Come see what I made for Zoe!
This project has been a long time coming. Last fall sometime I spied a dress at Goodwill and it caught my eye because of the fish print (in case you're new around here and aren't aware of this, Zoe is completely and utterly obsessed with fish and really, with any animal that lives in the water).
It wasn't in particularly good shape (some of the seams were coming loose, the elastic at the collar wasn't very stretchy, and the elastic casing was coming apart.). So, I exercised my new haggling skills and managed to pay $1 for the dress.
The dress was way too big for Zoe (really, it was a little too big even for Lisey), but I figured that I could modify it and make something that would work for Zoe.
But you know how good intentions are.
The dress sat in my office closet all winter long, taunting me.
Happily, summer is here, formal homeschooling is over for the year now, and I have some free time (or at least something close to that), so I dragged my sewing machine out of the closet and gave this a go.
I didn't use a pattern for this and kind of figured it out by trial and error (mostly error, it seems! If I ever do this again, it'll be a lot easier.)
Using a dress of Zoe's, I traced out the basic shape of the dress and cut it out. I sewed two new side seams, a new neckline seam, and then I ironed over the edges of the armholes and sewed those.
Using some of the extra material I'd cut off the dress, I made some casing (I think that's what it's called!) to use for the straps of the dress.
After I finished with that, I was still kind of unhappy with how the dress looked. Dresses without a waistband are super easy to make, but I don't really like the way they just hang shapelessly. Plus, my topstitching on the necklines wasn't super-duper straight.
So, I rummaged in my scrapbooking drawer and found this.
This ribbon came with a fleece sheet set we gave Sonia at Christmastime, and I'd saved it in hopes that I'd be able to use it for scrapbooking purposes.
Obviously, I wasn't hoping to emblazon my scrapbooks with the Berkshire Bedding logo...no, what tempted me to keep this ribbon was the plain underside. It kind of reminded me of grosgrain ribbon, and I couldn't bear to throw it away.
First, I sewed a strip at the neckline, but the dress was still looking a little too shapeless, and the one strip of blue ribbon looked kind of random. So, I scrounged up another piece and much to my delight, I found it was long enough to make a sort of faux waistline for the dress.
Ahh, much better!
As you can see in one of the previous pictures, I also used a piece to trim the back of the dress.
My final problem was that the dress ended up being a little shorter than I wanted it to be. Fortunately, I had not hacked up the strip of fabric I cut off of the bottom of the dress, so I simply reattached it (I tried gathering it, but I didn't have enough fabric).
I actually kind of like it this way because it gives the bottom of the dress more interest.
So, what does Zoe think?
She's very pleased.
Since the armholes on this dress are pretty big and the straps are infinitely adjustable, I think Zoe will get several summers of wear out of this dress, much like she has with her white dress.
Who knows? It might even be a shirt for her someday.
This dress is all sorts of imperfect (my top-stitching wouldn't win any awards, some parts of it aren't exactly symmetrical), but I think that it's going to bring Zoe a lot of joy.
And me? I'm happy that she's happy. And I would be lying if I didn't also mention that I am ridiculously tickled by the fact that this project only cost me $1 and that it re-used two things that were previously pretty unusable (the packaging ribbon and the falling-apart dress).
What can I say? I'm easily pleased. 😉
I love it!
I shop at Goodwill alot and I just love the fact that you found a dress for that price and made it into something that Zoe will love for summers to come. I have two little girls and I am always looking for ways to make them some stylish outfits that are unique and cute. My 10 year old is at that age where she is starting to care what people think and loves to be unique.
You say your sewing isn’t perfect but the overall finished look of this dress reminds me of ones Iv’e seen at upscale kids boutiques for $50. Great job!
Aww, thank you!
very cute~ and all that matters is zoey loves it!
How precious is this sweet made to order dress for your precious "fish lover'. Reminds me of the days I made almost all of the oldest daughter's (now almost 40) clothing. And a lot of hers were trial and error but I was still happy and she was ecstatic.
Thanks for sharing....
In Him,
Joan
Great dress! But I have to say that I personally wouldn't haggle a price down at Goodwill or any not for profit charity.
Hmn. I give money (buy buying merchandise) and stuff (by donating) to Goodwill, both on a very regular basis, so I don't feel at all guilty about this.
It's an awfully common practice at thrift stores, and I only haggle if there's a good reason (for instance, if they're trying to sell Pyrex containers for more than I'd pay at Target, or if a piece of clothing is damaged).
But, there's certainly no harm in not haggling either...more power to you! 🙂
I haggle all the time at Goodwill. For example, I bought my son a uber-cool reversible "Hurley" brand hoodie there the other day that was priced at $9.99. My son REALLY wanted this particular hoodie, as it was exactly what we went there for. However, the pull tab on the zipper was missing. I pointed this out at the register and they took $3 off the price. I actually still felt that $6.99 was a bit steep for a used sweatshirt, but a new version of this particular brand is $60.
Do I feel bad that I haggled at a non-profit store? Absolutely not. The people who are pricing the items often miss stuff like a missing zipper tab, so I just gave them the opportunity to remedy that.
It's still $6.99 for an item they got for free. Not to mention that Goodwill CEO's get million plus salaries, so my conscience was clear. 🙂
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"
I heard from a Goodwill employee that corporate gets a nice portion of the money for stuff sold, plus they have to pay their employees. We have a fab church run thrift store here that was called Godwill but Goodwill threatened a lawsuit if the name is not changed. They are changing the name.
On topic lol love the dress totally
Very nice Kristen! That's the kind of sewing I've always done at our house. Not perfect, but covers those pillows, or uses up old fabric, sheets, etc. It makes Cami's day when I pull out the sewing machine!
Berkshire Bedding! I find it infinitely amusing that your daughter is wearing something that originated up in my part of the country (Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts) of course, I believe they are located down in Ware MA (which isn't quite next door to me but still ...) 🙂
I think the sheet set was from Bed, Bath, and Beyond....it was a set of wonderfully soft fleecey sheets that Sonia had been eyeing ever since Lisey got a set last Christmas. lol
Nice work! I love the way you added the ribbon!
That really is super clever. Well done!
This turned out so cute! I love the fish fabric. I saw online the other day how to make a little girl's dress out of a men's button up shirt. I think I might have to try it. Happy sewing!
nice job. glad zoe loves it.
Looks nice!
Zoe's dress turned out beautifully, how very creative! I remember the haggling discussion from several months ago. My thought is that you applied the haggling process in an appropriate way and for the right reasons.
I appreciate that you brought up the subject, though, as it's one that has been percolating in the back of my mind since you first posted. I think what it really boils down to for me is whether or not the item is reasonably priced for the condition that it's in and is in agreement with pricing on similar items. If it doesn't meet either of those conditions then I think it's more than reasonable to ask for a discount.
The dress is sweet but what makes me the happiest about this post is knowing that I am not the only one who can't bare to throw away that perfectly good ribbon that comes on bed and bath items. LOL Also, you have inspired me to haggle at thrift stores. I often leave without buying anything because they just want too much for used items.
My wrapping box is stuffed with things like that ribbon. Well, not exactly like - I think even my very patient friends might actually say something if the writing was that obvious.
Which is why I save it for my very young niblings. ;-P
How adorable Zoe is! What a great way to repurpose things.
Very Cute Kristen! Zoe looks adorable! It's so fun to get creative like that:)
Too cute. Good luck getting it off of her to wash it! 🙂
Kristen, I love your blog and have been reading since you started, but rarely comment. I just had to let you know that dress is totally adorable, and I love making new things out of old things. Some of my favorite shirts were old skirts, my favorite skirts were jeans, on and on 🙂
Also, I wanted to give you a heads up as to this blog- it is insane! Like, made me look at everything in my home in a new light insane. I found it very, very inspiring. It's worth reading all the archives- she hasn't had it long, maybe 30 minutes to do so- to truly understand how DEEPLY committed this woman is to zero waste in her home- here's the link:
http://www.zerowastehome.blogspot.com
Seriously, it shamed me a little bit, haha, but in a good way. I thought you'd enjoy it, and I hope you don't think I'm blog promoting or anything, I found the blog through a news article and just wanted to share.
TOTALLY adorable! Kara had a dress similar to this (not that I made LOL) when she was little, that tied at the shoulders. I think she wore it for 3 summers.
Good work 🙂
Nice job!...it looks so pretty.
Aw, that's just darling! I'm partial to navy ribbon... gives it more of a nautical/preppy look.
Zoe has got to be the cutest little thing ever! Oh yeah--the dress is precious as well. 😉 You did a wonderful job with it. I just got married in Feb & our colors were navy & fuschia so I absolutely love the navy accents on this little dress.
Very sweet! I love bringing new life to old useless things. Zoe looks adorable in it.
The dress is adorable, and so is the girl! Very creative way to reuse things that would otherwise have been thrown away.
I can't believe how cute and IMPROVED the dress is. Of course, it's wearer is pretty adorable!
I love it! And a perfect testament to what you say about how things don't have to be perfect to be a blessing to others.