A rosette dress and the ramblings of a sleep deprived mama...

I'm a sucker for a deal. I am. If it's a good deal, I'll buy it. I've been known to buy a pair of shoes a whole size too small just because they're soooooo cute and SUCH a good deal. Not really a good plan. I'll also buy clothes that I don't really love just because they're on sale for a great price and then I end up with a whole wardrobe of affordable clothing and nothing to wear. Also not a good plan. Well, when I saw this little dress on clearance for $10 at Marshalls, you know I couldn't just leave it there!!  Look at the potential! It's a blank slate. Dress it up, dress it down. Pair it with a cardigan? Sure. Add a chunky necklace? Why not! Boots? Yes! Sandals? Yes! Does it fit me? NO. No, of course not. For $10 on clearance, of course it wouldn't fit. Do you see the cut of the top of this dress? Of course it doesn't fit. Agh! Guess what. I bought it anyway. Of course I did. It's hanging in my dining room.

Of course it wasn't exactly in perfect shape, hence the markdown from $50 to $40, then $30, then $20, then $10! I love it when they leave ALL the stickers on- can you see the stacking of the stickers? Love it. It's kind of like the sad little crooked tree at the Christmas tree lot- back in the corner all by itself, about 4 ft tall, hunched over, no fluff on it's back side. It almost looks like it's crying. Yeah, this dress was that tree. And if you know me at all, you know I'm the person that buys THAT TREE. You know NOBODY else is going to buy it. It's like my civic duty to step up and be the hero to the tree. This is the same situation. I had to be the hero to this dress. 

I purchased it with plans of repairing it and embellishing it and finally putting something in the pile for my shop.  I have big plans to take a trip with my mom in February- NO KIDS!!!!!- so I desperately need to open shop to fund our adventure. I thought a fun project like this might be motivating. Apparently, it wasn't that motivating because it sat in the closet for over a month. But something AMAZING happened the other day. Wyatt took a nap in his crib. AWESOME.  AND, he did this at the same time that his sister was taking  a nap!!! So, I finally had some motivation to get busy. 

Sooooo, the top part of the dress had become un-attatched in several spots- and the neckline was also coming apart. All in all there were about 6-7 "holes" in the dress.  So I started my little project by repairing the holes, simply doing a top stitch around the elastic belt and the neck. Voila! Fixed! 

Now for the embellishment! It took me a while to find the right fabric and decide what I wanted to do...

I have a couple tubs of fabric I've collected over the past couple years, but nothing was really jumping out.  Then I was thinking maybe I should jump ship altogether and start my rag rug when it occurred to me to go look in my pile of goodwill clothes! Yes!! Now this shirt was one of those purchases that I don't really love, but it was on sale for a great price and I talked myself into thinking I could love it. I love it in theory. My favorite color- not red, not pink, kinda coral. Cute cut and shape. It fit. BUT, it's that cotton modal stretchy fabric and it has two layers and they just STICK to each other, so it is perpetually wrinkly and I always look disheveled when I wear it. Like I've been sleeping in it for days. Yeah, right, like I get any sleep- but this shirt would make you think I did. Loads of it. All in this shirt. So I decided to scrap it. Literally. I cut it into usable portions of fabric, then started cutting smaller pieces to shape into circles of varying sizes.

I also brought out the dark grey shirt from the "dirty shirt" I made for Megan (above), which is listed in my first blog post ever. You know, also the longest blog in the history of blogging, yeah, that one. I cut smaller pieces from the remains of this shirt in the shape of little leaves and pinned them around the hemline of the dress. I then stitched them on. 

Then I places my circles, stacking 3-4 circles at a time. Starting on the outer edge of the circles, I stitched my way inward. Now this is a stretchy fabric, so as I stitched around, it pulled and gathered, which I found annoying at first, but then I really really loved the effect. 

See how it's got some dimension! Love it! And I went ALL the way around the bottom of the dress, so it's cute from behind, too! 

So, I continued this all around the bottom and added a brooch like flower pair on the top. Maybe that was overboard? I dunno, but I love it! Like a lot. Obviously, I need a better picture, preferably on a human instead of a curtain or a floor before I list it in my shop, but I think it's my most favorite project ever! Again, I can see this with a little white cardigan and some girly sandals or some distressed brown leather boots in the fall! Oh, how I wish you fit me little dress!!! But then, if it fit, I wouldn't be listing it in my shop and my shop wouldn't be opening. Must. fight. urge. to give. to friend. I can see it on Erika with a cardigan and boots in Sunday School, nah, maybe too girly for Erika, but definitely quirky enough for her... or Jennifer with sandals, yep, for sure... Ah!! No, then if they don't like it, it's that awkward, "ahhh, thanks...." and then they never wear it and I'll miss it and think about it... If I put it in the shop, then someone that loves it will buy it and love it and wear it on a first date, maybe! I hope it's a good first date. Not a horrible one. Maybe they'll end up getting married! And they'll look back fondly on that night remembering her in this dress! Oh, the dreams I have for this dress, lol. Wait a minute, the pink sweater I was wearing the day I met Shannon got chucked. Well, it was cheap and it pilled. But I still remember wearing that sweater, my R necklace, my favorite dojo jeans, I was so nervous I about barfed in the bathroom at the airport, so romantic... Okay, I've got to open shop at some point- into the pile it goes!