I thrifted that lovely vintage dress a few months after my darling daughter popped into the world and it fit my mammoth nursing chest and baby weight carrying body splendidly well – fast forward a few years and my gluten/lactose free lifestyle combined with chasing an energetic munchkin around has banished that excess baby weight and left me with a dress in dire need of an imaginative refashion!
Here’s what I did:
I snagged that too big dress from the back of my closet and a pair of sweatshorts.
I put on the dress and marked my desired length for a top then chopped on through leaving a bit behind for seam allowance.
I cut the sleeves to my desired length once again leaving a bit behind for seam allowance.
Then hemmed up the raw edges.
And added some vintage trim to the sleeves and bottom hem.
Next I snagged the chopped bottom of the dress and the sweatshorts.
I pleated and pinned the raw edge of the dress bottom just below the waistband of the shorts with right sides facing
and then zigzagged them together.
+ another zigzag over the outside seam for extra strength.
Replaced the drawstring of the shorts with the belt from the dress
and stitched some more of that fab vintage trim to the hem of the skirt!
And my just-had-a-baby dress was transformed into an adorable top and skirt (with built-in shorts)!
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I think this is one of your besties
I love the result too! 😀 It came out better than I imagined!
Dude! You are just plain awesome!
Cheers Jane! It’s amazing what a dig through your wardrobe & a bit of imagination can create! 😀
I love this! You did a fantastic job top and bottom and I really like that shade of green. Do they look good worn together? I need to go thrifting to find some beautiful vintage binding too. There are alot of things I’d like but I would need a bigger sewing room first 😀
Cheers Emma, they look just “ok” worn together, I think as both the top and bottom are quite full they each need to be worn with something more form fitting to balance them out…
very nice refashion – I really like the trim added to the solid green, also the idea for using the shorts for the waistband on the skirt is fabulous!
Thanks Kathleen, the trim is a thrifty vintage find that was originally used for traditional German Dirndl dresses, cool eh?
I just discovered you website. I am impressed. As for this entry I am particularly fond of the skirt. The hidden shorts would be great for hot sticky weather!
Cheers Christina & welcome to my quirky world of refashioned thrifty style!
The original green dress was lovely, and you’ve done a great job in making new things out of it. (Wish I had a weight-loss need to refashion!) The built in shorts would actually be really practical – we spend so much time sitting on the floor, crouching, crawling etc after our little ones. And comfy too I would imagine.
I haven’t seen many things that shade of green, I like it!
I was thrilled when I thrifted that vintage dress, it was crazy comfortable and the neckline easily pulled down to pop out some lunch for the little girlie 😉 I came up with the shorts idea as a solution to the horror of skirt blowing windy Berlin days + to avoid the dreaded panty flash while walking up the long staircases at the tube stations 😀 It totally works brilliantly! (I wear boxer briefs under my skirts without built-in shorts)