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1940s-ish(?) Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash

Back in Austin: Brown Spring Floral Dress Refashion
Repurposed Cloth Face Mask Dress Collar: 2nd Version

So…I’m not totally stoked about this refashion you guys.

It turned out fine, but I wish I had thought through what I was doing more and gone in a different direction. Don’t you just hate when that happens?

Luckily, the original piece was only $1, so the stakes weren’t that high.

Still. :/

At first glance, This button-down blue dress may not look like much.

refashionista Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash featured image before
Hrrrmph.

But take another look!

refashionista Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash featured image before view of beaded sleeve
Whoa! Pretty!

Aren’t those beaded appliqués on the sleeves gorgeous?

closeup of beaded sleeve
So prrrrettttty!

Some of you may be shocked/terrified at what I did first in this refashion.

I cut off the sleeves right above the appliqués.

cutting off sleeve
Wait…WHAT?!?!

Don’t panic, friends! It’s not going away. It’s just being…relocated.

Next, I cut off some of the length from my dress.

cutting length off dress
Chop!

All of this chopping left me with a few raw edges to tend to.

This dress was made of a fray-free polyester, so I could have left the edges as-is, but I wanted them to look a bit more polished.

First, I clipped my sleeves under.

clipping sleeve fabric
When I clip you clip we clip!

Then, I stitched them down.

sewing dress sleeve
Just a tiny whirrrr!

I wanted my sleeves to be a little poufy, so I folded each one over a little bit, like this:

clipped bottom of folded sleeve
See?

Then I stitched the folds down.

sewing fold in sleeve
Just a half inch or so!

I folded the bottom of my dress over and pinned it into place.

1940s-ish(?) Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash 1
Step 1: Fold. Step 2: Pin!

I didn’t have to fold it over twice, because as I said before, it’s not going to fray. I just want a prettier edge.

Then, I hemmed my dress, like ya do.

Sewing bottom hem of dress
But what about those sleeves you cut off????

Now, let’s get back to those appliquéd sleeves!

I cut off the elastic wristband from each sleeve scrap.

cutting off bottom of sleeve scrap
Where am I going with this?

Then, I turned each sleeve inside, clipped the bottom, and sewed it off.

sewing off end of sleeve scrap
Time to refash a new sash!

I turned my two sleeve scraps right side out again and stitched them to each other.

sewing sleeve scraps together
You’re prrrobably thinking,”But this is way too short for a sash!”

I cut off the original bottom hem from the leftover bottom scrap.

cutting off bottom hem
You will cinch my waist nicely!

I tried my new dress on, but wasn’t quite happy with the length, so I chopped it off a bit more and re-hemmed it.

cutting off bottom of dress
Do-over!

I removed the top button from dress with my seam ripper and folded the resulting top flaps into a V-neck.

removing button with seam ripper
Byeeee!

When I was all done, I tied that bottom hem scrap around my waist and folded the sewn-together sleeve scrap over it.

'40s-ish(?) Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash after
I mean…it’s cute…

I didn’t get a good photo of how the sleeve scrap thing worked, but lucky for you, I’ve repurposed sleeves into a sash before!

'40s-ish(?) Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash after 2
It’s just not my favorite.

I styled my dress with a silver bracelet & earrings and platinum sandals.

refashionista standing in front of azaleas
Aren’t our Azaleas pretty?

Here’s a closer look at my new sleeves:

close up of sleeve
Just a little poufiness.

Some of you may remember this dress refashion where I used this same fold & stitch sleeve technique.

'40s-ish(?) Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash up close
I’m just not feeling it.

I hate to be negative or down on my own work, but I’m just not into this refashion at all.

There’s nothing terribly wrong with this dress, but it’s definitely not my personal style, so I didn’t feel comfortable in it. It feels fussy & reserved…two things I am definitely not.

I wish I had done something different with it. Womp womp.

Mr. Refashionista thought it was cute though, so I guess that’s something?

Jillian and Brian
That smoke you see is from our grill (The Mr. makes a mean burger)!

They can’t all be winners, I suppose.

Anywho…

Cheers!

refashionista '40s-ish(?) Dress Refashion with Repurposed Sleeve Sash before and after

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