F for Fashion reconstruction #25

My sister mentioned to me (after watching The Musketeers) that the 17th century Dutch fashion was all about frills and ruffles and she concluded that it is no wonder that I have a thing for ruffles not by mere coincidence but because of the fact that I have traces of Dutch blood running through my veins.


So, having said that, the theme for this Fashion reconstruction project is all about frills and ruffles, not by coincidence but because I had so much fabric to play which allows me to add ruffles here, there and everywhere.


I chose an old (circa late '90s) short-sleeved floral crepe maxi dress which was a little bit too snug for comfort but still in good condition that if given a new lease of life, could last for a few more years.

All I needed to do was to extend the sleeves and skirt; and loosen the dress a little. And it didn't take me long to come up with a design because I had all the material needed at hand. I chose a green chiffon fabric for the extensions.


As usual, it was back to basics ~ seam-ripping, removing unwanted or worn out parts and cutting out of new fabric to form a new dress.


It took me less than a week to complete this new dress and I am already excited to wear it for my next outing.

Who could tell that this was a cut-and-paste project, if I had not disclosed the facts?


I can proudly say that you cannot find this item anywhere. 💃🐒👌🙋

F for Fashion reconstruction #24

What can I say?


This one is by far, the most complicated and trickiest of all my fashion reconstruction projects ~ from start to finish.


It would have been much easier if I had tentacles for arms because I could have finished this project much earlier.


Nevertheless, I am very proud of my achievement which is largely due to my persistence and perseverance. Otherwise, I would have abandoned it halfway and not completed it at all.


Initially, I thought it would just be a simple-to-do cut-and-paste project until I actually got down to the cutting and pasting.


Little did I know that this kind of project was going to be time consuming, and required a lot of patience and conscientiousness (which I already possessed) but since there was no deadline at all, it made it even harder because it was much easier for me to just crawl back to akrasia (a word developed by the ancient Greek philosophers like Aristotle and Socrates to describe procrastination or a lack of self-control).


The idea of transforming this mini chiffon cocktail dress (bought in Hong Kong, circa 2010) which I no longer wear, into a long dress, was rather appealing. I picked this number because it reminded me of salsa dancing and because the fabric is light and drapes very well.

Also, it was not difficult at all for me to decide on the design for the new dress because all the material required were available from my sister's stash and best of all, the colours matched perfectly with the colourful motifs on the dress.


All I had to do was start...


But I almost gave up halfway because I got tired of all the cutting and pasting. Plus it did not help when the rolled hemming function on my sister's serger machine broke down!


Luckily, the quick-witted me found an alternative to rolled hemming. I chose instead, the finest serger stitches (after experimenting a few times on my mom's serger machine) that mimicked rolled hemming. And it worked like a charm!


All's well that ends well!


I even went that extra mile to embellish the new dress ~ sequins on the seams of the sleeves and the dress; and on the front and the back bodice, just for the fun of it.


And finally, here it is... the result of all that sweat and toil...

If only I could find a fabric with all the right colour combinations, then, I would not have gone through that extra mile... But where is the challenge in that?

Who could tell that this was a cut-and-paste project, if I had not disclosed the facts?


I can proudly say that you cannot find this item anywhere. 💃🐒👌🙋