side seams lined up.
Stitch together.
Flip your new dress right side out & zigzag over the outside seam for extra strength.
Wheee! The fancy lil’ dress is complete! (the gold thread around the patch & the skirt match perfectly!)
Now for the groovy bolero: chop the remaining top of the shirt straight up the middle.
Zigzag all around the raw edge – using a rolled hem foot & stretching the fabric as you stitch will create a pretty lettuce hem.
This amazing bit of inherited bling-from-the-60’s was absolutely perfect for the bolero closure.
The flowers had convenient button-backs making it super easy to attach.
Gorgeous!
