15. Remaking Vintage Clothing

Today I'm going to show you how to transform old and outdated second hand clothing into a really cool contemporary dress.  It's simple to do and lots of fun.

I bought this 80s tragedy from a charity shop up the road for $4. When you're looking to remake vintage clothing you need to look past the ugly and try and focus on the fabrics and the shapes.  This dress has the perfect cut for remodelling because it's got an elasticated waist and a belt.

Don't be concerned too much about the size of the garment either. This dress is a size 16 and I'm a 6 - 8 but it still worked!

Before buying spend some time making sure the garment is free of stains and rips in the fabric.

The next thing you'll need is a t shirt, long sleeve shirt, or tank/singlet top. I bought this one for $3 from a charity shop. For this piece you'll need to make sure it fits you well and that the fabric is in good condition.

Grab your clothing and get out the following items ready for sewing!

Pins
Scissors
Sewing machine and thread
Needle and thread

Now you're ready to make your dress. Follow these step by step instructions and you'll have a new dress in no time at all.


(1) Try on the top and mark just under your bust with a pin
(2) Lay the top down and cut along where you've placed your pin as shown:

(3) Cut the skirt from the dress, or if you're using a skirt for this part you can ignore this step.

(4) Turn your top inside out and pin it to your skirt (right sides together) being careful to match side seams.  If your skirt is too big for the top you can make little pleats by folding the fabric and pinning it.

(5) Sew around the join neatly.

(6) Turn your top out the right way and make sure everything is sitting nicely.

(7) I decided to take the sleeves off my top. The easiest way is to cut one side then use the discarded sleeve as a pattern on the other sleeve. This will make sure that both cuts are the same. Fold under a small hem on the new sleeve and sew.

(8) My dress came with a belt which I reused. A tie or a sash looks really great if you don't have a belt, cinching in the waist pulls the dress together.

(9) That's it - a new dress recycling an old vintage number in less than an hour.

The wonderful thing about remaking vintage clothing is that you can use all sorts of pieces in new ways.  I was left with a piece of elastic from my skirt so I decided to remake it into a rose pin.

Have a great weekend everyone and happy sewing!