#11: Navy Blue Dress: Copy-Cat Trio!

Welcome back! I'm super duper excited to share this transformation with you today! I was walking through Ross the other day and found this Chateau purse for around $40. No way would I spend that much money on this one purse, but it definitely caught my attention and made me wonder if I could create a copy-cat version of my own. (Prepare for lots of pictures folks!)

Blue Suede fringe purse

I was especially intrigued by the detail

Twisted and studded

So I went to the thrift store to find something I could use to make a copy-cat version of this purse. While I was there I found this fabulous navy blue dress.

Before: Long navy blue dress

Before: From behind

I loved the golden shoulder buttons, and it even came with a belt!

Shoulder Button-tastic!

Belt

It was the perfect color, and was long enough that I thought I could remake it into a dress AND a purse! I got to work on the dress first.

In making the dress, first I snipped out the shoulder pads to see how the dress would fit length-wise.

Outro shoulder pads. I'll see you later......

Then I cut enough length off the bottom to make the purse, but not make the dress too short.

See ya length!

I folded the dress in half to cut both arms at the same time.

Chop off those arms!

Short sleeves, short length

The area under the arms was too billowy for me, so while it was inside out I pinned and sewed from the elastic waist area up about an inch or so past the original armpit seam, then out the new sleeve area. It took me a few tries before I got the right fit. After that I cut off the excess fabric (don't want to have fabric bunched up under your arms!).

Creating a new sleeve size

Once I sewed the right sleeve size, I folded, pinned, and hemmed a new sleeve seam on both arms.

New sleeve hem

I wanted to save the pockets, but they ended up being too much hassle with the new silhouette, so I cut them off as I sewed a new seam down the skirt. I then folded and sewed the bottom hem of the skirt. I also shortened the belt a few inches.

New skirt hem

That was all I did to transform the dress from drab to fab! Here's the after photo of the dress, but PLEASE keep reading, because I continued on to make that copy-cat purse I showed at the beginning of the post of which I'm SUPER proud!

After! Navy blue mini-dress (w/ belt)

After: from behind

After: Without a belt

Kept the button action!

I love the new dress, but I LOVE the new purse, so KEEP READING (please)!

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Remember all that length in the before photo?

Lengthy skirt

I took the bottom of the skirt and sleeves and transformed them into a copy-cat version of the $40 Chateau purse.

Original purse

Skirt + Sleeves = Copy-Cat Purse

First I un-hemmed the skirt material to give the fabric a bit more length.

Ripping the hem

I separated the front and back half. and instead chose to re-sew them so that there would be more height. While doing this, I pinned and sewed the material with a dip in the front to capture the essence of the original purse.

New body of the purse with a dip

After sewing on the layers, I flipped it inside out and sewed the side and bottom seams. The original purse was almost flat, but had bout a 2 inch rectangle bottom. To get this effect, while looking at the inside out bottom, I pulled the 2 sides away from each other so the bottom seam laid in line with the side seam and made a triangle. I pinned the triangle about an inch from the corner, then sewed straight across the base of the triangle (hopefully that made sense!).

Inside out bag, looking at the bottom. Sewed straight across where the pin is.

Turn the bag right-side-in and you now have a square purse bottom!

Square corner!

I wanted to make the purse bottom sturdier, so I recycled the plastic cover of my 2012 planner (new year, new planner).

"Auld Lang Syne"

I cut out 2 rectangles about 2 inches wide, hot-glued them together (it wasn't long enough), and rounded out the corners (don't want them piercing the bag!).  I then hot glued the plastic in 3 spots on the inside bottom of the purse.

Just enough hot glue to hold it on.

Next, I got working on the inside lining of the  purse. I had some material left over from an old nightgown from a previous project (yet to blog about), so I took the material and cut out a rectangle slightly smaller than the dimensions of the outer purse. I wanted to add pockets to hold my phone and iPod, so I doubled up a second, smaller rectangle and pinned it to size.

Does 2 non-smart halves equal 1 smart phone?

Then I sewed it onto the inner purse lining. I kept my phones in the pockets to make sure they each had enough space (but making sure they didn't get damaged).

New pockets for my devices

I sewed the lining closed on the side and bottom, and gave it a square bottom the same way I did with the outer shell, and set it aside for a little bit.

I began working on the details of the purse. I cut and opened one of the long sleeves from the original dress, and sewed it to the front of the purse.

Newly sewn flap

Then I carefully cut thin strips (about 1cm) from the bottom of the flap up to the top of the flap.

Cut thin strips

I cut a small slit at the top of each of the strips (about 1/2 inch slit), and one by one, took the bottom of the strip and pulled it through the slit to make the twisted effect of the original purse.

Pull the strip through the slit

With that done, I worked on the studs. I had some colored brads as part of my school supplies that I thought would work for the studded effect on the original purse.

Multi-colored Brads

I chose to use the gold brads and set them out in their alternating large and small pattern. Then I poked small holes with some sharp scissors, put the brads in, and opened them to secure them in place.

Newly studded

Brads from the inside (this will be covered)

After all of this I inserted the white lining with the pockets into the purse and flipped the top length into the purse, sewing them both down and covering the brads. Now the inside of the looks like a normal purse with pockets.

I looked into my school supplies again and found some round metal minder rings.

Binder Rings

I hot glued them closed and sewed them into other short strips of sleeve I had sewn together.

Hot Gluing Binder Rings

Ready to be sewn on!

I sewed the strips with the binder rings to the front of the purse. Then I took 2 strips of thick fabric navy blue ribbon, folded it in half longways, and sewed it onto the back of the purse and around the metal binder rings. I also sewed on a thin strip of Velcro to keep the purse closed.

Velcro to keep it closed

After hours of work and a number of reality TV shows playing in the background, I finished my new, copy-cat purse. I'm REALLY proud of this one!

Copy-Cat Studded Fringe Purse!

Twisted and studded like the original!

New purse!

After- New fringe purse

But I wasn't finished with the project. Notice how the title says Copy Cat Trio? I found a handy use for those shoulder pads from the original dress!

Whoop whoop! Shoulder pads!

I saved a zipper from an earlier project, so I cut near the straight part on one of the pads. and sewed in the zipper.

Cut through

Zipper

Once I sewed the zipper in, I unzipped the zipper, pinned the edges of the 2 shoulder pads with the zipper facing in, and sewed around the whole shape (make sure the zipper is open!)

Sewing the shoulder pads together

Then I flipped the project inside out through the open zipper (see why the zipper was open?).

Flipping inside out through the zipper

Finally, I added the remaining brads just under the first layer of material on the side opposite the zipper. This third project was super simple, but turned out super cute. Check out my new coin purse to go with my new fringe purse!

Shoulder Pad Coin Purse!

So cute! (The coin purse too, haha!)

No money inside yet!

There you have it! I sewed up a storm yesterday, but ended up with 3 adorable, color-coordinated pieces for less than $5. And I had fun! Who'd have thought that one original dress would result in such fabulosity! I hope you enjoyed this Copy-Cat Trio transformation. Maybe next time I'll separate this into 3 different posts to make them shorter. I was just so excited!

3 color-coordinated pieces

If you like what I'm doing, please, spread the word of my blog to friends and family. The more to inspire, the merrier! Until next time, blessings.

#10: What's Barbie Got To Do With It?

Hellooooo! Welcome back! A few months ago a family friend called me and told me that her little girls had just inherited a huge load of Barbies......but they were all naked! She's been searching online for Barbie and Ken clothes, but they tend to run VERY expensive. She asked me if I would be interested in making some Barbie clothes with my new sewing abilities ;) I gave it some thought, and though I've never made Barbie clothes before, I decided to try it out, if for nothing else than to help a friend. I've been finding clothes and fabric with great patterns that I think would work well in a miniaturized form, so today I'll give you a taste of my first ever Barbie transformation! I had just the piece in mind for my first Barbie creation:

Frilly Purple Shorts!

First, though, I had to transform the Barbie itself. My family friend lent me her daughter's Barbie, but it was looking like a hot mess. (If you'd rather just see the clothing transformation, feel free to skip about half way down the post.)

Before: Scraggly hair Barbie (censored just because)

Crazy hair from behind

If I wanted my clothing re-do to look good, I'd have to make sure Barbie looked good too. Barbie has synthetic hair so it can't be cared for like human hair. I found a number of tutorials on Pinterest for how to untangle Barbie's hair, so I combined them together. First I combed through Barbie's hair from ends to roots with a small-toothed comb (there was a lot of hair loss). Once combed through, it looked like this:

Blonde Afro Barbie

Combed out from behind

Next I poured about 2 tbsp of liquid fabric softener into a coffee mug.

Fabric Softener

I filled up the cup with near-boiling water and dunked Barbie's hair into the water, holding it there for about 1 minute.

Spa time?

Be careful not to touch Barbie's hair to the actual fabric softener or it will dye Barbie's hair!

After about a minute, I took Barbie out of the water solution and I combed the hair out again. This time it was much easier to comb through. After, it looked like this (while still wet):

Freshly detangled

Detangled from behind

Though it was much better than before, I wanted Barbie's hair to have a bit more style, so I looked up another tutorial on Pinterest for styling Barbie hair (remember, it's synthetic). Here's what I did next:

I cut plastic straws into about 1 inch pieces and grabbed some straight pins and small ripped pieces of paper towel. I separated Barbie's hair into small sections, then wet a small piece of paper towel and put it around the end of the hair section so the ends wouldn't fray. Then I rolled the section of hair around a piece of straw from the ends to the root. I pushed a straight pin through the straw roller and into Barbies head (ouch!) to hold it in place (don't worry. It's plastic).

Miniature roller pinned into Barbie's head

I did this with small sections throughout the rest of Barbie's head. (Up close, Barbie's scalp is pretty  creepy!) I paid special attention to Barbie's side-swept bangs to make sure they were all the same length and going the same direction.

Rolled and ready to go!

That's some salon-worthy rolling right there!

After rolling Barbie's hair, I dunked its hair in boiling water on the stove for about 20-40 seconds (make sure not to touch its body to the side of the pot or it could melt!).

Boiling perm

 
I then rinsed its hair gently in cool water for a few seconds, followed by patting it dry with a towel until it didn't drip anymore. After that I rested Barbie in a plank position over night until its hair was fully dry (Don't rush it. It needs to dry completely!)

Build those biceps!

The next day once Barbie's hair was completely dry, I began to unwind each curl by pulling the pin out and unwrapping and discarding the straw and paper towel piece. I separated each curl into 3 thinner curls and twisted each curl with my finger to give it better shape.

One curl down, many to go!

Finally, after a full day and night at the "spa," Barbie is refreshed and ready to go with a new perm! Barbie's hair even smells like fabric softener :) It was time-consuming, but gave new life to an old doll, and I think it was worth it.

Before: From ratty...

After: ...to oodles of curls!

Kind of reminds me of a beautiful natural-haired Barbie of color I saw online. I hope to have a Barbie of color to give some diversity to my Barbie models:

Beautiful, natural Barbie of color

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Now that we've given Barbie a hair makeover, let's get back to these frilly purple shorts :) I found them at a thrift store on the dollar rack. They were so fun that I couldn't pass them up!

Yes we can can-can!

With all the frills, I thought this would make a great Barbie dress. First I separated the 2 legs straight up the middle seam. 

Separated sides

 Next, I took one side and laid it flat with the thick ruffles facing up.

Lots-o-ruffles

I took a needle and thread and sewed a straight line along top thin ruffle and pulled it tight to create a smaller waist, and another straight stitch near the top to go above Barbie's bust (Barbie's hips, waist, and bust are WAY disproportionate to each other).

Strait stitched

Then I flipped the fabric inside out and pinned along the edges up to just below the waist and sewed a back skirt seam with the sewing machine.

New back skirt seam

I folded over the excess material at the top of the bust, and sewed a small hem to create a frill at the bust. Then, I sewed small strips of Velcro on the back of the dress from the top to just below the waist (an easy way to get Barbie's clothes to fit over her disproportionate hips and waist).

Sewing on Velcro

Finally, I took some stretchy purple lace with a purple bow in the center that I had and sewed it around the waist.


After a long process (and lots of ripping and re-sewing seams to get the size right), my borrowed Barbie has a whole new look with a fresh perm and a brand new party dress! Plus, I've got a whole other side of the original shorts to use later :)

After: Purple Party Dress

After: Barbie's new look.

After: from behind

So what do you think of my first Barbie transformation? I think I'll try out a few more. But don't worry; I'll still be mainly making clothing transformations human sized :) I'm excited about a new piece I just picked up from the thrift store yesterday. I've got ideas for 2 fabulous recreations from the new piece. Check back soon to see what I've come up with!

Until next time, blessings.













*For the original Barbie hair curling blog, visit here.

#9: Sheets Aren't Just For Sleeping

This is the simplest remake I've ever done. It's easy, versatile, and requires no sewing! I saw a tutorial on Pinterest a while back that required about 60 inches of fabric. I didn't want to go spend money on new fabric, but I had an old bed sheet I was getting rid of that had accidentally gotten bleach stained in one corner.

The culprit

I started out with a plain beige cotton flat sheet and cut a rectangle about 60 x 35 inches (you could change the dimensions depending on your height/shoulder width). I kept the original sheet hem to use as the bottom hem so I wouldn't have to sew a new one.


I folded the rectangular fabric "hamburger style" from right to left (as opposed to "hot dog style" long ways from top to bottom. Remember that from elementary school?).


Next, I measured about six inches down and six inches over from the folded side. Then I cut about an eight inch vertical slit through the two layers of fabric. If you have a wider back or shoulders, you can adjust the cut further from the folded side accordingly.

Cutting arm holes

Open it up and you see 2 holes in the fabric and BAM!!! You're done.

Ready to go!

Your arms go through the holes, and you've got a simple, versatile vest. You can wear it open...

After: Simple Vest

...or with a belt...

Vest with a belt

...or as a long scarf...

Long Scarf

Long scarf wrapped

...or that wrapped-around-your-neck way...

Wrap-around

Sorry the picture's so dark!

This transformation is so simple, and the possibilities are numerous! In my experience training as a therapist, I have come to like flowy covers and shawls. They're comfy, warm, and I can put them over most casual shirts to make my look a little more professional, yet comfortable. Perhaps I'll make some more of these vests in different colors in the future.

Enjoy your day! Until next time, blessings.


















If you want to see the original tutorial, you can find it here.

#8: Muumuu

Happy New Year!! I hope you all rang in the new year safely and responsibly :)

This one is one of my earlier transformations. I got a lot of positive feedback from it, so I'd like to share how I transformed it. I found this muumuu at a thrift store for about $3.

Hellooooo Muumuu!

Before: From behind

I saw a similarly shaped muumuu transformed online, so I bought this one with an idea in mind for how to transform it. The key was finding one that had a continuous neckline.

See the wide round neckline strip?

Just a few simple steps to change this muumuu from frumpy to fantastic!

First, I cut out the arms along the seams around the neckline and underarms. Then, with a sewing machine, I created a new hem around the edges of the new arm holes and outer neckline that would rest on my shoulders. Finally, I slightly took in the sides along the seam between the underarm and the waist mainly to reduce the size of the gaping armholes.

I kept the length and size around to maintain the look and feel of a flow-y dress, but added a slim belt to accentuate the waist. Paired with a few of my favorite accessories, I was ready to go!

Simple steps to a refined, fresh, Summer-y look. Who knew a muumuu could ever look so good?

After: Cute floral dress

After: From behind

I loved the natural neckline of the piece. And it's super comfortable to wear (and reversible, lol!). No wonder people wear them ;)

Muumuu no more!

I hope you liked this one. Until next time, blessings.