2014/04/23

Refashionista: Knit skirt into dress



I'm very excited about today's refashion. Why? Well, I've done my share of refashions over the years, and I feel like I tend to repeat myself all too often. I mean, yes, every project is a bit different, but sometimes I just think to myself "Adding lace, again, are you? How original!" I love lace, by the way, and it certainly sneaks it's way into a lot of projects, but it's a great feeling when you think of a solution you haven't done before. And this dress is it. For months I just looked at it and my mind went blank. I thought about leaving it as is and wearing it as a strapless dress, but those just don't want to stay up if you're as flat chested as I am, and I knew I wouldn't be wearing it much.

Then, one day, as I was going through my to-refashion pile, an idea came to me. I picked up this skirt and suddenly I knew what it wanted to be!



As you can see, I drafted a top bodice for it using a delicate mesh fabric. It was rather flimsy to work with, but I love the contrast between the knit and the mesh. Since the skirt is knit in a lace pattern, the whole dress has a sort of airy feeling which I love.

Construction details: I used an old Burda pattern I'd used before as my guideline for cutting the mesh. The one construction detail you might not notice is that I cut the front lower edge of the mesh (aka the seam-line connecting with the skirt) with an inward curve. If I'd cut it straight, the seam would have sat right in the middle of my boobs (yes, I said boobs), and that's not very flattering. I wanted it to be just above the bust, just like the skirt worn as a dress would look. This alteration also creates the slight high-low effect at the hem.
I used the original waistband of the skirt to bind the neckline, and pre-made bias tape to bind the armholes.



I'm totally loving this dress. It's very comfortable to wear (I mean, it's a knit), yet it's so pretty (like wanna-go-to-a-party pretty). What do you think? Are you as psyched about this refashion as I am?

P.S. You can find the tutorial for the necklace here.

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14 comments:

  1. Oh, this is so beyond perfect!!! I've been wanting to use mesh in a refashion and I'm obsessed with the way you used it here :) So beautiful and as green is my favorite color, I'm dying over how this looks on you!!! <3 it!

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    1. Thank you, Andrea! I just spent the last 20 minutes browsing through your blog. You have awesome ideas, so I'm totally a new follower on Bloglovin :)

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    2. Aww, thanks for following :) I've been a fan for a while now, and continue to be inspired!

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    3. Well, you're like a refashion machine, so I take that as a big compliment. :)

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  2. I'm so impressed with this!!! Great work!

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  3. This is fantastic! It's a brilliant use of such lovely knit fabric and yet it looks like a completely different garment, well done! I've never used mesh before and it's really effective here - goes to show how much you can alter something by using a bit of imagination :)

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    1. Completely agree with you! Refashioning is so much about just using your imagination and finding clever ways to reuse.

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  4. I'm speechless! It's absolutely brilliant! I love the pattern on the lace. And the colour - oh, how I love green... :-)

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    1. Thank you! For being speechless, you still wrote a good comment, hahaa :D

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  5. Really awesome idea.... was in search of this kind of Skirt refashioning from a very long time....ur idea is brilliant.. Do keep sharing such great ideas........

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  6. This is such a great idea :) I love dresses with sheer top panels right now so much!

    Natasha ~ TashaDelrae

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    1. Me, too, Natasha! I just had an idea for another one.

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