Dress bag....

Alright I don't have this done yet, but this is in the works....

two weeks ago i joined a sewing group. Its just three of us that went to the same middle-school, back 100 years or so ago. We we all have so much in common we decided to start sewing together once a week.

well the first time my friend Missy told me about a blog that had made the cutest diaper bag out of a vintage dress. then later on in the week i was out thrifting with the other friend Bridge, and i saw this A-dorable dress. children's clothes we 25cents a piece so it was a no brainer...

So here is a partial tutorial on how to take this from dress to fashion bag....

I will post the rest as i get it finished....

This is the dress, it is a size 4

First i decided that i want a border of brown just above the pink waist line so i cut off the bodice. This will be the top of my bag. At this point I also sewed up the back where the dress buttoned, and tore out the sides to remove the waist bow that would have tied int he back. i saved them, they will become my purse handles .

I LOVED the neckline of the dress so i didn't want that to go to waste. Missy Suggested that i use it to make a pocket. But because of the "V" neck I was afraid things might fall out of that pocket. So i took some fabric from what will be the liner of the bag and made a second pocket to put behind the front.

Incidentally, the liner of the bag is a contour sheet I bought the same day that as you can see compliments the dress quite well.

When i laid the pocket on top of the dress it didn't have the POP i wanted it just all sort of faded into the bag. So i opted to trim the pocket with more of the liner fabric. Then after (why is it always after?) I had the pocket sewn on to the back side of the bag, i noticed that due to the gathered top, the pocket gaped. So i leaned how to use my button hole maker and i just need to sew the button on where the white pin is holding it.

The button was salvaged from the back side of the bodice

My next steps are....

1. Make the liner to fit the inside of the bag
2. attach the handles
3. sew the liner to the top
4. finish the purse opening.
5. Sew the bottom of the dress together
6. possibly run some elastic through the hem of the dress to give it a poof.

I also have to decide on how i wish to make a closure to the bag.