Altered Clothing

I really like the idea of making something new out of something old.....I wish more people would sew like that. In the olden days, they didn't just run to the store & buy new fabric every time they got a hankering to sew....they saved shirts too thread bare to be mended & made scrap quilts, they saved the buttons off of shirts to reuse or let the children play w/ a string of them as a gift. Saving scraps & sewing was a necessity, not a luxury.

I had 2 skirts, in brand new condition. The first my grandmother wore the last Easter before she died. It was a nice tiered turquoise skirt. Mom bought her that one & a red one for her birthday, she never got to wear the red one. Mom took the red one since it was brand new but never got a chance to wear it either.

I converted both skirts into a layered dress for L. I will post pix as soon as I get some.

I removed the bottom tier of the blue one (it would be way too long otherwise), gathered it & sewed it under the upper tier as a ruffle. Oh & I hemmed the previous tier of course.

I tighted & trimmed the elastic wasitband to fit L's chest & left the waist ties intact. I criss-cross the ties in front, tie around her neck & voila'!

A lovely tiered halter style dress. She looks so darling in it & loves twirling around.

The red one, I took apart from the 2nd tier & repeated all the steps but it has a ruffle midway instead of @ the bottom...I like the ruffle @ the bottom better but they are both cute.

Now I want to go to the thrift store to look for tiered skirts I can 'alter'.