Things You'll Need:
- A 1950's ball gown preferably in a pastel yellow, pink or blue color.
- A 1960's dress in a mod print with dots or stripes preferably green and white.
- Fabric of yesteryear that you can get from a thrift shop very cheaply
- A sewing pattern for a bolero jacket, a knee length miniskirt, a satin shirt, a halter top, a sleeveless polo, a baby doll top, a surplice wrap dress that ties in the front, a pattern for a shirt that
- A seam ripper
- A sewing machine
- Thread
- Sharp Fabric Scissors
- Stop Fray
- Small pins
- Basting Tape
- Sewing knowledge
- Please feel free to RATE THIS ARTICLE
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Step 1
Go to a thrift shop and purchase a 1950's ball gown that has a full skirt and a layered chiffon bodice. If the bodice has lots of ruching in it then use the seam ripper to rip the bodice from the skirt.
After you finish the back of the seam with a little basting tape or even ribbon and trimmed off any loose strings and whatnot, this should give you a very frilly bodice that can be worn three ways. The first way is to wear it as is over a pair of dark jeans and a pair of nice heels that have jeweled accents.
The shoes must match the shirt or at least be in the same color family so you may have to have satin shoes dyed to match. Make sure that there are some crystal or beaded accents on the shoes, as you need a little sparkle with the shirt.
The second way to wear this is to use fabric from the skirt part of the ball gown and use that to create a sexy peplum for the bottom of the shirt so that you can wear it to work. The third way is to go to a store called Dots and get a satin shirt in a coordinating color.
The Satin shirt should have a wide opening in the middle and a deep plunging neckline and then you will wear the bodice beneath it and the satin shirt over it for a layered look.
The satin shirt at Dots has a "Desperate Housewives-esque" look to it so you know what you are looking for. You may also use the satin shirt pattern to create a button up oxford type of shirt that you can wear over the bodice as a jacket. -
Step 2
Now you want to take out your knee length miniskirt pattern and use the seam ripper to rip the fabric along the seam lines. Use the rest of the fabric that is in the skirt of the ball gown to create a miniskirt.
Follow the instructions on the pattern and if you are working with a sheer fabric use the liner fabric from the dress or just some plain muslin in a light or coordinating color to avoid too much of a contrast between the fabrics.
There are two patterns you can go for with the miniskirt. You can go for a cowgirl miniskirt, which has a full skirt, or you can go for a "jeans" miniskirt look but for that you will need a liner. -
Step 3
Use the bolero jacket pattern to use up the rest of the fabric from the skirt of the ball gown to create a small jacket that will look nice over a formfitting tee shirt that you can purchase at places like Kohl's Kmart and Target and pair that with a pair of white cropped pants and white sandals or thong shoes.
The color combination is as follows: hopefully the 1950's ball gown is baby pink so you can make a baby pink bolero jacket, put that over a hot pink formfitting tee shirt from 2008 and a pair of white cropped pants (also from 2008's fashions).
Another color combination would be a baby blue bolero jacket over a bright blue formfitting tee shirt and a pair of white cropped pants. -
Step 4
If you have any fabric left over at this point from the ball gown make a simple square pattern and turn the fabric into nice accent pillows for your bed or couch.
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Step 5
Now you need a 1960's dress with a mod print. Prepare the fabric by ripping it apart at the seams with a seam ripper and lay the pieces flat. Now use the pattern for the halter-top. This halter-top pattern has a neckline that appears to be somewhat gathered and is tied in the back.
It kind of has a neckline that looks similar to the opening for the curtain rod on the curtains only instead of a curtain rod it has a piece of fabric going through it to tie the halter top in the back. That halter-top is long and comes to the hip length and is worn over white-cropped pants and white sandals or thongs.
Dresses from the 1960's had these mod patterns that were really big and really bold and that is what we are once again seeing for spring this year.
Cut the fabric with your sharp scissors according to the pattern's guidelines and sew the item and you have a unique item that you will not see on everybody else. -
Step 6
You want to go to thrift shops and look for enough vintage fabric to make a pair of Calvin Klein jeans. Calvin Klein has a pattern for his famous jeans in one of the major sewing pattern catalogues.
You may have to go to Wal-Mart or a fabric store to see the large pattern books and choose what you like from there. The interesting thing is you could take a vintage wedding gown that had beaded alcenon lace on it and use that to make a pair of jeans that would look good with a sexy top in a coordinating color that you could purchase at Dots, Macy's, Kohl's, Bloomingdale's or even Target's Mossimo line.
If you did make a pair of lace jeans you could use fabric dye to dye the pants black or any other color to expand your wardrobe options. The idea with this pattern is to take any feminine fabric and turn them into a pair of designer boot cut jeans that would look good with a satin top, a halter-top or even a baby doll top. -
Step 7
For this project you are looking for a very feminine ball gown with beads or sequins as an accent on the dress. The colors that you'll need will either be white, coral, turquoise, yellow, peach, khaki, fuchsia, hot pink or magenta.
Using your sharp scissors and your seam ripper you want to take the piece apart and lay the fabric flat and pin the fabric to the pattern with small pins. Then cut your fabric out and use your pattern for a baby doll top.
Create the top according to the pattern and then recycle the beaded, sequined parts of the original dress and arrange them around the neckline of the new shirt or the bust line of the new shirt to accent the new creation.
You definitely want your new clothing to have beaded, sequined and frilly accents however the placement of those accents depends upon their shape and your preference but you definitely want to recycle the beaded accents!
Come to think of it, there are a lot of dresses I remember from the 1970's that were long flowing polyester dresses with beaded accents that would look wonderful cut and repurposed into baby doll tops for 2008. -
Step 8
You need a cotton fabric that has white and coral in it or even better green and white for this next project.
In order to make the sleeveless polo you will need surplus fabric from the ball gown that you used to make the baby doll top and you will need to follow the pattern well because depending on the fabric you may need more trims to finish the sleeves.
Also, you could get a pattern with a cap sleeve and a peplum bottom to it and that would look smashing as well over a pair of white cropped pants and white strappy sandals. -
Step 9
If you use a cotton fabric from yesteryear that you purchased from a thrift shop and you combined that with a surplice wrap dress that ties in the front and maybe some peep toe shoes in a coordinating color you might end up with something interesting that has an "Old Navy" look and feel to it.
Another option is to get a pattern for a shirt that has a side wrap to it and pair that with a khaki knee length skirt that you may already have in your wardrobe.
