Make & Mend 2011: Repurposing

Three-ish years ago, I made this ugly dress from a Burda pattern. There were no instructions, so my friends Ellie, Jess, and I decided to wing it and put it together as best as we could. In addition to no instructions, there were no sizes or seam allowances! But it was free, so I guess I can't complain. The resulting dress was obscenely short, too high-waisted, and poorly constructed. I didn't even hem the facing edges? I just left them all raw and frayed.



The saddest part of that dress was the wasted piece of vintage seersucker. Oh, the gorgeous dress I could make with that now! I check eBay and Etsy frequently for vintage seersucker and have only ever found one piece with enough yardage, that was affordable. What a waste!

Since I didn't have a lot of fabric to work with, I picked this McCalls romper pattern and I'm hoping the finished project looks like a vintage bathing suit.



I made my muslin out of a sheet, and it's wearable. I lined it and did a zipper and everything. I somehow sewed the lining for the shorts in backwards? Not sure how that happened, but it didn't seem to affect the fit too much. The shorts fit great, but the top is a little loose. I just need to make minor adjustments to the side and back bodice seams.

Sorry for the self-portraits, Mike was busy and I didn't want to bother him.



I barely had enough fabric. It took me almost an hour to figure out how I was going to cut everything. The bodice is self-lined and says "cut 4" but that was no way that was happening. So I cut out just the foldover bust detail and will piece it together with the lining fabric. From the outside, you won't even be able to tell.





I put together the entire bodice and shorts tonight, but that's as far as I got. I need to run to the store and pick up some purple cotton for my lining.



I'm going to Chicago for the weekend, so no sewing for me until Sunday. Have a great weekend and good luck with all your projects!