refashioned dress Tag

20 Dec Razook’s Remake

“Smile Granny!” joked my husband. This is all I need to look twenty years older – a matronly dress and no makeup. Ta-da! My mother recently gave me her latest thrift store find, suggesting I might want to do a little something with it. Hmmm….I was immediately attracted to the beautiful Pantone color of  2013 silk, and then noticed the Razook’s label inside (once an exclusive women’s apparel store).  It was a go.  Deciding what to do with the dress was harder than the remake.   I eventually settled on the following: Cut off the sleeves. Measured and sewed side seams. The dress had pockets which were discarded. ...

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25 Nov Formal Desperation

There’s a first time for everything, and I let a formal event on November 23rd sneak up on me, in that I had nothing to wear. I planned on wearing my daughter’s dress but waited until Thanksgiving night to try it on and it wasn’t a pretty picture. Frantically rummaging through every closet in the house, I stumbled upon this sequined dress I bought in 1994. I’ve been hoping to shrink back into it, but desperate times call for desperate measures and out came the scissors and a roll of Steam-a-Seam. I cut nine inches off of the dress and placed Steam-a-Seam...

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07 Jul One $ Wonder(ful)

My mother gave me this dress some time ago. She bought it for $1.00 at a thrift store and thought the dress might look cute if I hemmed it. O k a y y y y y  … I thought it had potential, but a little hem seemed like just the beginning, or perhaps the grand finale. The fit was acceptable in bust but was too big elsewhere. After releasing a few stitches of the bust lining, I was able to adjust the bodice. Following the stitching lines I removed two inches from the upper bodice through the hips. I then tapered the lower...

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