Sometime last year, I found a tiered gauze skirt and sequined blouse at the Swap Shed. The colors were pretty; I love sequins. But the shirt was torn in the lower back, the way gauzy fabric can shred, and the elastic was gone from the waistband of the skirt. I brought the outfit home and thought about repairing it.
The parts sat in my “one day” basket until recently. I took them out, looked at them, and decided it was just too much work for something that I really wouldn’t wear that much. I used to love all that gauzy stuff, but it’s not really my style now. Couldn’t give them to the thrift shop; they would get thrown away. Surely there was something I could do with all that fabric…
On a road trip through Lucketts, VA, we stopped at the antique stores and I saw this tote bag, decorated with brightly colored ruffles. I had an idea. Maybe I could make a ruffled tote bag out of that skirt…
However, when I took a good look at the skirt, the idea fell apart. I’d have to hem all those cut edges… and gather… and then I’d be left with a tote bag, when I already have 100, and it wouldn’t be big enough to carry my hoops on a plane (the only tote bag I don’t own at the moment).
I tried on the skirt. Thought it would be fun as a short dress. It was. Lots of swing and sway. Had a different idea.
It’s the end of August as I write, and there are only two or three days left for strapless sundresses in 2016. I don’t need another one. But… What if I cut out the torn bit of the blouse, and turn the front sections into ties?
Test.
Bingo! I can wear this well into September and even October, most years. (I can even wear it with the skirt safety pinned, rather than hooked or velcroed, or however it should be altered to be a bodice rather than a waistband.)
Fun with reuse!
