Hello everyone, and Happy Holidays! I hope yours have been just lovely and that you’ve spent them with those you hold dear, whoever they may be! :)
When I woke up Christmas morning, I eagerly rushed to my refashion rack. I had been holding on to something very special for December 25th.
Yowza!
When I was in Hawaii a couple months ago, I couldn’t resist picking up this awesome muu muu with its happy Christmas colors!
Then the waiting game began.
I waited patiently until Christmas and was happy to start chopping into to this ruffly frock!
First, that top ruffle had to go.
Snnnnip!
That bottom ruffle quickly followed!
Do you see a future skirt in that ruffle? I sure do!
In chopping of that bottom ruffle, the length of my new dress was quickly approaching the danger zone of too short! No worries. In order to make the smallest hem possible, I serged the bottom edge to prevent fraying, then pinned it under once about 1/2 inch.
Just a teensy hem!
I stitched it down…
Whirrrrrr!!!
And just like that, I was all done and ready to spend a very Merry Christmas with some terrific friends. :)
Oh! and just look at my fantastic Christmas present!
Wow!
Ooookay…I’m just kidding! This sweet ride belongs to my friend’s husband.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t pose with it! :)
My posing needs a lil work…
Erin and I spent the afternoon catching a much-anticipated film!
PechaKucha or Pecha Kucha (Japanese: ペチャクチャ, IPA: [petɕa ku͍̥tɕa],[1] chit-chat) is a presentation style in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (6 minutes and 40 seconds in total). The format, which keeps presentations concise and fast-paced, powers multiple-speaker events called PechaKucha Nights (PKNs).[2][3]
I’m a nervous public speaker, but I’m trying to get over it. And of course the best way to do that is to actually speak in public. As the day got closer and closer I got more and more nervous…
I needed a dress for the big night!
I started with this one:
It was 5am when I took this pic
This dress is actually made of terry cloth! It’s amazing! This fabric was really popular in the 70’s-early 80’s and I firmly believe it needs to make a comeback. I seriously feel like I’m wearing a bathrobe. And that’s pretty awesome.
You’ll have to forgive me, friends. The memory card that has the “during” pics for this one has gone totally kaputzky, so I can’t share them with you. :/
But I can tell you what I did! :) First, I removed the elastic from the waist. Then I raised the hem to daring new heights! I pretty much wanted a clone of this one cozy sweater dress I’ve been wearing a lot of this winter. That original snug waistline just wouldn’t do for an event where I knew I’d already be pretty uncomfortable.
And here’s how it turned out!
Sort of Mod, no?
This handsome (and rather tall) gentleman seemed to like it too. ;)
Oh. Ello.
As my turn to present got closer and closer, I got more and more nervous!
I have the worst selfie faces.
But then I remembered why I was doing this. I love refashioning and I believe that I really can change the world by sharing this passion with others.
We can change the world. One dress at a time.
The awesome guys at PULL Brand Stories even recorded a video of it! It’s kind of dark (because the room was kind of dark), and you can’t see all of my slides, but I hope you like it. :)
I feel pretty good about this one. The audience was awesome, and I hope I get the chance to present at another Pecha Kucha soon!
When a staffer at our local newspaper, The State contacted me and asked if I’d like to do an Ugly Christmas Sweater refashion for them to feature in their Life & Style section, I of course said yes.
What followed was some 40 or so emails where they wanted me to either make a tacky sweater normal or make a normal sweater tacky (How uninspired!) and me refusing to do that and instead insisting on making a ballgown out of a BUNCH of Christmas sweaters.
I’m very stubborn. :)
I don’t have a full tutorial of this refashion, but here are some behind-the scenes pics:
Using an old-worn out dress as a pattern for the bodice!
Bodice done! But what about the rest?
I drafted a pattern for the bottom based a gown I really like.
And here’s a video from The State where I explain my process (and yes, I know my voice is weird, okay?). :)
Everything got all nice & stitched together, and now….
BEHOLD!!!!!!!!!
BAM!
Le back!
Come cloooooooser!
Of course, I don’t just make dresses to not be seen! My fahhhhhbulous new frock enjoyed an Ugly Christmas Sweater Bar Crawl with some of my favorite people!
Big Mondo Major thanks to The State for letting me play. :) This is my absolute favorite project to date. I’m really proud of it, and I hope you guys like it too. :)
