bedsheet extravaganza

As you might have gathered from this blog, I'm not a very extravagant person. Some people are. I love people who are a bit extra, they make excellent company.

So, yeah, unfortunately, that's not really me. If I were a holiday destination, I'd be an igloo tent instead of a 5-star resort. I'm a sensible sneaker rather than a killer heel. I'm a bicycle instead of a ferrari. It may have to do with my being Dutch; appearantly we're seen as quite a boring and frugal sensible and non-extravagant nation? And I'm cool with that. I'd be terribly unhappy if my life had been covered in sparkles.

Instead, I'm the kind of person that makes sensible dresses out of bedsheets, and you know what? I'm proud of it ;)

Wait, another bedsheet-refashion AGAIN? No! still the same one! That dreary beige bedsheet, that I so far have used to...

make a simple dress

and some pyjama bottoms..

was hiding a secret! The beige side of the fabric was attached to an equally plain white side!

That's white fabric, allright

I was half tempted to use the fabric as is. I do love a good white dress (it's the only way I can trick people into thinking I have a tan).
Then, thinking of my series of unfortunate events involving me, white clothes and various pigmented foods, I decided against it. 

Next I considered paint them a sensible dark colour. However, looking at my wardrobe, I figured that the last thing I needed in my life, was another dark dress.

So, one thing led to another and.....

How BOLD!!

That must be the brightest fabric I've used in a while! I used a fabric dye called 'tulip red', and the dye took surprisingly well. Perhaps not tulipy, but at least a nice raspberry-colour?

For the bodice I used the same base pattern as I did for my light pink dress.

When you find an easy pattern that fits you well, keep it! You don't have to make exactly the same thing again, but you can use it as a base. Most parts can easily be tweaked : changing a neckline, lengthening or shortening things, changing a the skirt of a dress is all very easy if you have a base that guides you on the parts such as sleeves and armholes, length of the bodice and where the darts go. 

the basic construction of the bodice!

I tweaked the pattern wherever I wanted to: I drew a square neckline, took some of the sides, added under bust-darts to give it more shape, shortened the sleeves.

Instead of hemming the neckline, I used facing, which gives a cleaner edge.
Also, Because I'm lazy, I used the old overlocked edge as the edge for the facing 
 ( this also shows how badly stitching takes dye)

and seen from the outside!

I didn't use a pattern for the skirt. Skirts are simple: I just cut a rectangle that was wide enough to fit comfortably over my hips, with some darts in the back, and two pleats in the front so the waist would match the waist of the bodice.  

I inserted a little zipper in the side seam at the waist to make getting in and out a bit easier. At the moment I could get in and out without one, but you've got to plan a bit ahead for all that Christmas-snacking that is to come ;)

and hemmed the bottom of the skirt, again using the old overlocked edge because it saves time, and I'm lazy. 

When fitting it, I realized that because it was quite a loose fit and the cotton fabric didn't drape terribly well, it made me look a bit square. I could have taken it in a bit more, but I thought it might be prettier to add sashes to define the waist a bit better. 

I made very long ones, so I could tie them just at the back, or all the way around to the front, and attached them to the side seams.

My bold red dress is finished! huzzaa!!

wait, you want to see the front? 

Sure, I'll quickly turn round.. 

sense&sensibility or extravaganza maxima? Bit of both I'd say!

All that boldness is going to my head, I swear! 

Now, that dress and I won't be going anywhere soon, because the Netherlands is currently in its second 

semi-lockdown, and bars and restaurants are closed and social gatherings very limited, but I did wear my dress to pick up some food, in a quite awesome haute cuisine meets street food place, that sells to tiny artworks with your take-away to support local artists during the corona-crisis, which I think in an awesome concept! 

The good thing (is it a good thing? you decide) is, that there's still some fabric left to make a final outfit out of these bedsheets.

That means that when I'm done, I've transformed a 3,- bedsheet into two dresses, pyjama shorts and a...?

we'll have to wait and see on that one ;) 

hugs!