How to Remedy a Shrunken Dress

If you've been reading my ramblings for a few years, you'll know that I bought this awesome embroidered dress at a vintage/second-hand kilo sale, back in 2014.
If you didn't know, you do now ;)

Anyway. Over the years, this dress - which, it turned out, is partly made of wool - shrank when I washed it.

Every. Damn. Time.

No matter how I washed it, that outer later got a little shorter, a little slimmer.

Until the underskirt stuck out a good few inches, and I couldn't zip it up anymore.

It's sat in my project box for a while as I tried to decide what to do with it. I couldn't bear to get rid of that lovely embroidery!

So I made a shrunken waistcoat from it, instead. :)

Though this refashion was simple in theory, in practise it was time-consuming and a bit of a challenge!

I completed this a couple of weeks ago, but until today didn't get around to blogging about it (I know, I'm a slacker.)

The skirt was fraying away from the bodice, so unpicking all that stitching took ages, and because the seam allowances were tiny, it was fiddly work to create new hems.
I also had to remove the side-zip, and create new seams for the outer and lining. Originally I was going to leave the little red tie on it, but after I'd finished sewing, I decided it didn't look right, so cut it off!

Though I can't easily do anything about the slightly shrunken armholes (that wool is a pain in the ass and I am lazy), I've still managed to get a cute, wearable garment from something that I would otherwise have had to get rid of.

Plus it goes nicely with a shirt I have!

With this refashion I complete a goal from The List, so colour me doubly happy!

080. Refashion/upcycle 3 items of clothing

My other refashions have been:
01. Refashioned Retro Dress (another kilo sale find!)
02. Customised Glitter Boots

Seems I've inadvertently refashioned myself a new outfit!

I did the first refashion back in 2014--took me long enough to complete this goal, didn't it!
Having griped in my post about the dress that I messed up the bodice, I fixed it last year--fits much better now :)

So....how to remedy a shrunken dress? Turn it into a waistcoat!

Glazed and Fired

After learning to throw a clay pot during Brighton Fringe last month, I eagerly awaited the time when my sister and I could collect our fired pots from the Painting Pottery Cafe.

We were in Brighton today, so popped in to collect them!

This time, I got a photo of my sister's pot, too. Hers is the heart-shaped one--I think it's really cute!

I'm pleased with how mine looks after being glazed and fired, too. I keep picking it up and looking at it, quietly amazed that it's something I actually made! Though I'm a creatively-inclined person, pottery has always looked rather difficult, so it's nice to have a memento of something I've tried out and not done too badly at.

After trying out pot throwing, I'd definitely recommend it as an activity to try if you're looking for something new!

A Cellar Full of Clay

You may remember that last year, sister #1 and I painted pottery skulls for my birthday.

This year, for her birthday, we went to The Painting Pottery Cafe and learnt to throw pots!

They have potters wheels set up in their bright and airy cellar, and after a demonstration of how to make a basic pot, we were able to take it in turns to make our own! My sister and I were in the second group to have a go, and were joking to each other that our pots were going to look terrible because we'd never done this before.

As it happened, my pot turned out pretty well!
My sister managed to damage hers, but the instructor was quick to fix things so she could continue, and her pot ended up looking really cute--she made the top into a heart shape! It looks like really expensive, and hasn't even been fired yet!

The workshop was well-taught, instructions were easy to follow, and the staff were friendly and helpful (and endlessly patient, considering they're going through the same procedure with novices hundreds of times this month!)

The Painting Pottery Cafe are running 50 minute long classes throughout Brighton Fringe, though have taster classes throughout the year, too. If you're local to Brighton, it's worth checking them out if you're looking for a fun and new thing to try.

We had fun with this workshop, and can't wait to collect our pots once they've been fired!

DIY Glitter Boots

 
Do you ever find a pair of shoes that you can't bear to leave in the shop--only to discover they don't have your size?

That happened to me when I wandered into Primark during my trip to Portsmouth, and again a few days later when I went to the Crawley branch of the same store.

Alright, so Primark isn't a designer store or even a fancy one, it's cheap and cheerful fashion.

But damn, if I didn't want those glittery gold canvas boots.

Unfortunately the racks in both branches were filled with size 5-6, and little else.

I have big feet, and though Primark do my size, it's usually 'in selected styles only' (and usually sold out).

It was clear that I couldn't have those beautiful boots.

If I wanted some, I'd have to make my own.

Which is what I did.

I bought some plain boots from the men's shoe section (£10, don't mind if I do), then went online and ordered some fine iridescent gold glitter.

Though I had a vague idea of how to stick the glitter down, I googled for some tutorials to find out what works best.

Eventually I found the Step-By-Step DIY Glitter Sneakers tutorial on about.com, which appeared to have the best end result!

It worked pretty well; there are very few places where the glitter has come off, which is where I didn't spread it on evenly. It was fiddly to brush it on around the eyelets and I ended up using the applicator sponge to wipe it over them, cleaning them up before the mixture dried.

The hardest part is getting a photo of them in all their iridescent sparkly glory. They look amazing in sunlight, but it hasn't been sunny since I peeled off the masking tape and laced them up--so you'll have to take my word for it!

Am counting this DIY towards a goal from The List:

80. Refashion/upcycle 3 items of clothing

Smothering boring not-quite-white-not-quite-grey boots in glitter totally counts as a refashion!

If I had space (or need) for more shoes, I would absolutely be making more of these in different colours!

This is refashion 2/3. The first was a refeshioned retro dress...

The Five Hour Two Hour Project

When reviewing my incomplete goals just before the new year, I found I'd been overlooking one that was perfectly seasonal to be getting on with:

052. Crochet a hat

Seriously, what better time to start than the middle of winter, when it is cold and damp and frankly, the exact sort of weather for piling on the layers?

Since I didn't have any yarn, or any clue how to start, I ended up going onto Amazon and searching 'crochet hat kit'.
Which led to my finding this:

A Painted Skull

My birthday was just over a week ago, and sister #1 had planned...Activities.

I didn't know what those activities were until she turned up on my birthday and told me we were going to paint pottery!
...which looks so unexciting in writing, but when your options include skulls and wall-mounted shark heads, that's...well, exciting, isn't it!

Little Deer Daydreams

Visitors to this blog may have noticed the tab at the top, 'Little Deer Daydreams @ Etsy'.
The curious may have clicked on it to find it led to an empty Etsy shop. Oops?

My Etsy shop has been much neglected over the past six months (did my listings really expire last Summer?!)

At last, I have revived the store, renewed some listings and widened my product range!
Previously all I tended to sell was necklaces...

Some were more simple, like the wire-wrapped pale amethyst pendant above, whilst others were chunkier, such as the hematite, smoky quartz and snowflake obsidian necklace below.

Willow Workshop

On Saturday I went to a 'Willow Workshop', which was running as part of Hurst Festival. I booked a ticket for this as I'd not worked with willow before, and was curious about it!

As it turned out, the workshop was for creating a lantern from willow and wet strength tissue paper. This wasn't quite what I expected as the festival website had shown a picture of willow weaving on the event page. It seemed a number of others who attended had expected the same thing, so we were certainly surprised when it turned out we were making lanterns!

But since I was there and had paid my money, I decided to roll with it and ended up having fun!