Have You Ever Had It Blue

Hiya folks!

Finally, I'm back! I hadn't planned on being away from you for so long, apologies for the hiatus..... There's been a lot going on here at Casa Wollaston - more on that later - it's hard to believe this is the first chance I've had to get back to my "Make Do & Mend" project.

You'll be happy to hear that, true to my pledge, I haven't bought a single new item to wear so far this year! Now, as it's already April, that means I'm already a quarter of the way through my quest. It hasn't been easy though. I mean, have you seen the collections and trends for Spring/summer 2012? They might as well have looked into my brain and seen every bit of gorgeousness I'd love to have, waited till I wasn't buying anything and then gone "HA HA! ...right lets roll this lot out now then!"....... Hhhhrrrrumph!
It's enough to drive you to the cake shop!
Speaking of cakes ..........

A bit of sweet inspiration!

One of the trends that I picked out as a 'must have' (or more like a 'must do') was the pretty pastel trend and at last I've got something to show you! I really wanted a 50's style, cupcake coloured prom dress and it took me a while but by jove I think I've cracked it.....

I wanted something that looks a bit like this.....

A vision in Blue!

Betty Draper eat your heart out!

So, where to start then? Let me show you what I did.....

I trawled through my summer wardrobe and pulled out a likely candidate or two for an imaginative makeover. First I found this Broderie Anglaise dress I picked up for £5.00 in a charity shop about 4 years ago, it's cotton, a nice fit and hardly ever gets worn. (I don't know about you but I find a white dress a tough one to wear unless I've got a bit of a tan...which I never have since I'm always looking after the old hide!)

Cute but a bit plain...

I also found a little white cotton card that had been languishing in the knitwear drawer for a couple of years, not quite worn out but somewhat past it's best.

Slightly underwhelming!

Firstly, some much needed colour....I don't know if you're familiar with 'Dylon' fabric dyes or not but I've been using these little packets of magic for many many years now to revamp and revitalise tired looking but still wearable clothes. I've done dresses for myself and even some of the Hubster's white shirts which have lost their gleam. You'd be amazed with the kind of results that you can achieve for the princely sum of £2.99 and an hour of your time! There are machine dyes available too, but the last time I used one of these, it stained the rubber inside my washer so I just stick to the hand ones now..... and we all know anyway.... anything you put a bit of love into always works out better in the end!

So here's the one I've picked for this project.

oooooh.... Bahama Blue!

As well as a packet of Dye ...you'll also need these.....

Weighing Scales, Fabric Dye & Plain old Salt!

Following the instructions on the packet, weigh the fabric (dry) and use the appropriate amount of salt. These packs do 250g weight of fabric but don't worry if yours weighs bit more, It just means you'll get a slightly lighter shade. Half of the fun of home-dying is never quite knowing what shade your project will turn out! These dyes only work on natural fabrics such as cotton and linen and wool so do check the contents label on your clothes before dying, it won't take on Nylon/Polyester etc.....Do wear rubber gloves, and don't wear a pair with a hole in the finger like I did last time ...unless you want to walk around like E.T phone home for a week.

Stand over it and keep it moving for an even colour

When it's done, just let it drip dry somewhere away for direct sunlight and then if you like it as it is, great. If not you can repeat the process for a stronger colour.

Cardi I dyed just once

Dress I decided to do twice to get a stronger colour

So, they look quite nice now don't they? The colour on the dress wasn't as strong as I wanted because the combined weight of the cardi & dress was more than the 250g on the packet, so I decided to over-dye it and get a much stronger colour. 

I could have left it at that as the colour looks lovely but I just thought they needed a little extra something to make them stand out a bit more and to make them look a bit more special. So it's back to my little box of trims & trinkets to see what I can find!

Some cute vintage blue trims

I thought one of these might be nice for the cardi, the light blue lace was the closest in colour so I plumped for that one.

Cute lace from the 60's

And as it's Spring ...gotta be daisies  for the dress!!

Now I've got some cute trims to add into the mix, I think these will put the finishing touches to the outfit. I started by very carefully pinning the lace around the collar of the cardi, creating little folds as I went along to give it that frilly 'ruffled' look. Then I stitched it down using very small stitches so you don't see the thread so much.

Pin down creating little folds as you go.

I was going to change the buttons on the cardi but as they stayed white when I used the dye, the contrast looked really lovely so I left them as they were. You of course could change the buttons too on your project if you want to.

Then I very delicately sewed the daisies around the neck of the dress, again using tiny stitches for a clean finish.

I sewed them all the way around the neck.

After a very good press and taking care to trim off any loose threads, my dress and cardi were ready! And WHAT a transformation!!!!

What was a tired looking plain white cardi is now a cute girly pastel cover up! 

A whole new garment!

So cute!

And what was a £5.00 nice but plain bargain dress from a charity shop has been transformed into just the kind of knockout 50's cupcake colour dress I have been coveting from every vintage site known to man!

I'm so pleased with the way this turned out, I think this is going to be one of my favourite dresses for the Summer.... I liked it so much I had to wear it straight away! I wore it out to our new Soul Night in Islington "Masters Of Soul" last Thursday as the sun was shining (more on that little distraction in a later blog!)

It looked absolutely stunning and drew lots of compliments.... all in all a great success.

Whaddya reckon?????

Ta Daaaaaa!

I've really enjoyed doing this project and I'll be back very soon with more customised stuff from my wardrobe. Watch out any boring old white stuff!!!

 I'm also going to be spending a lot of time down at the allotment too now it's Spring so expect some updates on that ... my Make Do and Mend skills cross over into the horticultural world very nicely ..... and the allotment is the perfect place for transforming what seems like junk into something wonderful.

Maybe this whole idea won't be quite so painful after all!

Lots of Love

Leona XX