Wannabe Wednesday: Tarjay Edition 1
All,  Refashions

Wannabe Wednesday: Tarjay Edition

July 31, 2013 / 58 Comments
A Corset Story
From Muumuu to Wrap Dress

I shop at Target at least once a week.  Whether I’m out of shampoo, dog food, or I’ve suddenly ran out of soy milk, Tarjay has my back!  I always check out their clothes too…because…well…they have a lot of really cute stuff.

One such cute thing is this lovely maxi dress with grosgrain ribbon straps!

That'll be $29.99.
That’ll be $29.99.

Now…doesn’t that look like just about the most comfy/classy summer maxi you’ve seen?

Here.  Take a closer look at those straps!

Love it!
Love it!

The closest thing I had in my refashion stash was this suuuuper-long maxi dress that was also originally from Target.

So long!
So long!

WAIT!  What the!?!  That’s right, guys!  I’ve got a new ‘do!  Robin over at Bombshell Studio chopped my mass of tresses into a much more manageable bob!  🙂

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First photo post-cut!

Alright…back to the refash!  🙂

My first step for this refashion was cutting a small strip from the bottom of the dress, like so:

My real estate is limited, but I make it work! :)
My real estate is limited, but I make it work! 🙂

The biggest thing I needed to change on this dress was the strappage!  Luckily, I had a roll of grosgrain ribbon in my stash.  I chopped off a section from each of the straps.  This is where the ribbon will go.

Snip! Snip!
Snip! Snip!
You don't need much at all!
You don’t need much at all!

Before I started with the ribbon, I really needed to change the neckline to make it more of a cowl, like on the original.  To do this, I cut off the hemmed edge of the neckline and stretched it out.

Snip and stretch!
Snip and stretch!

Now for the ribbon!  Okay…if I tried to just pin and sew the ribbon onto the dress, the feed dogs on my machine would pull one part more than the other, causing a bunched-up mess.  BUT, if I stabilize it, it’ll work just fine!  To accomplish this task, I reached for a roll of medical tape from when I had to tape up my broken toe a couple of months ago!

See?
See?

I just stitched right over the tape, then pulled it off when I was done!  And whaddyaknow?  It did the trick!  🙂

Stitchin' right along!
Stitchin’ right along!

After my straps were attached, I still needed to take in the top a tad to make the arm holes not quite so gapey.

It ain't no big thing.
It ain’t no big thing.

 

Stitch me one! Stitch me twice! Come on pretty baby...stitch me deadly! :P
Stitch me one! Stitch me twice! Come on pretty baby…stitch me deadly! 😛

After trimming off that extra fabric and tying the bottom strip around my waist, my copycat was complete!  🙂

Here we find Jillian in her natural habitat!
Here we find Jillian in her natural habitat!
Le back!
Le back!

I was pretty happy with my new frock.

Or maybe it was just the bubbly...;)
Or maybe it was just the bubbly…;)

My new haircut and my new dress kept me quite comfy and cool for an evening with friends!  🙂

Short hair rocks!
Short hair rocks!

 

This is Dan. I am fond of him. :)
This is Dan. I am fond of him. 🙂

Cheers!

Original Price:  $29.99

Copycat Price:  $1

Savings:  $28.99!

ba73113

A Corset Story
From Muumuu to Wrap Dress

58 Comments

  • Clare

    July 15, 2014 at 10:20 pm Reply

    Hooray! I think I have your exact starting Target dress (but in teal) that after 100lbs loss is way too big for me. Now I know what to do with it! 🙂

  • Amanda

    August 14, 2013 at 12:00 am Reply

    I may have missed it in the comments but, is anyone else seeing mismatched pictures in the wrong place? I see random pictures from other refashions thrown in where the description doesn’t match. 🙁 just my wonky phone?

  • Abigail

    August 8, 2013 at 11:30 pm Reply

    First of all, I really love your blog and think you are very talented, with sewing and writing.
    I do have a question though. If you are all about refashioning and not spending money on new clothes and not adding to consumerism and waste, then why are you including a link to the target dress? Isn’t that essentially encouraging people to purchase new clothing?
    Maybe I misunderstand your mission with the refashion thing.

    Anyways…

    I really enjoy your blog and think you are a great writer!
    xxx

    • ReFashionista

      August 9, 2013 at 2:09 pm Reply

      Thank ya!

      Nope…just trying to show the cost/specs of the original to show how close I got/that others can do the same! 🙂

  • Joy

    August 2, 2013 at 1:31 am Reply

    Sooooo… what I really love about your blog is that you take pieces you’ve found elsewhere and make them into all these cute-neckline, managable length dresses. But I’ll admit, I’ve been thrifting for dresses to refash, and I’m not finding too many. So I just wanted to know what you look for in a dress you find at the store-such as prints, necklines, shoulders, sleeves, etc., to work with.
    Also, what do you find yourself doing most times with certain types of hemlines, fabrics, necklines, ect., for a quick reference to get started?

  • Flo

    August 1, 2013 at 7:16 am Reply

    Pretty cool idea! Just think how much money could be saved if we all just refashioned several items in our closets. Love the hair too 🙂

  • Kate

    August 1, 2013 at 12:58 am Reply

    Love the new hair!! I particularly liked this refash b/c maxi dresses are one of the few things I will buy instead of sew myself. There’s so much yardage needed to make one that often its cheaper just to buy one. But this is genius! Thanks for the inspiration!

  • Jo H.

    August 1, 2013 at 12:15 am Reply

    You are not only funny but clever too 🙂 Love the hair, the dress, and the tip about the tape – thank you for consistently inspiring me to keep trying when the sewing isn’t going so well.

    • ReFashionista

      August 1, 2013 at 10:19 am Reply

      Haha. That song always gets to me when I really step back to analyze the lyrics. “Didn’t get laid, got in a fight…It ain’t no big thing.” DUDE. You got in a FIGHT!?! That’s a big deal! I’ve NEVER gotten in a fight…ever. And Lita’s on the small side. I worry about how she’d fare against a larger woman or a guy. This IS a big thing, Lita! A much bigger thing than “getting laid”, since you’re throwing out comparisons. I just fear for her warped sense of perspective is all. 😉

      • Melanie

        August 1, 2013 at 11:15 am Reply

        Bwahahahahahaha!!!! I never quite thought of it that way!!! But yeah, warped is an understatement!!! Good thing she has you to be concerned for her! 😉

  • shell

    July 31, 2013 at 9:03 pm Reply

    Hi Jillian, I want to thank you for all the refashioning ideas. Because of you and your creativity, I’ve started to refashion clothes, shoes and accessories. You are inspirational! Don’t let any criticisms get to you, keep up your amazing enthusiasm. Your new hairdo and Tarjay refash is THE BOMB! Thanks again, keep sewing!

    • ReFashionista

      August 1, 2013 at 10:23 am Reply

      Thanks so much! Shoes, you say? Do you have a blog I can look at to see said shoe refashions? I’m intrigued! 🙂

      • shell

        August 4, 2013 at 11:01 am Reply

        No, I don’t have a blog yet. I’ve not found one I’m comfortable with yet. For shoes, I add chains around the ankles and/or add boot socks I crochet myself. I’ve dyed them darker when the get beat up looking. I didn’t mean to make the shoe refash sound bigger than it is. Lol

  • dannyscotland

    July 31, 2013 at 8:38 pm Reply

    Everything looks so great–dress and hair! I have a tip for you just in case you are wearing the dress more than once. Grosgrain ribbon has a tendency to fray, but it’s super easy to stop that. All you need is a candle or lighter. You **carefully** hold the raw edge of the ribbon NEAR BUT NOT IN the flame and it will kind of melt and seal the ribbon. **caution to readers: I am not responsible for anyone getting burned or catching things on fire if you try this. Use this idea at your own risk. Thanks.

    Also, the caps are not for you Jillian. 🙂 They are just to emphasize to anyone reading that they need to be careful. I don’t want to get sued.

    • ReFashionista

      August 1, 2013 at 10:22 am Reply

      Oh wow! This reminds me of when I was a wee kid and my mom would do this with my hair ribbons. Good tip (but I’ll probably set my house on fire). 🙂

  • Brooke

    July 31, 2013 at 4:56 pm Reply

    What a great new hairstyle! And I adore this refash and think you are a genius . Every time you post you inspire me to whip out my sewing machine and give a new lease of life to a discarded piece of clothing. Cheers!

  • Ashley

    July 31, 2013 at 3:24 pm Reply

    Awesome! Those dang feed dawgs kept me away from sewing for a long time! A walking foot really helps too. So cute! So I guess Dan doesn’t get a nickname??

    • ReFashionista

      July 31, 2013 at 5:29 pm Reply

      Thanks! I asked Dan if he’d like a nickname. He suggested “Douglas”, so no one will ever be really sure If I’m writing about my pup or him. He’s silly that way.

  • cycosue

    July 31, 2013 at 2:05 pm Reply

    I’m wondering what was the reasoning behind taking that first strip of fabric off the bottom? And then, did you have to hem or finish that raw edge somehow?
    But what’s REALLY bugging me… is it just my computer screen, or is there a (food?) stain on the dress before the refash? I don’t see it in the after pictures.

    oh, and thanks for the Don’t Hurry video. I’m just coming back from a few days of vacation and am certainly feeling THAT feeling!

    • ReFashionista

      July 31, 2013 at 2:21 pm Reply

      Hiya! I used the strip as a makeshift drawstring to make my dress look like the original. 🙂 I didn’t finish the raw edge, as it wasn’t finished in the first place. Since it’s made of jersey, I just let it roll. 🙂

      And nope…it’s not a stain, I was just apparently over-eager to get it out of the dryer and it still had a wet spot! Whups! 🙂

  • Sarah

    July 31, 2013 at 1:34 pm Reply

    I just started following your blog a few weeks ago! 2 weeks ago I got a bob, and just last week I was thinking you would look great with a bob! Great minds think alike 🙂

  • Kim Douglas

    July 31, 2013 at 1:27 pm Reply

    I love, love, LOVE you new do! The last refashion with the muu-muu was cute but I thought, “Oh, her hair looks terrible like that to go to a party,” even if it was hot and muggy. So, great change.

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