A Tropical Delight

My first creative exploit happened about a week ago, here in Maine.  I went to the local goodwill and found this cute, if not abrasive, number for $4.99!

I belong in Dirty Dancing...

The overall shape was really cute right off the bat.  I liked the whole 80s-does-40s cut and the pattern was intriguing as well (if not a bit overwhelming on that white background...).  And yes, I belong at the resort from Dirty Dancing (The original.  NOT Havana Nights...)

ALSO!

Pockets!!!

 It has pockets!  I think every dress is better with pockets...but that's just me...

So, yay.  This dress has some major potential.  Unfortunately the top made me feel like I was enveloped in football padding...

Ahhhhh

 Like really, tell the Texans I'm signing up.

These shoulder pads make me feel like JJ Watt

 So, yes, that would be the first thing to go.  Along with those sleeves.

Oh yeah, here we go.

Next, I put the dress back on and added darts to my sides to coordinate with the pre-existing ones on the front and back into the waist, and took care of the rest of the excess size with tucks in the shoulder seam.  

Now, I had to fix that hem from the dark-ages.  The dress already had a lot of topstitching in the original white and considering tight stitches like that won't always take the dye as well as the fabric it is on, I decided to keep it consistent prior to dye.

I really loved the idea of having some length, but I also wanted the dress to be fun and flirty.  I set my sights on a hi-low hem (or as my friend Sarah says "mullet hem").  

OOoooo, yeah.  Look at that sexy hem!

This dress was really starting to take shape.  But now it was time to take color!  I decided the print would be much nicer against a blue background.  Something to really subdue the large strokes and compliment the teal.  I started with...you guessed it - Teal.  

Uh-oh...that looks a little...GREEN.

I decided I would need to mix some Evening Blue and Aquamarine, just to make sure the color was less green and more BLUE.  After testing some excess hem fabric, I realized that the fabric would not take dye easily.  Key word - easily.  It would take, doggone it.  It would just take some time.  I set the dye for what seemed like 30 - 45 minutes.  Afterwords, I rinsed the dress a dozen times by hand in the sink - I didn't want to take any chances with an older dress.

And let me tell you, this dress turned out better than I every could have hoped!

A Tropical Delight alright!

I loved the color!  It really complimented my new red hair and complimented the blue Maine skies.

A Crabby Lobstah Roll:
half crab, half lobster, all goodness! 

Perfect for a little catch in the park!

I feel so satisfied with this dress.  It was the perfect refashion for jumping back into the swing of things!

Until next time!

The FeltWoman

Annnnd....A year and a half later...I'm back!

The FeltWoman has returned.  Wow, it has been a hectic 19 months.  I've finished undergrad, costume designed and assistant costume designed 5 shows and films, added 4 shows to my construction resume, been in a couple shows, a few films, and am about to wrap up my employment at a summer theatre in Maine.  I've been through heartache, and fallen back in love.  I made the biggest move of my life, away from my home state, to a much smaller NC.  A whir.  And to say I didn't have any time to write a simple post now and then would be a lie.  But my free time was very important to me and I needed it for other reasons for...sanity.

But!...my move to North Carolina will be providing me with a lot of free time to explore my creative needs and I cannot wait to get this blog back up and running!  Here we go!