In my last blog I told you about a little challenge I had set myself in honour of my mum’s 1970s dungaree/curtain transformation. My challenge? To transform these dungarees and this vintage curtain (found in a charity shop) into something wearable!
And the result? Ta-dah!
Well, I say result – it’s not quite finished yet. I’ve been unwell and taking things very slowly. But here’s where I got to:
I started by cutting off the bib of the dungarees, which turned out to be maternity dungarees. I then made an A-line skirt from the curtain fabric I am completely in love with (if you love it too, I’ve made an apron from it which you can find in the BrawHem Etsy Shop) and went about attaching it to the bib. The skirt looked a bit plain all in the curtain fabric, so I cut panels from the from the dungaree legs and added it to the bottom, it seems to tie it all in together quite nicely.
So what’s left to do?
Firstly, I’m not happy with where the waist falls – it looks great on Manfred McMannequin’s figure, but I have a much broader waist, and cutting off there to a contrast fabric makes me look blockish, not helped by the fact the skirt is a loose fit. So I’ve decided I’m going to insert a denim panel using fabric from the back of the dungaree legs to drop the waist and introduce the contrast lower down. Hopefully this will show I actually do have a waist (I do have one, honest).
Also I’ve not hemmed it yet, but that’s a pretty simple job. And I’m on the look out for a pair of buttons so I can liven up the top of the dress a little. I have spotted some buttons that fell of my partners’ slippers a while ago that would look great, but I kinda promised to sew them back on. I’m wondering if I can get away with it without her noticing?
So there you go, Mum, an almost finished dungaree curtain dress! I’m not sure it quite lives up to my mum’s dungaree-shorts-transformed-into-massive-flares effort, but I do love it.
BrawHem : Upcycling My Year 
I have recently bought a sewing machine, my sewing is not amazing but I am enjoying giving it a go, I love your challenge and recently went through my wardrobe taking out everything I don’t wear so that I can use the fabric for other projects. I look forward to your future posts and the inspiration you give.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you’re enjoying it! And a great idea to go through your wardrobe like that. It’s great when you start seeing everything as fabric and aren’t stuck thinking of it as what it’s been made into the first time.
Best of luck!
LikeLike
“It’s great when you start seeing everything as fabric and aren’t stuck thinking of it as what it’s been…”
This is a wardrobe epiphany! Thank you for this thought and now excuse me while I go shopping my wardrobe for fabric. 🙂
You know I was thinking this would be a great frugal sewing challenge! Perhaps you should promote it and we can all share what we come up with in 2016? I think it would be a blast to make at least an item a month and to see what everyone else is doing too.
If you have already suggested this in your blog, and I haven’t mined back far enough, then please excuse my redundant suggestion, and if not, Then what do you think of the idea?
LikeLike
Haha, fabric shopping just got interesting!
I like your suggestion, but what do you think would be the best way to go about it? I could ask people to send photos of their projects and I could do a special post with a link to each persons blog, or it could be done via another platform such as instagram. Or I could sort out a ‘tag’.
LikeLike
Such talent!
LikeLike
Thank you Cathy, a lovely thing to say.
LikeLiked by 1 person