Modest Homecoming Dress Giveaway

Note: If you don't want to read my random rambling, scroll down to the paragraph that begins "I have a brilliant idea."

Ok, so we're all depressed that school is starting again and summer is over (when I say we, read: I. I am depressed. I am pining away for scorching hot days and stifling nights. I know I am the only one who actually likes this. I am only partly deluding myself when I say we.), but there is a lot to look forward to (even for poor, little ol' depressed me).

First of all, football is back on. Maybe this is not good news for everyone, but for me it means a big fat bag of kettle corn, a feeling of camaraderie with the entire town of Provo and beyond, and up to four hours with my husband where he does not have his computer on his lap (he does not know this bugs me; mostly, I've accepted it as part of his identity, but it's still nice sometimes to get away from it). Ah, football.



But the point of this post is not football, it's what goes along with football: homecoming. Now, I did not know this, but homecoming is not technically about football - it's about welcoming back former residents and alumni; however, it's usually associated with a football game and of course, a dance. Now, that's what I've been getting at this whole time.

I have a brilliant idea. Yes, brilliant. Here's my idea: I am going to do a giveaway here on the blog (because I think it's so cool when other blogs do them, and I'm jealous of their coolness). Every week until homecoming I am going to go out and find a cheap(ish), probably used, probably d.i. dress and turn it into something amazing that would be appropriate to wear to a homecoming-type dance. I'll post pictures of the dress before; then, when it's ready (hopefully after a week), I'll post the picture of my beautiful creation. If you leave a comment on the blog requesting to be entered in the drawing, well, then you will be entered in the drawing and hopefully I will draw your name out. And you will have a cool dress made by me.

So, I went to d.i. today and got my first experiment. I am going to ask for some help on this one because, while I have some ideas of the direction I want it to go in, I'd like some suggestions on the particulars. Ok, so without further ado, here's the dress:

(Note: I put the little kitty in the corner mostly just because I could. Check out Picnik, it's way fun.)

Ok, so it has a little stain on the front that is hard to see, but I still want to do something about it. What I'm thinking (besides, of course, washing it) is that I want to dye it. Here is what I'm thinking: either black, dark chocolate brown, or possibly blue. What do you, as possible future owners of this dress, think? Please give me some ideas on this!

Also, please let others that you may know about this giveaway extravaganza. I really want this to be something useful to those out there who would like to wear a modest dress to homecoming (or any other dance, or date, or school, or out bowling, or you know, wherever you want to wear a moderately fancy dress). So please pass the word along.

Ok, this post is definitely long enough. Over and out!

Easy Fix

Ok, so I bought a really cute dress, um, last year, but haven't been able to wear it in a while as my husband pointed out that it is too short in the back and shows my garments. Whoops. So, taking some inspiration from vintage hem, I made my own lengthening underslip. Here's what I did.
First, I gathered my materials:
One, an old, knee-length slip I probably stole from my mom somewhere between 5 and 7 years ago. :) Love you Mom!
And two, about two yards of thick lace I bought for 67 cents a yard.

Next, I busted out the handy sewing machine and just sewed the lace to the slip, basically just using a straight stitch to tack the lace right onto the slip. And ta-da! Now I have a modestifying slip for whatever occasion :)


So now I'm happy cuz I get to wear my cute dress again, and maybe take a second look at some dresses that were not-quite-long enough. :)

Another Adorable Shrug

Time for more shrugs - and more "I made this!" joy. Using a video tutorial from Threadbanger (below), I successfully made the adorable little shrug shown below. It worked perfectly. The sweater I used was a Christmas gift from a few years ago; I didn't want to get rid of it because it was cute and I am sentimental, but the darn thing squeezed my arms mercilessly and had some sort of vendetta against me that involved constantly showing off my stomach. And so, I revamped it and have been terribly pleased with the results.


Improvements: 1.) Now it's supposed to be short. 2.) Cutting the sleeves and doing a zigzag stitch really opened those sleeves up and now they don't make me feel like I'm about to bust out like the Hulk. 3.) The button. I heart buttons.

Make yours:

I Made This!

A while back I posted a tutorial on how to modestify a shirt that is too short (here). Well, this weekend I decided to try my own medicine and see how it worked. I had a really cute/funny shirt (I bought it from a used clothing store a while back), but it turned out it was a bit too tiny - it always rode up and exposed my back, which I just didn't enjoy. So, I did my best to follow the tutorial, but I went a little crazy and added my own ideas to it. I think it turned out all right. Here's what I did:

1. The shirt was a little too tight, so I added panels to each side. I had to rip open the side seams then sew in a strip of black t-shirt fabric from a shirt my husband was willing to part with.




2. I then used the bottom of Husby's shirt to add about six inches to the bottom of my shirt. Unfortunately when I cut the fabric, I didn't take into account the extra room I would need for the panels I added and the hips I was born with. So, I was left with big empty spots on both sides.




3. I solved this issue by sewing three button holes on each side of my big empty spaces and using the bottom hem of the original shirt to lace through the holes. Ta da:




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