SECRET Project

I am writing this post on Sunday, September 19th and it should publish on Thursday, September 23rd.  I have been working on a surprise sewing project since June that I haven't been able to share with anyone until now.  Let me explain why...one of my BEST friends from High School, Ashely, is getting married this weekend, September 25th and until last night (9/22) she didn't know I was coming!  I will post details about the "surprise" when I have them (after it's occurred) but I cannot WAIT to show y'all the dress I have made for the wedding.  Originally I was supposed to be IN the wedding but not knowing if I was going to be able to make it or not I had to decline...so I transformed one of my high school formal dresses (that I made) into a bridesmaid appropriate dress and maybe I might still be in the wedding...it's just a slightly different shade green than the other dresses.

Anyway...here is the BEFORE:

Here's a picture of me in High School wearing the dress (can't find a full length picture right now):

Here is the after:

I cut 18" of the bottom.  Used that fabric to add fabric to the top, made a new jacket, and added thicker shoulder straps and a tan tshirt to wear under the jacket.

SIDE BY SIDE FRONT:

SIDE BY SIDE BACK:

I really wish I could have lost the last 10 pounds I really wanted to loose but I think it looks good, all things considered...I originally made this dress in 2000 or 2001 (I believe) so basically 10 years and a child later I am just impressed it fits!

I hope you enjoyed me sharing this secret project with  you...it was REALLY hard for me to keep it a secret!

EXAMPLE Clothing Challenge

Ok, here is my first attempt at my sewing challenge.  This is just an example.  I'm not great with tutorials so I'm not even gonna try to do a step by step thing.

Here is a before:

The dress is WAY to short (maybe 6 inches at least), it has no sleeves, and the V-neck in the back is too low.  This is a dress I had in High School (that I wore with a shirt under & a sweater over top).  I really like it and every time I go out to my parents house I look at it and think what I can do with it.  Well, here goes.

I had this black T-shirt I remember getting with my Mom in South Bend for my 13th birthday (yeah, I know).  It still fits but ONLY as an undershirt.  It's a little tight and short so I thought it would be perfect.  First I cut the dress leaving the "skirt" about 21 inches.  Then I sewed the skirt to the bottom of the shirt.  Now I didn't take an after-after picture...I can't leave well enough alone and as you'll see in the after picture I'm going to post, the "skirt" part sits a little low and I raised it up about an inch.

Here is a picture of my WONDERFUL helper for the day.  He came with me to the fabric store and was a GREAT help there.  I had to pick up fabric for some other projects & all Jerimiah asked for was some horse fabric so I can make him some PJs (those pictures will come when I get to that project).  He let me sew most of the day.  My sewing machine is in my bedroom and he either watched me, played with some buttons I had out, or watched a movie while he rested behind me on my bed.  What a great little boy I have!

After I sewed the skirt on I hemmed up the bottom of the bodice I cut off the dress and tacked it to the top of the shirt.

Here is the final project:

As you can tell, the "skirt" did need to be raised up some but I am quite proud of how it turned out.

But because I have a hard time leaving well enough alone sometimes...I ALMOST completely ruined the dress!  I SO wanted to basically sew in a slip so I don't have to wear a separate one...problem was the fabric I used.  I almost had to cut myself out of the dress...luckily I just had to cut myself out of the slip portion.  I don't know what I was thinking but the fabric I used for the "slip" had ZERO stretch to it...the whole dress is stretchy so basically it failed horribly!  Anyway, I took out the slip and I'll just have to wear a separate slip, which is fine.

So, what do you think?  Does this project encourage or discourage you from my project?  See my previous post for project details (click here).

P.S. The BEST part is this whole outfit didn't cost me ANYTHING (well, unless you count the wasted "slip" fabric which I did buy)!!!