TUTORIAL - Sam's new REPURPOSED Mardi Gras costume

Sometimes you just cannot help it.

Especially if something blue just drops in your

lap - like this sparkly gown.

It is so pretty!!
Who was the the little

doll that wore this glittery thing?
She sure was tall and skinny.

In order for Samantha to wear

this I will certainly have to fix a few things.

For one - I did not like the bottom of
the gown. It looked like a mermaid
or something.
 

Okay - the gown does not have any

straps but I intend on giving her some.

Also the gown is to long.
Unfortunately, whoever tried to squeeze
 into the gown tore the front seam right up
the split. 

That is fixable.

The little gown just fits the 5 inch Dawn dolls.

That's a plus.
Looks like a mermaid dress!

 

 Here is the back.
Still looks like a mermaid outfit.

But I don't know.

 

 Meet Grace.
Only in this pic is she

modeling the gown. It fits her hips

nice enough.
When I cut off all of

that bulk at the bottom it will give me

excess fabric to play with.
The good thing about this

fabric is that it doesn't have to be hemmed.

The boobie area isn't bad either.

 

 See - no straps, but I will remedy that

situation.

I will not remove the Velcro.
This allows the gown to be worn.

 

Fixing the seam -
I began by inserting a pin

just below her knee. I placed the pin
here because that is how far I can
go down with this gown to fix
without a pucker.
I then had to finagle it so it would
not pucker because I
did not want a slit in the front of
this gown.
My sewing machine would never like
this fabric - and this fabric is never

easy to sew with a needle and thread.

The best thing to do is to glue
it  together - so that's what I did!

I just use good ole tacky glue!

You must access the situation
of the gown. Is the gown ripped and
torn really bad or is it mild.

This gown was just ripped up the seam.
So all I had to do was place
one fold back on top of the
other side and make sure
that when I  glued it - that there
was no pucker.

If the seam needs to butt up to each other,
then glue the raw edges together.
If the seam is ripped up, torn a little or
holy, then you can glue as closely to the
holes or seams as possible and
then try to incorporate trims, bows and ribbons into
the design of the gown.

 

 After I glued the split back together
then I cut

off the bottom of the dress to where. 

 I wanted it to be.
This gave me the excess fabric to use.

Make straps - 

I cut a long skinny strip from the

excess fabric and cut in half.
Cut enough so that you can do both straps, and
do cut a little extra just in case you
mess up.
 First - Put the gown back on the doll,
and see where the straps must go.
Eyeball it or pin the straps to the front
where they will look the
best at. Make sure they are evenly
placed.
You will glue the front straps on first.
Glue on one strap, let dry.
Repeat for the other strap, let dry.
After the front straps are dry, then
proceed to the back.
Start with one strap at a time.
Carry one strap over the shoulder,
see where it needs to go. Trim off any
excess fabric, then glue it down.
Then repeat with the other strap.
The straps on the gown can be seen in
the last photo.

Meet Storm

She is modeling the finished

gown before it is given to Samantha.

 

Samantha picked up the gown

and took it home yesterday.

 Here is the gown hanging on
Sam's screen divider.

See the red furry stole.
Sam will wear that around her arms.
All she needs is

matching red shoes with a red mask and

she is all set to go!

Doesn't the gown look smashing!

Samantha can hardly wait for Mardi Gras!
Are you going!

Thank you for visiting me!

Hopblogger