How I got a one of a kind dress for about $10

My mom and I like to shop at Savers and Goodwill.  On my most recent visit to El Paso we went shopping at two different Savers locations. Here is how I got a great dress at a great price.

1. We went on a Holiday weekend. Because it was Memorial day weekend Savers had all clothing 50% off. I bought an all cotton dress for 6.50. I liked the material and cut of the dress, but I thought the black and white was boring.

2. I bought a bottle of fuchsia liquid rit dye at Hobby Lobby. With coupon it came to $2.40. Always use those 40% off coupons when shopping at Hobby Lobby. I have the app on my phone which makes it easy.

3. I used my new pressure cooker to dye the dress. I didn't use the actual pressure cooker function. I used the saute function to heat up the water, dye, and dissolve the salt. I got the dress completely wet before adding it to the bath. I turned the pressure cooker to warm and then let the dress cook for about 1.5 hours--stirring and shifting the dress regularly. After cooking the dress I rinsed it a bit in the sink, and then threw it in the washing machine. (Just to be safe I ran a tub cleaning cycle on the washing machine when the dress was done.)

4. When it came out of the dryer I had a whole new dress. I'm so happy with how it turned out. I then sewed shut one of the seams that had come unraveled. That's probably the reason it ended up at Savers. Someone didn't want to bother fixing that slight problem. I hand sewed it shut, and because it is the seam in the arm pit, it didn't have to be perfect. My hand stitching skills are pretty sad, but I knew I couldn't fit the sewing machine foot in the little area I needed to sew shut.

Voila. My new dress.

Sewing: 1930s Dress

My latest sewing project was a 1930s dress.  I wanted to have a dress to wear to Evelyn's 1930s birthday party. I bought the pattern on eBay. It had never been used. I didn't have to cut it out (yeah!), but the pieces had no writing on them. All the usual markings were indicated with holes in the tissue paper. The pattern came with directions, and they were fairly easy to follow.

I started with the bodice. It wasn't easy to get on and off when I was done...then I realized I was supposed to leave one side open to make it easier to get on and off. The pattern directions said to insert snaps to close the opening, but I debated putting in a zipper. Turns out that a zipper was never really seen on a 1930s dress. The zipper was a sign of an easy woman! She had that zipper there to get her clothes off quickly and easily! Ha! I can't imagine ripping snaps open taking any longer.....in the end I went ahead and hand sewed in snaps.

I ironed so much for this project! I ironed the pattern pieces--then enlarged them. I ironed at every step of the way, then at the end I washed it all and ironed it all again. Whew! This garment was constructed with a LOT of topstitching. I sewed most of it on my old 1920s Singer sewing machine. In the end I used my new Singer for the blind hem stitch and I did serge some of the seams.

Here we are in our 1930s dresses. Valerie's is actually a vintage dress. It was so awesome! In the end I used a wide ribbon as a belt. I bought some Vince Camuto T-strap oxfords to go with the dress. They were a little small. I am happy with how the dress came out, I'm just not sure when I'll wear it again.