Monday, February 15, 2010

Lady Bug Dress (Upcycle a nightie)











Matching head band for my Lady Bug



















Using a rotary cutter, and a few measurements, I quickly set to upcycling a cute dress up costume.















Tip: I hand stitched the tulle onto the dress so the netting would stay in place without moving under the presser foot.



















This idea conceived on Valentine's Day, came to me when my baby entered my closet and grabbed a red nightie I had hanging in my closet. I never wear it, I bought it on clearance for about $5 but it didn't fit well. As I've said, she dresses up ALL day, she wears dress shoes to sleep in. I can't go near a shoe store without her insisting on putting on heels and finding a matching bag. I have to remover her, screaming. I have to come up with all kinds of incentives to get her to take her necklaces and hats off to take a nap.




So, I decided to make a play dress out of the nightie that she has repeatedly brought to me saying, "mommy this is sooooo pretty". I used a rotary cutter and cut the top of the gown off. It was a short nightie (right above the knee). That's not a lot of fabric to work with. I noticed that the fabric was already on the bias, so I was able to follow the seam lines and cut pieces for bias strips around the yoke. It was already hemmed and cut in a circular fashion which made construction quicker. She had picked out lady bug ribbon at Michael's for $3.99 and I had some netting sitting in my stash. I had to sew the bias strips by hand on the inside so the seams wouldn't show. I kept telling myself not to fuss over a play costume, but I couldn't help it. I put elastic in the back and hand sewed the ribbon to the top. The only problem is, it's not stiff satin or taffeta. It was a nightie, so it can be "staticky" (if that is even a word). It turned out cute, she loves it, and it only cost me around $11.














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