Reduce, Reuse & Restyle!

Does anyone else have this problem? My 12 yr.-old is in-between departments & shopping with her is becoming quite the chore! She still fits into the largest size in the Children's dept., but the selection is not always her style.....and she fits into the smallest size in the Juniors dept., but the selection there is definitely not her style, either (and I am actually kind of glad about that)! Shopping for her lately gives me a headache, but upon surveying her closet recently, I was struck with the fact that something had to be done because she's running out of clothes that fit!!

I had her go through all of her clothes and bring me what no longer fit so that we could have a realistic idea of what we were looking at. She brought me a huge pile of things, which I began sorting into Donation piles. Several dresses that she brought me were among her favorites and she was kind of sad to see them go. As I sorted, a light bulb went off in my head and I thought of all the restyling tutorials I have seen ~ she prefers skirts to dresses anyway, so why not use the fabric to make her some skirts for church? Church clothes were at the top of the shopping list of "most needed" items, and although we had been looking she had been unsuccessful at finding much she liked. She doesn't like them too short {yay ; ) }.....and super short is just about all that's out there.

I got out my tape measure and measured exactly the length she wanted in the dresses she picked out for me to restyle.....

Dress # 1, which I had the least amount of fabric to play with.....

 I took the zipper off the dress, then pinned the outer fabric to the inner "slip" and basted them together, following up with a zig-zag stitch because fraying fabric gets on my nerves....



I then folded the fabric down and sewed a straight seam.....

 ....and took the ties from the original dress and attached them to the sides of her new skirt....

Looks really nice with the baggy blue t-shirt, don't ya think? ; )

 She tried it on later with a white cami and cropped sweater.....super cute!  It's a lot cuter in person....I was over taking the pics at this point, and you can tell.... : (

I've learned that I don't like doing tutorials....having to take all those pics ~ sheesh!  I only went to the trouble for the first one.

Dress # 2:

 I cut it off, then made a casing for the side ties which I had sewn together to make a drawstring-waistband-type skirt....

Dress # 3 is one that I made for her and was her favorite dress for 3 years.....it was a little big when I first made it, but because of the ties she was able to wear it anyway.  She literally wore it until she couldn't possibly wear it anymore!

I cut off this one and made a casing for an elastic waistband.....

...and Dress # 4.....

 I made an elastic waistband with this one, too.....and am going to add the blue ribbon across the bottom as soon as I get over to Hobby Lobby and get some more....

When I finished them all and she had tried them on, she proclaimed that I am ♥awesome♥......I think I've started something here.

Now, we just have to find some tops to go with them and she'll have 4 "new" church outfits, which will reduce the amount of $$$ I have to spend, thanks to reusing the fabric from the things she had outgrown and restyling them into something new.....which is very, very good because she also needs new shoes, and her brothers need new things, too!  At times like this, I often find myself torn with wanting them to stay children and looking forward to the day when their wardrobes don't need replacing every season!

I feel so very green. ; )

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And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ~ Colossians 3:17

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