Tuesday, 29 July 2008

• Cheapskate Walmart Dresses

  Before you accuse me of taking this whole "shoestring" thing too far, let me explain.

  Last week Wednesday, newest bridesmaid Monkey and I (that's four down, one to go, for those of you keeping track) visited the fabric store in hopes of finding some patterns we might be able to frankenstein together for my wedding regalia (yikes?  More on this later...).  I had previously expressed to her how much I adored the TwoBirds bridesmaid dresses I found by blogstalking, and while we were at the store, we also talked about the possibility of her sewing something similar as well.  We left with patterns and sample swatches, but didn't discuss the BM dresses further.

  The very next day, my doorbell rang.  There on my front porch was my oh-so-crafty Monkey, wearing a reasonable facsimile of the TwoBirds dress... that she had whipped up in a little under 45 minutes.

  Have I mentioned yet that I love my bridesmaids?

  

  
  Nice tan, silly rower person :p

  The color was not one we were considering, and she hadn't finished the edges, but the basic concept was precisely the same.  You know those TwoBirds dresses?  $290 at the length I wanted.  Monkey's dress cost $5 worth of fabric and will probably constitute about one hour womanpower when she's finished.

  

  It's a simple concept.  You will need:

  - a pattern like this one by McCall's.
  - a spandex/cotton/rayon blend (I will have to ask for the amount of fabric she got)
  - a sewing machine
  - appropriately-colored thread

  1. Follow the pattern directions for the skirt portion.
  2. Instead of creating a top section, cut out two long strips of fabric, probably about 1.25x the length of the skirt (she guessed on the length... man, I'll have to get on her case about guestimating).
  3. Attach strips of cloth to the inner lining of the skirt.
  4. Finish edges of skirt and edges of strips of cloth.

  Et voila!  You have a fully-wearable, pretty sweet-looking bridesmaids dress.  The only question is whether the other girls will agree... and who their fifth companion will be.  Hmmm...

   

  • 9:31 PM
  • 492 Views
  • 0 eProps
  • 1 Comment