Grandpas Shirts - Refashion # 2 - dress!

My grandparents own a timeshare in Hawaii, and every couple years we go with them. My grandpa had numerous 'tropical' shirts that he'd wear to Hawaii, so I'm going to be making shirts and dresses out of those to bring this year as a tribute to him.

This is by far my favorite refashion so far. I kind of made it up as I went along, and if I could do it over again there are somethings I would do differently! But overall I like it a lot. The color is bold and beautiful, and I just lOVE the big graphic chrysanthemum type flowers on it!

I started taking pictures as I went with this, but then my camera died and I lost my charger. So no pictures along the way :(. I'll try to describe what I did though!

First, I removed the sleeves and the very top of the shirt (mainly the collar), so I had a tube with some armholes cut in it. I straighted the edges out (trimming where the armholes end, if that makes sense) so I had two trapezoidal shapes. I used these for the skirt.

Then, I cut the bodice part out of the sleeves. This is where I really wish I had my pictures, as it's hard to explain! Basically though, the shape I cut out was about the same as what it looks like, only a little bigger. I gathered down the middle of the bodice, and then here's my favorite part - BUILT IN BRA! I always save old crappy bras for projects like this. I cut the bra apart so I just had two attached cups, then hand-sewed it into the front of my bodice. I then sewed a cotton lining over the top of it. Next, I smocked the whole darn thing from the bra all the way around the back, and even a couple rows on the very top of the bra (which give it that ruffled look).

I attached the top to the skirt and did some more smocking around the bottom of the bodice because it was a little too maternity-ish for my taste.

Finally, I added two straps of just plain white elastic. And they tuck down easily if I want to go strapless. I know this is a pretty crappy tutorial - let me know if you have any questions or comments :)

Smocked Dress

I love smocking right now, and am using it on everything! Here's the first smocked dress I made. It was definitely experimental, but I think it turned out well and I learned a lot from it! I love the fabric especially- it is so cheerful and vintage-looking.

I have a bunch of fabric all ready for more smocked dresses- I'm also planning on putting some of them on etsy, since I love to make them but can only keep so many! I also want to make another one of these with the same fabric. Check back to see the polka dot one that I'm working on now...

Smocking Tutorial

Smocking is super easy, and it’s a wonderful way to make dresses, shirts, and just about everything else. It is really flattering and allows for a lot of flexibility of fit.
What you need:
- elastic thread
- sewing maching
- fabric, or whatever project you’re working on and want to smock

Step 1: Wind the elastic thread around the bobbin. You HAVE to do this manually; if you do it with your machine it will stretch the elastic, which you don’t want. When you wind the bobbin, you want to make sure that it is to the point where it is almost stretching the elastic, but not quite.

Step 2: Put the bobbin in your machine. It’s really important that you do this correctly. Some machines will sew ok with normal thread even if the bobbin isn’t threaded exactly right (mine is like this), but with elastic thread it will not work.

Step 3: Sew! You want the right side of the fabric to be up, so that the elastic is on the underside. As you sew, you should see the fabric bunch behind you. This is what the underside of the smocked material should look like:

And here's one of my smocked dresses: