I <3 Gibbous Altered Fashions sew-along!

[craftewoman]

Loving the dress so far. I love the flowey beauty of it, and I never would have thought that I would have liked orange!

[lovesclutter]

I love orange and that is very beautiful. So envious. If you don't mind sharing how you get that effect?

I am thinking of on the purple using a lot of gold buttons. Ideas?

[loukr]

Hello, thank you for all the lovely comments, I was a bit worried since I was so tired last night when I decided to start sewing!

Here's a mini-tute for you all in case you want to give this effect a go.

The image shows just the front half of the bodice, (as visible in image #2 overlaid onto the actual dress!)

You will always want to drape the fabric on the bias, this gives the lovely flow to the skirt and also makes that hemline super simple!

I literally just chopped out loads of squares (and the odd rectangle) from my fabric (following the grain). How big your squares are will determine how long your skirt-part will be - Experiment Mine has all sorts of lengths and once I get around to doing the back, it will be even longer!
-REMEMBER, YOU CAN CHOP LONG PARTS SHORTER, BUT YOU CAN'T CHOP SHORT PARTS LONGER! (you can however add more layers underneath the short bits if it's too short for a funky and fuller effect!)

You need to attach your squares via a corner. This means the fabric will be on the bias (yey!).
If it makes things easier for you, chop off one corner from each square so that it will all be in line with the bottom seam of your bodice.

If you're lazy like me or you like the effect, keep the corners on and sew right over those bad-boys a few times right upto the corner that you would've otherwise chopped off so they look as though they're growing up the bodice!

Overlap each of your squares for a fuller effect, or line the edges of each one up.. EXPERIMENT!
I hand gathered my squares as I was sewing so I could fit more on there for a big poofey effect! Remember though, because of the shape of the skirt pieces and the fact that you're stitching it on the bias, you don't have to hand gather it if you don't feel the need. stitching it straight without gathering means it will still look lovely and full but you'll have room for loads of stuff on top like doilies, beads, buttons without breaking your machine trying to get through layers and layers of fabric.. also if you don't have much of your skirt fabric then gathering it might mean you get half way around your dress and realise that you've run out! RUNNING OUT MEANS IT'S TIME TO TRY DIFFERENT COLOURS AND FABRICS!

All done. now check out my super amazing (not) diagram for you:





Any good guys??

[gekkogirl]

Oooh! I've been lurking around and admiring this theme of threads for so long. The items are so mouthwateringly beautiful. And finally two Saturdays ago I got to try the style out for myself. I volunteer for Oxfam at a new Reworked for Oxfam store in Reading UK. The idea is that we take some of their thrift clothes and alter them to try and sell. Sometimes this is just a simple change of buttons or hemming a little but SOMETIMES you can take a slightly stained white and boring corset and go bananas! All the lace and ribbon was donated.
This free and loose method is really not easy for me so I still couldn't manage the "floatiness" of some of the beautiful garments here but I'm closer!
Photos:

The front- I'm especially in love with the heart





Thanks for all the great inspiration and advice is very much appreciated!

[sugaree]

loukr i luuurv the little tute - it's so helpful!! thank you 
and your dress looks stunning so far...can't wait to see where it goes from there

[lovesclutter]

Yes, loukr, that really makes it make sense. I have a hard time seeing even the simplest ideas sometimes, but in your case that worked beautifully. I do love the orange very much.

[craftewoman]

Pretty corset. It would go perfectly with my skirt! LOL!

[craftylittlemonkey]

Great tutorial!
And I love the heart on that corset, the star stitching inside it really makes it happen for me.

I am having a hard time doing anything with this project because I just don't know where to wear a thing like this. I am nearly 40, have 2 kids and a busy life and I don't get dressed up very often and never for an event that would take a dress like this! I have a "don't wear anything you can't wipe your hands on" philosophy most of the time. What are you guys doing with these clothes? Are you wearing them out? Where? With what? As much as I like the look I'm baffled about how to incorporate it into actual life...

[Ludi]

Think about making something more like what you would ordinarily wear.    If you don't usually wear dresses, don't make a dress, make a skirt or a top.  If you want something you can wipe your hands on, make it out of scraps that are durable, stain-concealing, and washable, like cottons.  Remember these clothes are made of rags!  If you can't wipe your hand on a rag, what can you wipe your hands on?     But I admit I'm also having a bit of trouble making every day clothes in this style, because my designs keep being too fancy.

One dress idea you might consider is just making the bodice of the dress from scraps, with a plain skirt for the bottom.  This will be both easier and less conspicuously "weird" than a big floofy dress. Here's an example I never got around to posting:



The skirt part is just a long green thrifted skirt, the top is different scraps cut in squares and quilted on a bodice based on this pattern:  http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/contour-bust-dress-and-tute

[AlwaysInspired]

Love the bodice! What a great idea. I may make something similar someday when I have time........