Help...I can't decide! Sunshine and Shortcake wore these dresses for a wedding. The bride chose white for the flower girls with pink carnation wreaths on their heads and pink carnation bouquets so at the time I didn't really notice how WHITE they really were. I want to recycle them as Easter dresses but I am afraid they will look like First Communicants if I leave them all white. Here is what I am thinking and pleeeeaaase feel free to chime in.1. I could at the very minimum, sew some colorful silk flowers to the decoration on the bottom of the bodice. Kind of like this.
2. There are also two layers of tulle that could be sewn together and sprinkled with silk petals similar to this dress.
3. I could remove the decoration from the bodice completely (it is sewn onto a piece of tulle that could be separated from the satin) and cover whatever holes the needle left with a wide colorful sash (similar to this dress). This would require removing the existing tie which I think would be fairly easy to do. It would mean opening the side seams a few inches, but I would probably do that anyway to remove the decoration.
4. Both 2 and 3 like this dress. Or 1 & 2 like this one.
5. The most complicated option to totally change the look (but would look pretty stunning in my opinion) would be to remove the underskirt and replace it with a different color satin. Now, the bodice and the skirt were serged separately and then sewn together so they should come apart easily. Then I would have to detach the lower half of the zipper, attach the layers of tulle to the new skirt and then reattach the zipper. Kind of like this dress only with white tulle on top of a colored skirt.
As I have said before, I am no master sewer, but I think I can do this. We actually have a third dress (wrong size, no returns!) that I could practice on. It is not as big of a job as some people have tackled. (Michelle, you are amazing!) The question is...which option(s) would look the best and, if you sew, any helpful hints? I really don't want these dresses to scream "recycled flower girl" although that wouldn't be as bad as Father thinking they are making their first communions when they aren't!
Love the dresses. Maybe a different colored satin ribbon around the waist. I have no idea!!!
ReplyDeleteI like all of the ideas. My first thought, before looking at any of your suggestions, was to add some color to the underskirt (not that I would have articulated it that way), so I guess I think the last option is my favorite. I have seen the flower thing many times, and it is cute, but I like the simplicity of the colored skirt. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the flowers on the sash -- very Eastery. I have seen the flower petal dresses and I think they look very much like Flower Girl dresses. You may also be able to find a matching trim (like ribbon, but with more dimension) that you can stitch to the hem of the top tulle layer--something that matches the flowers you pick for the sash.
ReplyDeleteOr--have any pretty colored cardigans? Likely the girls will need a sweater at Easter and you can change the look of the dress entirely with a matching pastel-colored sweater.
My five-year-old is going to be a flower girl in a wedding in December and I'm probably going to be doing the same thing next Easter!
I am breaking my Lenten vow to not comment, because you don't have an email listed!
ReplyDeleteI thought of cardigans too, but you live in TX, right? Looking at Megan's pictures from yesterday, my guess is a sweater would be too much.
Based on my recent experience (thank you, BTW), I think the easiest thing to do would be to make a wide, colored sash. I would simply cut off the white ties and cover the existing embellishments and the tie-stumps with the new sash (tack the sash at the seamline, but tuck the stumps under...know what I mean?). You could add flowers on top of that colored sash, and/or you could dot the entire tulle skirt with matching flowers. So, basically, idea #1 (those lavender flowers all over the skirt are so pretty) and idea #3 (but not to rip the old ones off, just to cover them up).
That's the easy solution. Trust me, removing the skirt and replacing it with a colored one is not going to be easy! You might as well make a whole new dress!
I love option 1 or the first option in number 4. No matter what you do I'm sure it will be lovely!
ReplyDeleteHi there!
ReplyDeleteI was going to go the 'cardigan' option and let my girls wear their first communion dresses for Christmas the year they made their first communion, but it didn't work out, because we had really nasty, cold, wet weather instead of the 70 degree Christmases I've come to love here! :)
What about a pinafore? I've seen some cute girls' dresses where the dress is all one solid color, and a cute patterned or print pinafore goes over the top and ties at the back like an apron (not a bad idea for a white dress anyway, btw.)
I like the idea above about adding a wide colored sash. I don't know if I would add flowers to the sash. I think a different colored sash is enough decoration. Also, you already have flowers on the skirt and you would have different flowers on the sash and skirt. I think you could also get away with a thin sweater. Sometimes its still windy in TX. Good luck. Can't wait to see pics!!
ReplyDeleteI like Red's idea and you could get fancy or keep it plain.
ReplyDeleteI like to crochet, so my first inclination would be to crochet something..shrug which would not be to hot in Texas. The bold color is striking (red one in the picture)...but I just love pastels on little or young girls.
my $02
Thank you for reminding me I need to get busy myself.