Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Upcycled bubble dress

When I (again) started to actively blog last fall, I sewed along with Project Run and Play. I loved to see all the different interpretations of one theme. This year Project Run and Play will have a different set up. Now, every month there will be a sew along and you will have three weeks to make your creation. As I understand it, every month there will be a tutorial and you can link up anything that you made inspired by the tutorial. I think it is a great concept, because it will probably mean that I will be challenged to use new techniques, or known techniques in different ways.


This months tutorial was a bubble dress tutorial. I had never made anything bubbly, so I was game to try it. Alida provided a nice Pinterest inspiration board as well. But before I was going to try making a bubble dress, I first wanted to try the technique, so I made a skirt. I took half a meter Michael Miller fairies from my stash and turned it into a very bubbly skirt for my middle daughter. The model showing the skirt here is actually my eldest (the photo was taken with my phone so I am sorry for the lesser quality). I wanted a full skirt for my twirly middle girl and took the whole 110 cm wide fabric, Normally this would lead to a nice full gathered skirt, but the bubble effect made it a bit too much for my middle daughter's height, but she will grow into it. I chose a very thin (polyester) lining and this gave a very nice gathering effect at the bottom. One of the nice thing about the bubble technique is that you do not have to hem, yeh!


Then I had to choose the fabric for the "real" dress. I now knew that the bubble technique gives a full skirt effect and I decided to take a maxi skirt that I had on my upcycle pile (this time I did make a "before" picture).


 The skirt is silvery/gray and has many embroidered details on it. I started by taking the waistband off and I used the upper part of the original skirt for the skirt part of the dress. The bottom width was about three times the waist. The lower part of the original skirt had different triangles with embroidered details and I used the flower triangles for the sleeves and placed one of the bigger details on the middle of the front. For the back I opted for embroidered details on the sides. The pattern of the bodice and sleeves are the same as for this dress and originate from Stof Voor Doe het Zelvers 2.





I lined the bodice with interlock. The fabric of the original skirt is wrinkled thin cotton which makes the dress stretchy, but due to the fabric's light weightiness I was afraid that the dress would become to baggy if there was nothing to hold the wrinkles together. The dark blue lining shows at the neckline which I think is a neat detail. Due to the interlock lining I also did not have to use a zipper (double yeh!). I again opted for the thin polyester lining as I did with the trail skirt. It is a very nice purple and my colorful daughter loved the fact that the colors of the two linings were not the same. I did not line the sleeves


After some serious pictures she of course also had to twirl, jump and bow like a princess.

 


Although Kid's Clothes Week has not started yet (almost though), I decided to also put it among my projects for this season due to the "upcycle" theme. I had planned on using the original skirt in that week, but I still have a nice pile to be upcyled (and I might even make something from the skirts's leftovers.

I love to hear what you think of them. Feel free to leave a comment in the language you prefer (although Google translate might have to assist me if you choose something different than English, German, Dutch or Hungarian).

38 comments:

  1. Waaaaaaw, dit is echt prachtig! Ik durf al niet meer mee te doen met de KCW, zo'n schoon resultaat haal ik nooit! :-)
    Ik heb hier zoveel upcycle materiaal liggen en zoveel ideetjes in mijn hoofd en op pinterest, maar ik heb me er nog nooit echt ten volle achter gezet. Ik hoop dat de KCW mijn stok achter de deur is!

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    1. Dank je wel! KCW is gelukkig geen wedstrijd maar juist elkaar inspireren :) dus al dat moois zien is de prijs van meedoen! Ik ben benieuwd wat je gaat maken.

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  2. I love the up cycle! how original, grey is my favorite color.

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    1. Thank you Momusewsilly, the fabric really asked to be made into something pretty.

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  3. Wat leuk die 'bubble' rokjes en jurkjes. Toen mijn dochter jonger was had ze meerdere, ik vind ze zo leuk staan! Ben benieuwd naar je creaties in de KCW. En een leuk thema ook!

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  4. Goe gedaan! En blij toch nog een bekende naam in de Project Run & Play line up te zien staan :-)

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    1. Ja, ik zag jouw jurk ookal staan! Heel leuk stofje. Ik zit nog steeds te twijfelen of ik mijn posts ook in het Nederlands zal schrijven, ik zag dat jij er ook een beetje tussenin zat ivm Project Run and Play. Ik lees net zo makkelijk Engels als Nederlands, maar ik weet niet hoe dat voor anderen is. Denk je dat het Nederlandse volgers tegen zou houden, een Engels blog?

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  5. Wat een mooie jurk en rok. Ik vindt de kleur en structuur van de jurk erg mooi. Rustig maar toch feestelijk!

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  6. I love how this turned out! The detailing and texture of the fabric make the dress really special, but it still looks comfy and fun!

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    1. Thank you Beth, my daughter also thought it was a very fun dress. She said over breakfast she hoped it would never become dirty, but of course there was egg on the dress before breakfast was over :)

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  7. That is one fabulous upcycle! Nice job placing the embroidered details on the bodice.

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    1. Thanks Angela, I felt a little bit like being in a candy store, so many pretty embroidered pieces, which one to choose to put the focus on.

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  8. Dat is een mooie jurk geworden! Hele mooie stof hiervoor en hij draait ook zo mooi ;-)

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    1. Ja hij draait geweldig, dan zie je nog beter waarom het een bubbel jurk is!

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  9. Ik moet bekennen, ik ben geen fan van bubble-jurken, maar deze vind ik wel veel leuk! En upcycle is altijd een topper!

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    1. Dank je Marie-Paule, bubble jurken trokken mij ook niet zo, daarom is dit de eerste pas :)

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  10. Heel leuk kleedje voor je dochter! Een geslaagd recycling project!

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    1. Ja altijd extra bevredigend zo'n upcycle project.

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  11. Upcycling, daar ga ik me ook nog eens aan wagen. Mooi resultaat.

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    1. Zeker doen, scheelt vaak nog werk ook omdat je het zomen vaak kan overslaan als je slim knipt.

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  12. Knap recycle-project! Ik kijk ook al uit naar de kcw.

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    1. Ik ook, ik wil voor deze keer wat beter plannen, dus voor de week alles knippen zodat ik dan alleen maar hoef te naaien.

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  13. Mooi jurkje, hoera voor upcling! Hier wordt ook al vanalles voorbereid voor kcw.

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    1. Dank je Boevenbende! ik ben dus van plan om goed voor te bereiden, nu eerst nog wat knopen doorhakken, wat ik precies wil maken.

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  14. That skirt made the perfect upcycle! Such a cute dress!

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  15. What a FABULOUS use of that skirt! It looks adorable! I love the fairy print too - it suits the bubble style wonderfully.

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    1. Thank you Mindy, my middle daughter had her eye on that fabric for long!

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  16. I love your creation. I refashioned mine PR&P too. It's always so fun to see how our creations will turn out.
    http://xoxograndma.blogspot.com

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  17. So, so pretty, and an amazing upcycle too!

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    1. Thank you Alida for the complement and the tutorial that led to this dress :)

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  18. We love upcycling skirts! Yours is simply amazing!

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  19. The dress looks great!! Good job on up cycling the skirt!

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