Where does a timid refashionista go for feedback?
June 17, 2018 12:42 PM   Subscribe

I love the idea of refashioning beautiful-but-ill-fitting finds from the thrift store into cool "new" things I'll actually wear--but I'm paralyzed when it comes to cutting them up. Is there an active online forum of like-minded people who share pictures of the original item and give one another ideas for the refashion? or weigh in on an idea here...

I'm an intermediate hack sewer. I don't follow patterns (and that doesn't sound at all fun). I've installed one zipper in the last 20 years. I have a very basic machine, a decent understanding of sewing concepts and I still use the kitchen scissors for everything. The extent of my experience tailoring clothing thus far is reshaping the side seams and sleeves of men's shirts to a more feminine fit.

I have now collected three dresses in fabulous fabrics that I want to convert into maxi skirts with stretchy-tee waistbands. I'm not looking for tutorials for this part (there are hundreds out there--though I wouldn't mind some for what to do the remains of the top: the neck, sleeves and upper torso). I'm looking for communities. I'd like to, say, post a picture of a dress, possibly share an idea and ask for vision from people who are more creative than I am.

Where can I do this? So far I see:
-Old school Craftster, which doesn't seem to generate a lot of traffic.
-Refashion Reddit, which looks like it could have promise, but hard to tell (I don't know how to reddit, but happy to learn).

thanks!


--
...and if any creative souls here care to weigh in about the three dresses, here's more info:
1) a fairly heavyweight linen/rayon orange print shift; probably just giving it a wide stretchy tee waistband (maybe keeping what remains of the top for future empire-style blouse with coordinated sheer sleeves and torso?);
2) a very lightweight all-cotton with lining of same, with a shirred bodice; want to retain that printed bottom, so thinking of chopping about 12" out the middle and sewing the bottom back to the top, essentially making the wide bodice into a comfy waist/hip band.
3) looks like a traditional caftan of lightweight non-wrinkly cotton (I think? the commercial tag says only "Julie" size 58); probably chopping in half to make a maxi skirt and retaining the pretty top piece for future blouse project; someone else has already altered the sleeves.
posted by AnOrigamiLife to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (5 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
A long skirt needs to have a pretty large circumference at the bottom or side slits in order to accommodate a comfortable stride. the orange dress may not be wide enough as is for a full length skirt but you have enough fabric to make a nice facing for slits. The other two are obviously fine and would make really pretty skirts.
posted by Botanizer at 1:57 PM on June 17, 2018


Best answer: There are facebook groups devoted to sewing and to refashioning in which people solicit and provide feedback on this sort of thing.
posted by bunderful at 2:28 PM on June 17, 2018


Seconding Facebook. I am not currently using it but I found that the craft/sewing groups on there were very active and you should get lots of good advice.

Join lots of local and national sewing/clothes-making groups and post to all of them, you're sure to get tons of responses. Good luck! Love all those fabrics and please let me know what you do with the middle dress as I have a similar one I'm looking to alter!
posted by drunkonthemoon at 2:49 PM on June 17, 2018


Check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/UpCycledClothCollective/ on Facebook
posted by porkygrrl at 4:24 PM on June 17, 2018


YouTube is also a good resource. Try different search terms, upcycling, refashioning, remaking dresses. Some fun stuff out there!
posted by LaBellaStella at 4:32 AM on June 19, 2018


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