Rose Garden Redux: From Mama Love Maxi Dress to Beautiful Hi-Low Blouse

thrifted style — vibezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So I’ve been on this quest lately to actually finish all of my projects instead of just accumulating a giant closet full of “really good ideas” I’ve been super busy with a lot of fun acting and styling work- but after finally finding the time to get rid of almost 20 bags of clothing (OMG!) I’m finally getting to play catch up. So after being super inspired by a piece from this awesome sustainable boho fashion label: Zhen Nymph– I decided to take this maxi dress for and turn it into a hi-low blouse.

Now I’m sure there are some of you out there whole I never should have chopped up such a pretty dress but, if I’m being honest- the “before” dress had just waaaaay to many “vibezzz” happening for me to ever take it seriously in my own style palette. So I decided to flip it and reverse it to create a low backed hi-low masterpiece…. there was only one problem… don’t cut rayon in a hurry folks!

….because if you do you are going to end up with an uneven mess. Luckily I had the whole bottom half of the dress, so I was able to turn my mistake into a cool design. I started by carefully cutting the bottom section of the fabric left over.

Then I cut out the tag (for this project I wanted the back to become the front) and fixed all distressed seams, tears and holes that I found. (The zig zag stitch and hand sewing are your friend here) Also- as a note- you want to use a small needle when sewing with rayon. I used a size 70.

My next step was to seam rip up along the sides of the dress (this is honestly what I should have done in the beginning- it would have saved me a headache- although the final product wouldn’t have been as fun)

Since the piece of extra fabric I cut out was longer that the bottom of the front side of my blouse- I used the wide baste stitch to gather the fabric. You can do this by hand as well- but the machine is much faster. You can even out the ruching by hand once you are done.

Other than the fact that you need to take your time cutting and pressing rayon- this is actually a really simple DIY that can be done with any maxi dress. for me- the additional peplum section was both non-optional and awesome when all was said and done- but this DIY could easily be modified so that you simply seam rip up the side seams, cut the front to the desired length and then hem and finish the side seams. I’m super pumped with how it turned out. And although I’m aware that the $3 amazing backdrop fabric I bought at Goodwill matched the pattern so well- that the details get a bit lost, I’m also aware that roses on roses is like, the best thing ever. Enjoy these vibes y’all. I’m just gonna be over here rolling over my Style With a Purpose finds from yesterday (check out my IG stories to se my adventure, ) listening to Lana Del Ray’s newest album (#obsessed) and getting ready for my super fun radio interview with the beautiful Payton Taylor in the 4 o’clock hour in Nashville. Looking forward to tomorrow night!