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!
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!
The closest thing I had in my refashion stash was this suuuuper-long maxi dress that was also originally from Target.
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! 🙂
Alright…back to the refash! 🙂
My first step for this refashion was cutting a small strip from the bottom of the dress, like so:
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.
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.
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!
I just stitched right over the tape, then pulled it off when I was done! And whaddyaknow? It did the trick! 🙂
After my straps were attached, I still needed to take in the top a tad to make the arm holes not quite so gapey.
After trimming off that extra fabric and tying the bottom strip around my waist, my copycat was complete! 🙂
I was pretty happy with my new frock.
My new haircut and my new dress kept me quite comfy and cool for an evening with friends! 🙂
Cheers!
Original Price: $29.99
Copycat Price: $1
Savings: $28.99!
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! 🙂
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?
I love love love your copycat refashions! Great job! And thanks for the awesome stabilizer tip! Medical tape ‘eh? Who knew? 😉
~Jen
http://diaryofamadmama.wordpress.com
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
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! 🙂
Cute!
Love your new hair!
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?
Agah!!! I had my suspicions about Mr Dan!! Glad I was right!!! 🙂
The new do looks fantastic on you!! Really flattering!
I like your dress even better then the Tarjay dress! I just recently found your blog and I love it. Thank you for making my inbox a much brighter place!!
Your hair looks phenom and this is the damned classiest refashion I ever did see! xx
I LOVE the new haircut. Fantastic view from the back. Oh, yeah………..I like the dress idea too. : )
Love it and your hair!
LOVE the new hair!!!!
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 🙂
‘This is Dan I am fond of him!’ Tee hee!
I use wax paper to sew jersey or other “silky” fabric. I will definitely try the tape 🙂
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!
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.
Great job – great look!
Love the dress, love the hair, but gotta say I love the Lita Ford reference the best!!! You rock!!! 😉
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. 😉
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! 😉
Super-cute new cut! 😀 You inspire me to make old things new! ^.^ Thank you! 🙂
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!
Thanks so much! Shoes, you say? Do you have a blog I can look at to see said shoe refashions? I’m intrigued! 🙂
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
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.
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). 🙂
Love the new haircut AND the new dress – you did great on both counts! 🙂
Hi Jillian! Love your blog & your re-fashions & especially your new do! Thanks for sharing!
Love the haircut! Perfect for the end of summer. The dress turned out great, too! I like how you got the cowl look by stretching out the neckline. I love jersey maxi dresses. I don’t think there is any outfit that is much comfier.
Cara
http://www.knockoffcrafts.wordpress.com
Every time I comment on one of your creations, I say the same thing….You’re amazing. So creative.
🙂 Thank you. I promise I don’t get tired of hearing nice things.
Hi! I like very much your copycat! But I LOVE your hair cut!!!! It suits you well! New love hein? Good luck!
Thanks! I need all the luck I can get! 😉
Haircut=awesome
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!
Great dress! Even better ‘do! Rock on!
Love the re-fash and LOVE the new coiffure!!!! Ooh-la-la!!!!
Love the dress and the new ‘do!
I love the new do!
My favorite refashion yet ! Love it
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??
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.
Awesome refash, and I love your hair!
thumbs up for both the hair and the dress!
Lovely (dress and hair cut)! You always amaze me! 🙂
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!
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! 🙂
You have really rocked your make over. I love what you did with the jewels too. xoxo,Susie
the dress looks so super comfy. and the hair!!!! adorbs!
Love both your hair and the dress!
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 🙂
Thanks and Welcome! Bobs for everyone! 🙂
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.
I love that you copied a Target dress WITH a Target dress! It looks great! Love the new ‘do also.