Thursday, November 17, 2011

DIY Doily Dress

I have been meaning to post this all week... except I never remember to take photos of the finished garment when I'm actually wearing it out! I am really happy with how this dress turned out as not all my own designs do... 
My first idea came from my cousins blog when I saw the cut up doily she had left over from some christmas decorations she had made. I thought, hey that looks like a purpose built neck line for a top or dress... 
I rummaged through my little pile of doilies and found this one

I snipped out the centre..

rummaged through my stash of fabric and decided this lilac organza would fit the bill.

I am "borrowing" my mums dressmaking dummy and I tell you it makes designing/fitting clothes a breeze! 

I literally took the length of fabric - about 1.5 meters and chopped it in half pinned it to each side of the doily with a few gathers on each boob and one in the centre back. Pinned the side seems loosely and it was ready to be sewn.. 

Here it is before i had sewn it, I decided after to cut it just above the knee. I didn't even hem it... probably will have to at some point though!

Here it is, worn with a tan leather belt and some peep toes. 

I really like the scooping back too :)

I wore it out on Friday night, Matt and I had a very rare night out at a Christmas party and it's definitely a party dress...  Now I just need to find a few more occasions to wear it too, and work on the hang over it gave me!
xox


24 comments:

  1. OMG beautiful! Great colour on you. Wow! You should put this on burdastyle.com

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  2. Thats awesome Hols! I want a dressmaker's dummy!!

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  3. What a beautiful neckline the doilies made. One of my favourite Holly Made things so far.

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  4. Gorgeous Holly! Great idea and it looks fantastic on, love it!

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  5. Gosh - you're so clever! It's a beautiful dress and I absolutely love the doily neckline.

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  6. Amazingly clever, and I LOVE the style!
    ... now I'm off to find a doily like it for a dress for me...
    xx

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  7. This is beautiful. I just love the colours and style. You look gorgeous!

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  8. Oh my goodness!!! That is so hot! You look a million $$$ in it. Well done. Love the ingenuity behind the design. Totally works.

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  9. Gosh this is beautiful! The lilac organza is just *perfect*

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  10. Wow, What an AMAZING dress!!! Oh to be so talented, well done. Looks great on you!

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  11. simple and sensational, congrats on your new outfit.

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  12. It's gorgeous! So feminine and clever! :)

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  13. Ooooh, it's lovely! And I have dressmaker dummy envy (no sewing mother here).

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  14. Ooo that's a bit cute!! lovely doily use and not "Doily Splat" at all.
    Mxoxo

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  15. ooh, that is so pretty and very clever of you :)

    x

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  16. Gorgeous idea with the doilies... it looks lovely on you :)

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  17. aww, so beautiful! very good idea and so easy to make too :) btw, i have the same problem with taking photos, always seem to forget to take them the first time :)

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  18. Clever idea! Such a lovely dress. Been loving all the various ideas how to use old doilies and your is definitely one of the clever and classy ones.

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  19. So, so beautiful! Such a gorgeous neckline.

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  20. Amazing! You make it look so easy and it turned out so beautifully. You are one talented lady!

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  21. This is totally and utterly amazing so beautiful and inspirational - I'm running into my stash now to see what I can find

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  22. I love this - beautiful neckline! Inspiring!

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