#55: High Class Muumuu

What's up?

Yesterday I posted a comfy, cozy cardigan I re-made this weekend (check it out here if you missed it). Today I've got something even MORE comfy and cozy that really made me question whether to change it at all!

Before: High class Muumuu

Before: From Behind

I found this dress/cover.nightgown at a thrift store for about $4. I couldn't quite figure out what it was meant to be, so I looked at the tag to find some clues. Lo and behold, this is some pretty fancy gear:

David Brown for Saks Fifth Avenue

I looked up the David Brown for Saks Fifth Avenue line, and found that much of what remains is considered "vintage" and all of it is made out of this soft velour material. David Brown sure must have liked velour!

I only found one photo on the web that resembled this piece, and it was going for about $150 on Etsy! Score for me! It was listed as both a nightgown and a dress for going out. Perhaps it was a dress cover for chilly nights back in the day? I still don't know.

I knew how I wanted to change it, but as I wore it around my house, it was just so comfy and cozy that I seriously considered keeping it as-is and using it as a nightgown. It felt better than my best friend on a cold night....Snuggie!

Snuggie!

It even had a pocket :)

One pocket

 
I had to talk myself out of keeping it as-is. I'm not yet ready to have the muumuu nightgown style as part of my life ; )

So to begin, I cut off around 2 feet of length.

Measuring and cutting

Next, I removed the elastic from the sleeve cuffs.

Removing the elastic

After that, I pinned the sleeves together and cut about half the sleeve length (a bit more than shown in the picture).

Cutting the sleeves

Next, I wanted to take the sleeves in a bit, so I pinned up the armpit area and down the sleeves, then sewed and cut off the excess material.

Pinning to sew

Once the sleeves were sewn (it took a couple tries to get the right fit), I hemmed the sleeves and the bottom of the skirt.

Hemming away!

The basic, simple dress as it was still resembled a nightgown too much, so I decided to add a little something. Out of the sleeve material, I folded, sewed on 3 sides, and cut a rectangle of fabric.

Inside out rectangle

I flipped it inside-out, sewed the ends closed, and sewed a corresponding, smaller rectangle.

2 velour rectangles

After trying out a few techniques, I decided to hand-sew the small rectangle of fabric into a small cylindrical shape.

Velour ring

Then I strategically pinched together the large rectangle of fabric...

Pinching

...and slipped the ring over it to create a bow.

Velour bow

I carefully hand-stitched the bow together and hand-sewed it onto the front neckline of the piece so that the sides of the bow could droop.

And that was it!


Here again is the Saks Fifth Avenue muumuu from before:

Before: High class muumuu

Before: From behind

Paired with a thick belt, here's the new look:

After: Velour Dress

After: From Behind

I liked the gathered effect with the belt, so I didn't feel the need to take the dress in any.


So long muumuu, hello fun, still warm and cozy dress!


Stay cool those of you out there who haven't really reached fall yet. And stay warm those who definitely have.

Until next time, blessings to all!