I managed to make a dress all by myself! Sort of. Hahaha! And I’ll explain to you soon.
While my bestie was here in Rome, I took her to see the big mercato near my home. It opens every Wednesday and Friday mornings and here, you could get a lot of household things ranging from fresh produce, kitchen utensils, decorations and whatnots.
The bit that I like a lot would have to be the bancarelle where pre-loved clothes, and sometimes even new branded clothes are sold, usually for 10 euro and below. I got this awesome scarf for example, not too long ago here for 50 cents!
If you’re interested to visit this mercato, it’s located right next to the Tor di Valle stop. And the easiest way of getting here is probably to take the Metro B to Piramide and then take the train heading to Cristoforo Colombo.
So remember the last time when I tried to sew my own skirt, but it turned out to be a disaster? So my plan was to be ala NDAD and experiement with pre-loved clothes. So I was rummaging through the bancarelle when I saw a print that I liked a lot.
Soo purrdy! It looks quite Laura Ashley-ish and it was only 3 euro!
Putting it on, I’m surprised that it actually fits pretty well. so there wasn’t that much adjustments to be done. But it was only later when Cart saw me with the dress on and noticed how roomy the tummy area was and asked, “Is that a maternity dress?”
So I checked the label, and it says, “Something mamma”. Turns out that I got a maternity dress. Hahaha! I’m not pregnant, but no matter. I think the print is really beautiful.
But my only big problem with it was the 80s shoulder pads. So using a seam ripper …
Off it goes! And now I have new pincushions!
I really like the sort of sweetheart neckline, and would like to highlight it. So I got this 5 meter piping for 1.50 euro at the same mercato. Not bad!
Pin it in place before starting to sew …
But sadly all the layers was a tad bit too thick for my sewing machine to handle, so I had to stitch it by hand, and it took a little bit longer than usual. I don’t know if it looks well finished, but you don’t see it anyway from far away! Hahaha!
Some hours later and … Tada! Finished! I can’t wait to put it on!
Yeah! Camwhoring time! I paired my dress with a skinny belt, shoes I got from a sale donkey years ago and a simple bracelet.
The red piping really brings out the dress.
Total cost of dress = 4.50 euro! Yay! I’m so happy!
Of course, I could remove the belt and it’ll still look like a pretty spiffy maternity dress. Although I prefer not to think too much about pregnancy and get my hopes up 🙂
So yeah, what do you think of my upcycling project? Pretty awesome yeah? I’m pretty happy with myself! And let me know if you would like to see more posts like this!
Whee!
yesh, please do share more on your clothing projects 😀
small adjustment and it looks nice and different~
Oh wow, thank you … *head swells* Hehehehehe
it can be a flexi dress for now and later if you’re preggy! Bravissima! Once I sewed by hand lace along a long cloth to cover the sofa which took me 9 hours to finish. It was very satisfying! I sewed a cloth cover for our laundry basket too and it has a country feel to it 🙂
Woah! 9 hours! I wish I have the same patience as you do! *admires your tenacity*
By the way, I was searching online for “Flexy dresses” and I saw a lot of Second life outfits. It was so very cool