Life is Beautiful

Motherhood, Sewing, Family

DIY: Tailor a baggy dress/tunic top

~ SEWING

I got this dress from H&M almost a year ago but never wore it since it’s such an unflattering shape(and this is a size small!).  I tailored it not long ago(in just 10 minutes) and I wear it all the time now.  
BEFORE:
AFTER:
TO TAILOR:

There are two ways to sew:

1. Either lay a fit dress on top and trace, then sew,
2. Or try the dress on, pinch the sides and roughly estimate how many inches to take in, turn it inside out, roughly trace it, then sew.  Start at the end of the sleeves, through the armholes, and down the dress.

*The second option is what I did.
*I unpicked the bottom hem of the dress to lengthen it a little longer and I’m wearing an orange cotton skirt underneath.  
Estimated time: 10 mins.
Project cost: FREE
Skill level: beginner
photos by Jessica Peterson.
check out “shop my closet” page!

DIY: women’s tank top to a girl’s skirt

~ SEWING

Turn a women’s top into a little girl’s skirt in these simple steps:
*the next step is optional if the fabric isn’t stretchy.
After:
tuck in the straps to wear as a skirt
or as a tunic/top
What you’ll need:
-a women’s top
-thread/needle or sewing machine
-5″ elastic(1/4″ width)
Instructions:
1. Cut off one strap and move it a few inches closer to the other strap, depending on the shoulder width of the little one.
2. Flip it inside out and take in the sides smaller, depending on the waist measurement of the little one.
3. (*optional if the fabric doesn’t stretch much): Sew a 5″ elastic onto the back.  As you’re sewing the elastic onto the fabric, gather the fabric little by little as you go.
Estimated time: 15 mins.
Project cost: under $1.
Skill level: beginner
after photos by Jessica Peterson.

Alter your own clothes: a maxi dress

~ SEWING

I think I tailor at least 60% of the clothes I buy.  They’re very simple tailoring, no changes to the design, just to make it more figure flattering.  I’ve only posted it once before, but since I do so many tailoring on my clothes, I thought I’d share one I did recently.

I got this adorable maxi dress from here, and everything fit, except for the waist.  The before/after photo:
*This dress has a side zipper and this alteration will only work for you if you have a side-zipper, pleated dress.
What you’ll need:
-Side-zip pleated dress
-Sewing machine or needle & thread
-Thread. (preferably matching but not necessary since you won’t see it.)
Directions: 
1.  Put the dress on and while looking in the mirror, pinch one side and measure how many inches you need to take in.
2. Turn the dress inside out.
3. On the zipperless side, take in the inches by sewing on the waist part.  Make sure to backstitch.
4. Turn the dress right side out and you’re done!
lovely photographs by Jessica Peterson
Estimated time: 5 minutes
Budget: free!
Skill level: beginner
Would you want me to post more of these series from now on?  

DIY: Tiffany Blue Dress.

~ SEWING

When I got invited to Breakfast at Tiffany’s, my first thought was, “What am I going to wear?” I contemplated for a little bit and collaborated with one of my sponsors to have a dress shipped to me. Unfortunately, the dress came the day of the event, after the event had already ended.  Talk about perfect timing, right? 🙂 So the night before the event, I was stressing out but then remembered this really pretty aqua blue fabric I saw at JoAnn’s a week earlier.  So I went and bought the fabric, and after I put my two girls to sleep, I sewed like a mad woman.  How late did I stay up making the dress?  5 a.m.  Yep, 5 a.m people.  I wasn’t taking this whole event seriously or anything. 😉  So after 2 hours of sleep, I attended the long-awaited Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Was it worth it?  Yes!

The picture below shows more the true color of the dress, a bright pastel aqua blue.
It was super windy when the pictures were being taken, so the skirt part of the dress didn’t look as neat as it usually is.  This is how it normally looks.
The lovely photographs taken by Jessica Peterson Photography.

Anthropologie Tangerine Flicker Dress DIY

~ Refashion Revision, SEWING

 

Hello new and old friends, I am so excited to have you here! I love taking old, outdated clothes and transforming them into new and giving it a new life! I want to inspire people to learn to sew, even the basics so that they can alter their own clothes to make it fit perfectly to the body they have now, and having the clothes conform to their body instead of them trying to conform to that certain clothing size or that certain size pants. I hope you stick around for awhile! You can also find me at @sarahtyau on Instagram where I am the most active.

 

Inspiration: Tangerine Flicker Dress from Anthropologie $358.
I was so close to buying this dress when it was on sale.  Then when they had the extra 50% off of sales during the holiday season, I tried to find one but it was completely sold out.  So I was determined to make it and was about to buy some fabric when I found this dress online.
Very similar right?  You can still purchase the dress here.
*update: it’s now sold out, sorry!
I bought this lace from JoAnn’s. Regular price is $7.99/yard but I used a 50% off coupon. I found the same lace on Etsy, but JoAnn’s is cheaper, even without the coupon(since you pay for shipping on Etsy.)

 

After:
Photos by Jessica Peterson

 

(please disregard my no make-up face, will ya?  I’m trying to get used to this whole getting my DIY pictures done by a professional photographer thing… I feel a bit narcissistic, if you ask me.  I wish there was a way to blot my face out because I just want people to see the DIY project, not me.  So if you get sick of looking at my face(which I sure am), now and in the future, then please just bear with me. 🙂

v

What you’ll need:
– Dress
– Approximately 4-5 yards of lace(buy it here or here-online only shows black but in stores they have beige)
– Sewing machine
– Scissors
– Matching thread to the lace
– Liquid stitch
Directions:
Pin the lace along the dress: on the skirt, the sleeves, and the chest.  Sew the bottom half part of the lace onto the dress and the top curvy, wavy part, use liquid stitch to secure it onto the dress.
Estimated Time: 1.5 hours
Skill Level: a confident beginner
Price: $65
I saved over $300! 😉
You want to see more of my sewing DIY’s? Click here to see more!