Sewing for Less - Repurposing #3

Here's a jumper for my daughter that I just completed this afternoon. I used Simplicity 5226, view B, which on the pattern is shown as a slip dress, designed to be worn underneath the view A dress. However, this pattern works fine as a stand-alone dress, and has the added benefit of a keyhole back, so it just slips over the head and doesn't require buttonholes.

Where did I get my fabric, you might ask? How long did it take me to do that fancy embroidery? Because this is a re-purposing post, you know I had to start with something else, right?


How about this woman's corduroy jumper? Thank you, Goodwill! Women's dresses and jumpers are a terrific value, because of the volume of fabric they give you to work with. This jumper was a size large and had a full, gathered skirt...


and the added bonus of embroidered bands for inspiration.


I wanted to use the bodice embroidery on the bodice of my dress, but it was too far down and close to the skirt seam, so I cut the embroidered band off, then cut out my bodice pieces, then re-positioned the embroidered band where I wanted it, turning under about 3/8" on the top and bottom, and inserting some Wrights Medium Rick Rack in Aqua Blue.


Then, I decided to use the same treatment on the skirt, but because the placement of embroidered band on the dress worked fine just where it was, I opted to make a pleat above and below the embroidery and insert the rick rack there. Topstitching close to the folded edge holds the trim in place, and bodice and skirt now have a uniform look.


I also ended up sewing 3 growth pleats (barely visible in photo) in the skirt to bring it up to a better length for my daughter. The idea of growth pleats is to build in extra length so that when a growth spurt happens, one or more of the pleats can be removed to add length and prolong the life of the garment. Realistically, I won't do this, though, because corduroy is notorious for showing creases, but I still like the way it looks.



Here's a side-by-side showing the before (left) and after (right). I'm not exactly sure what I paid for the jumper, but probably not more than $3, and I also purchased 1 package of rick rack (I had one on hand from a previous project already). Including thread, this project cost me less than $5. Our local Goodwill marks down clothing every week to 29 cents, so I could've made this dress for much less.

It saddens me to hear people say that sewing is just too expensive these days. And I can see why they think that. We are so accustomed to buying cheap, imported goods from big-box stores, that spending a little more for off-the bolt fabric seems prohibitive. But, there are other alternatives! I have been frequenting thrift stores for a few years now and I can testify that if you can look beyond what the item IS to what it CAN BE...you will find an unlimited amount of resources at your disposal...sometimes for pennies.