Wow! Talk about some well dressed women!
Such creative contestants this week! I can’t wait for you to see all of the skirt and dress refashions. I promise, you are going to love them. Really amazing transformations here. But, before we take a look, I just need to clarify something.
When the weekly challenges are created, I intend for them to be quite open for interpretation. I always hope they will be open enough to allow for the contestants to be as creative as possible. This challenge was no exception.
I didn’t realize at the time but, I worded this challenge in such a way that it could’ve been interpreted in a couple of different ways. I worded it “Maxi Skirt or Dress” so one could’ve interpreted that as being a maxi skirt or a maxi dress. Or, one could’ve interpreted that as a maxi skirt or a regular dress.
So, with that being said, be sure when you vote this week, that you vote for your favorite “Maxi Skirt or Dress” because that is how I worded it. Don’t limit yourself to only maxi. So whether it’s a maxi or a regular dress, pick your favorite one and vote for that one.
Now on to the fun part…
***
Let’s start with Marisa from The Refash Stash
“I started with 3 men’s polo shirts! My idea was to sew them together to make the
skirt portion of my maxi dress.
Take a closer look at shirt #1….
Awesome golfer print!
I used a plain t-shirt that I added blue bias tape to the neckline and sleeves.
I cut the polo shirts right under the sleeves to make tubes a fabric so I could sew
them together.
Sewed everything together!
I even had time for a round of golf!
Mini golf that is!!!! :)”
***
Now let’s see what Laura from Accidental Seamstress has been up to this week.
“For this week’s challenge I refashioned a maxi dress…from a
maxi dress. I was drawn to the gorgeous gold metallic netting overlay and I had to
have it.
I cut the dress at the waist and separated the netting from the black
lining.
I serged the raw edge where the black lining was cut and made a casing for
elastic.
There was so much of the gold netting, that I made a kimono from the
scraps.
I still had the top scrap of the dress leftover and I decided to get a
little adventurous… I removed the gold netting from the lining, along with the
collar and other embellishments. I gave all the raw edges a clean hem (not an easy
task since the material was SO thin and stretchy!).
What I ended up with was a 3
piece transformation: A Maxi skirt, a crop top, and kimono; 3 pieces that can be
worn together or separately for only .99 cents. I’ll call that a win! 🙂
This is the very abridged version of all my work 🙂 I’ll have a more detailed
tutorial on my site.
Thanks :)”
***
Now let’s see the transformation Sarah from Life is Beautiful has created for us this week.
“Okay guys, I’m so embarrassed that I thought the challenge meant a maxi
skirt or a dress, and not a maxi skirt or a maxi dress. Can we blame it on
how English isn’t my first language and I moved here from Korea when I was
10 years old so I’m practically a F.O.B(fresh off the boat)? Haha, does
that work? If so, yes! Count it! Nevertheless, thank you so so much for
your understanding and being flexible, you guys are truly awesome!
Hello Refashion Runway readers! Thrifted dresses are one of my favorite items to refashion so I was really excited about this challenge!
I got this really outdated, oversized, faded yellow dress suit from a thrift store. I am still in love with peplum design clothes, I think peplums are so flattering on many body types as it accentuates the waist-to hips ratio and by helping to make your waist look slimmer. After debating whether to dye this dress to a mint color or red, I decided to go with red since I’ve always wanted a red peplum dress.
BEFORE:
You guys, what is this face? I mean, seriously, what is this FACE!!!??? In my head I was trying to look all cute like a sad little puppy face with a pout but no, this doesn’t have an ounce of cuteness in it. I literally am giggling right now and laughing at myself as I am posting this picture. I know many people would just not post this but it’s just so funny to me. HAHAHAHAHA okay, moving on….
BEFORE/AFTER:
The first thing I did was dye the faded yellow dress suit.
I was on a time crunch(the story of my life) so I didn’t take step by step pictures along the way.
AFTER:
Do you want to know how to put full make-up on in under 5 seconds? You don’t! You put an over sized sunglasses on!
The camera and the lighting picked up more of a pink, fuchsia hue but in real life it’s a classic cherry red color. The two slits on the bottom of the peplum is the same slits as the jacket. I cut off the sleeves from the jacket and added it onto the sleeveless dress, altered the dress smaller and form fitting, cut the lining of the dress shorter so it wouldn’t show,
What you’ll need:
-A dress suit
-Fabric dye
-Big bowl or a bucket
-Gloves
-Matching thread
-Sewing machine
-Scissors
Estimated time: 3-4 hrs.
Budget: $10
Skill level: A confident intermediate to advanced
***
Let’s check in on Kara from While Camden Sleeps and see what she has created for us this week.
“This dress was homemade,
which I quickly discovered as I began disassembling it. I kind of love
that, knowing that someone else worked hard with the same fabric I’m
working on.
After I was almost finished with this dress, I put it on backwards and
realized that I loved it even more that way! So I created a panel of lace
from another dress I refashioned. The lace just happened to be the same
exact color as the dress. (link to that dress here:
http://whilecamdensleeps.com/2015/02/laced-refashion.html )
I’m excited to see what everyone came up with!”
***
Let’s check in on Gema from Sequins and Slippers to see what she made this week.
“So! Hello!
To say I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s maxi dresses this week is
an understatement!! Can’t. Wait.
I had a bit of difficulty with this project – my machine was not wanting to
cooperate, the thread kept on breaking and feeding the fabric through into
the feed dog… Not good. By the by, I fiddled around, cleaned out the lint,
changed the needle, and rewound the bobbin – which seemed to do the trick!
I took an old sofa cover…
Used my friend Dolly to try some different looks by draping…
I created armholes, by cutting out – and then realised the weight of the
fabric was making the dress drape too low (for decency at any rate).
So I then hitched up the dress by the scruff of it’s neck, thereby taking
up the armholes, and made that permanent by sewing up the back (making sure
to pattern match the back pattern). It created a racer back effect.
I then stabilised the holes by attaching bias binding…
I then played (for far too long) with the different looks, wrap around,
centre parting (!), flaps in, flaps out… before deciding on centre seam,
flaps in.
I removed all the lace trim, cut a new hem, and reattached the trim around
the new hemline.
I made all the seams ‘French seams’ (not only would it be stronger, but
also look better on the inside). I added darts through the bodice, and a
‘pinch’ to the neckline, before sewing up, to give it a bit more shape.
The dress flaps (folded in on the inside) are wide enough to hide underwear
at the front (!) – but I also wore shorts for the photos (and will in
future) so as not to give anyone a nasty surprise from behind..! I’ve left
out these bits so I can get straight to the ‘After’ pics…
What do you think?
Funny to think it started life in the back bedroom…
Now all we need is some sunshine so I can wear it out, properly, for the
whole day – and not between rain showers!! J”
***
Wow! Aren’t they all amazing!
Now it’s your turn to vote for your favorite maxi or dress refashion.
Be sure to click on the vote button at the bottom of the poll after you select your favorite so your vote will be counted.
The Renegade Seamstress 
Ahhh! My own website isn’t working at the mo, won’t upload the post with full details!! Loving all the ladies’ workings, as always!! X
FINALLY! My post is now up, and working…!!
It gets harder every week but I force myself to vote! 🙂
I always vote with ‘Would I wear it?’ but this week I’ve gone with my heart 😉 Fantastic as always ladies 🙂
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Great work…love all the designs….
Wow! Wow! Wow! These are all so amazing and well done. I’m hard pressed to pick a favorite but I’m going to force myself to choose one. Each one is a win in my book.
I love the Refashion Runway!! It is so exciting to see what everyone comes up with and this year has been amazing. Such talent! Renegade Seamstress….I think you need to pitch refashioning to be a TV show…;)
I would so watch refashion runway on TV! Just imagine, contestants from around America competing to make the most innovative refashions. Add a prize like a chance to go study dressmaking, or the latest equipment to do refashions with….perfect.
So many to choose from that are very lovely, but once I saw this particular one ( I will not mention names don’t want to ruin the voting for everyone else) I fell into a deep Love from which I may never recover, lol. Awesome Job!
Another amazing entries! Can’t believe you are creating such wonderful pieces ! Well of course I can believe it. Such fantastic clothes and accessories. You make me so proud and whether you win or not , you’re a winner already to me. Clever,clever girl.
Thanks Mum!! Xxx
It’s TOO hard to choose!!!! I love them all – the creativity is just amazing. They all deserve to win !
All amazing transformations! Hard to choose.
This was such a difficult choice in who to vote for. Everyone used great ideas and transformed something unusable into something stunning!
W
Holy cow! Gema gets my vote this week. I can’t believe that dress started on a couch!
Haha! Thank-you Zia! X
Hard to choose as usual, but I get so much inspiration from every one of the entries. This is so much fun. Thanks to all the ladies for their great re-do’s.
While all of the entries are beautiful and creative I just have to say that the comment that the dress must have been a circus tent was offensive to a larger woman. Yes larger women need larger clothes and sometimes we have to make them ourselves to get something nice that fits and doesn’t look like a moomoo. I don’t understand how a comment like that could be helpful to your blog or helpful to the self esteem of the larger women readers. Maybe I’m sensitive that I feel I must shop at the tarp and tent store to find clothes to fit without spending a fortune but I just wanted to know if I’m the only person offended by that comment.
Stephanie,
You’re totally right. I’m so sorry it came across that way. I had no intention of it being offensive, but I get where you are coming from. It was actually the ruffle (which most circus tents have around the top) and the triangular shape that that made me compare it to a circus tent, not the size itself.
I’ll email Beth right now and have her edit that first sentence for me so that no one else feels the way I made you feel when you read it.
I think all women are sensitive about how they look in one form or another. I was freakishly skinny in the seventh grade with a huge nose and I was bullied by some of the prettier, cuter girls in school. To this day, I’m still sensitive about my nose. I rarely post profile shots because of it, and I’ve even had people leave rude comments about it on my blog. My feelings would totally be hurt if someone ever said something hurtful about it’s size. I don’t ever want to make anyone feel that way. I’m grateful that you spoke up for yourself, so I have a chance to fix it.
Sincerely sorry again,
Kara
Thank you for being compassionate and understanding. I appreciate you altering the wording and your quick response to the issue. I’m sure you wrote it with pure intentions. I just wanted to point it out because a line like that could be detrimental to a blog. Thank you!
I appreciate that, Stephanie. Thanks again for being honest.
Gema, you did such a great job reinventing the couch cover!
Thank-you so much Elizabeth! 🙂
I know Kara personally and she is the sweetest, most genuine and kind person. I can definitely see why you ladies were offended by the circus tent comment, but knowing her, I know she meant the circus tent because of the triangle shape and the ruffles, like she says she did. She would never ever make fun of women with beautiful curves, not in private, and not in public. I feel this was a misunderstanding and a poor choice of words on Kara’s part, but she had no intention on making fun of its size. I just want people to know that. 🙂
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All such winners !
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I love this site.
There are some amazingly talented people out there!!!
Oh, the talent! It’s SO hard to vote!
Love all the entries.
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I found it so difficult to vote for only one makeover. There were three that kept popping up under my stylus. as the others said, these are very talented ladies. Good Luck.
They are all amazing makeovers! I’m jealous I don’t have the vision and creativity these women have!
Fun to watch!
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