Two Vintage Skirts, One Emery Dress
Have you ever fallen in love with a vintage piece but the size was too small or too big? This post is about how I was lucky enough to find 2 of the same skirt, and how I refashioned it into something I loved and could wear!
What are the chances of finding the same vintage item twice? I asked myself that question when I happened to find two of the same skirt within a week. Talk about the stars aligning. But, there was a problem: they were both too small. What's a girl to do? Sell them both and move on? Give them away? None of the above. I was just so in love with the print of the fabric that I couldn't just let them go. So I did what any "normal" person would do: I unpicked both skirts to see how much fabric I had to work with, and made sure I used every single little piece. I'm normal, I promise.
CUE THE REFASHION...
Now, I don't actively do refashions; it's not my forte. But when two of the same Liz Claiborne skirts present themselves in a print that you can only see was made for you, you question the status quo. Initially, I thought I'd expand one of the skirts with fabric from the other one, and then turn the remaining fabric into a top, but then BOOM the idea came to me. I was going to take it all and make it into a dress!
Firstly, I set aside time to unpick both skirts. It was a linen blend and absolutely dreamy, but also delicate, so I knew I had to be careful unpicking (patience is not a quality I posses, and I can get pretty heavy handed when unpicking). So, I took advantage of the kids naps to do that (about 1.5 hours total). Sure, I could have just cut off the waistband and other pieces, but I wanted to make sure NONE of it went to waste.
After unpicking it, I had to give it a good ironing. There were pleats in the original, so I needed to make sure I got it all flat. NOTE: I forgot to mention that I did a prewash before unpicking. Next, I took out some of my favourite sewing patterns and started seeing what would fit, and what worked with the pattern placement; and after a lot of umming and ahhing, I arrived at my very favourite Christine Haynes Emery Dress Pattern (one I've made countless times). Just one little problem: I had never made it with lining. Gosh, I had never made anything with a lining up to this point. Up until this very project, I had always gotten away without having to do a lining, but this fabric was sheer. So, unless I wanted the whole world to see my bra and undies, I needed to line it. I decided to suck it up, put on my big girl sweatpants, and declared to myself, "I can do this!"
Once the little pep talk I gave myself was over, I started pinning my pattern pieces to the fabric and cutting it all out. Let me tell you, I've never sweat so much in my life. Maybe it's because it was summer...or maybe, it was because cutting into fabric you really love causes excessive anxiety and therefore excessive sweating. We'll never know...just kidding it was obviously beautiful-fabric-cutting-induced-anxiety-sweats. Anywho, now that we know that disgusting fact about me, let's move on.
The cutting actually went without a hiccup. Probably because I took my time and didn't screw anything up, and guess what, I was left with only a handful of left-over fabric (if you have had the pleasure of seeing my hands, they are tiny little baby-lady hands). So, woohoo! Barely any waste. Also, I kept the leftover cute original clear buttons and fastenings to use another time. Double win!
The actual sew up was pretty uneventful, which is how I like it. Christine Haynes has wonderful instructions, and she is actually the one who taught me how to do an invisible zipper in the first place! And now lining! I just followed the instructions and had no issues. So go me (and Christine Haynes)! The Emery Dress pattern is one of my favourites of all time, and if you haven't tried it, you must! I bought it before she relaunched it in late 2019. The sizes are now 0-30, which is always a huge plus (pun, honestly, not intended). I'm a size 14 in this pattern for reference. It also has the options to do a cute little front bow, and I just felt like the bow was needed this time. There was one thing I didn't really think ahead about, and I find that this happens to me when I work on a pattern I've used over and over again, but incorporate a change. You guessed it! I didn't account for the lining and how that would make things just that little more tight. So this dress is worn on one of my, what I like to call, non-bloat days.
Overall, this project was super fun to do. I never thought I'd do a refashion, but here we are, and it's an absolute dream to wear (on non-bloat days). Not to mention I get asked a lot about where it's from when I wear it. So, I guess that means I did a good job? What do you think? Let me know in the comments below!
