Repurposing!

I LOVE fabric. I am so amazed by the continued brilliance of all of the great designers out there...I love feeling the different textures and seeing all of the latest prints and themes...it's so much fun! I have such a love of the quilt store and all of the latest, greatest all-cotton fabrics that I have rarely ventured outside my comfort zone for sewing. So, in effort to improve myself and my fledgling sewing abilities, I took a crafting challenge from Shipwreck, an amazing local handmade & vintage boutique locally. I was given a package (total surprise what would be inside), with the meager instructions: "Make something new". I asked if I could add to whatever supplies I received and was told I could...and I took my package out and my friend and I tore it open as soon as we got to the car.
What we found was...um...unexpected. For some crazy reason I thought I'd receive yardage of fabric. I did not. What I did receive was an ugly yellow prom dress (and the embossed roses on it almost did me in alone with their ugliness...not my thing at all!), a striped stretch Tommy Hilfiger blazer (hello, 90s!), and a brown crocheted purse with plastic handles.

Here's the original dress....I used the lining on the outside of the skirts for the girls because the print on the dress was just dreadful!

I spent two weeks thinking, "What the heck am I going to do with all of this?!?"...but seeing as the challenge was timed and I had a month, I figured I'd better get to work.
So, I nervously began cutting apart my items...and here's what I came up with.

I added some Amy Butler fabric to the purse...the whole outside was initially the yellow fabric, but it just didn't hold its shape well for the structure of the bag...so it was relegated to the top "clutch" piece of the inside and outside.

Skirt for my Kaia
"Bubble" skirt for my Emma...I stuffed it with tulle from the lining of the dress to give it definition, but it looked weird and was oddly heavy, so I just left it "unstuffed" but I think it will be floaty and pretty when its on!

I learned I do not like sewing on slimy, shiny fabrics like this polyester/satiny yellow...I REALLY like repurposing pockets (as I did with the ones on the outside of the blazer...I made them inner pockets on the purse, and it was SO easy and they look really cute!), and I reinforced my love of creating without patterns or rules. I love that I sewed the skirts without measuring anything...it was very free and fun!

I still LOVE quilting and have some Heather Ross mermaid fabric that's been calling my name from my stash for months...its calls are getting louder, I must make a quilt!!! But, I did learn a lot about deconstructing thrifted clothes and repurposing, so this was a really great detour from my usual sewing!