Project: ramie dress refashion

Introduction:

I’ve got this ramie dress that doesn’t really suit me. It fits, but the shouldersare too wide and the skirtpart looks weird on me. I usually wear skirts with a lot of volume because skirts without it look wonky because of my scoliosis.

The fabric’s lovely though, so I decided to rework it into a shirt.

The project:

The dress is made out of a woven fabric. It has no closures and is meant to slip over your head. The short sleevesand rounded collarhave been shaped with pleats. It came with a sashto be worn around the hips, which I forgot to photograph.

[ID: a light brown ramie dress hanging from a wooden hanger in front of a white background. The dress has short sleeves and a round pleated collar.]

I indicated my waistandhipson the dress with a chalk line, then drew a third line about 5cm below the hips to serve as seam allowance.

Icut off the bottom of the dress at the third line.

[ID: a light brown dress lying on a black and white chequered floor. Three horizontal pink lines have been drawn on it with chalk: one at the waist, one at the hips, and one 5cm below the hips.]

Theshoulderswere slightly too wide for me, so I used a small pleatsimilar to the ones used at the neckline and sleeves to make them smaller. This made the top much more flattering on me. I also hemmed the bottom edge.

[ID: a light brown dress lying on a black and white chequered floor. The skirt part has been cut off right below the hips.]

I put the project aside for a while to think about embellishmentsas the top was rather plain, and ended up settling for a lace trim at the neckline.

I recently received a parcel of leftover lace from a fellow sewist who was clearing out their stash, and found the perfect beige lace trim. The colourwas lighter than the original fabric, but complimentedit well. I had just the right amount for this project.

If you’re looking for cheap/free notions, do as I do and look around in buy-nothing groups and on second-hand sites. You’d be surprised what you’d find. This particular parcel cost me €15 and contained almost a kilo of high quality lace. It’s a win-win situation: the seller got some of their money back, I have enough lace to last me ages, and these trims actually get used instead of thrown away.

[ID: a light brown shirt lying on a wooden floor. The bottom edge has been hemmed, and beige pointy lace has been sewn around the rounded collar.]

I still had the original sash from the dress. I was considering sewing it onto the top at fist, but I decided to keep it separate. That way, I can both cinch the top at the waist or keep it loose and tuck it into high-waisted pants or a skirt.

[ID: a light brown shirt lying on a wooden floor. The bottom edge has been hemmed, and beige pointy lace has been sewn around the rounded collar. A sash lies on top of the waist of the top and has been tucked underneath the top.]

All done! All it needs now is a good washto get rid of the chalk lines.

Theexcess fabric is now in my sewing stash: it’s great quality, so I’m sure I’ll find some use for it.

Conclusion:

There was nothing wrong with the original dress, but I just didn’t wear it because I didn’t like how it looked on me. Instead, I now have a topthat flatters me and goes well with the rest of my wardrobe. It’ll get much more use this way.

Project: lacy shorts

Introduction:

I’ve had this old pair of high-waisted shorts for years. While I love them, I don’t nearly wear them as much as I’d like because they’re rather plaincompared to the rest of my wardrobe.

My closet has a lot of frilly lacy things these days, so I figured it was time to update these shorts to make them match the rest of my clothes better.

The project:

This project was simple: I just looked through my lace stash for a trim that would be a good match to my shorts, decided on the placement, and sewedit on.

[ID: a pair of beige high-waisted shorts lying on a wooden floor.]

[ID: an end of off-white cotton lace lying on top of beige fabric.]

[ID: a pair of beige high-waisted shorts lying on a wooden floor. Off-white lace has been sewn along the pockets, the edges of the legs, and the sides near the shirred parts of the waistband.]

Conclusion:

If you’ve got clothes you love but never wear, ask yourself why. Sometimes the solution can be as simple as embellishingthe item to fit your styleagain.

All I did was add some lace to these shorts to make them feel brand new and to make them easier to combine with the rest of my wardrobe.

Projects like these are why I never throw out lace. Aesthetically speaking, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. But if you like it, it makes for a veryversatile tool to update clothesandhide imperfectionswith.