Yoked Tunic Dress in Denim: Smart Fashion Tricks for Modest Women on a Budget

Following on from my posts about the Speedy Tank Dress and the Green Yoked Tunic Dress

Have you ever been in that desperate state where you wail, "HELP! I need a new dress, it's got to be modest, and I only have a few dollars to spend on it!!!"

Clothing availability, coverage, and cost are factors that often bring a modest-hearted woman to feelings of desperation. I had an urgent need for a warm modest dress. Here's what got me out of that desperate place.

Skirt Upcycling Technique #3:

Yoked Tunic Dress Revisited in Denim

A few months prior, I had come up with a new technique, turning a skirt into a tunic dress by setting the skirt's waist under the armpits and sewing a bodice yoke to the skirt waist band. It worked the first time, so I decided to try it again.

This denim skirt is onto its second upcycle. The first round (pictured above), I removed the elastic waistband and sewed the skirt onto a knit tank top. For the second round, I unpicked the tank top from the skirt, and prepared a bodice yoke to fit to the skirt, turning it into a tunic dress.

Finding a fabric match for the denim was the first challenge. The only piece in my fabric stash that worked was a navy polycotton which would be great for the yoke lining.

I went hunting at nearby SaveMart recycled clothing store and compared a collection of wide scarves. I took a risk with a loosely woven viscose because the colours went so perfectly with the tones in the denim. At $10, it wasn't cheap, but having seen the denim and viscose together, it was 😍 and I really, really wanted to keep them together.

The loose weave and delicate nature of the viscose scarf (featuring the word PARIS and a picture of the Eiffel Tower) were in stark contrast to the sturdy and durable denim. I improved the viscose stoutness by adhering a thick iron-on interfacing to it and careful edge-stitching to hold the threads in place and reduce wear to the seam allowance while I worked. The yoke lining was given a lighter interfacing, and the two yoke layers were top-stitched to give added support to the still-mobile viscose threads.

The risk and effort have been worthwhile. Wearing this yoked tunic dress makes me feel warm, comfortable, feminine, modest, and classy. It has earned a number of approving comments, so I know that other people are enjoying it too.

  

Now you know a fabulous trick for upcycling a secondhand skirt into a new and gorgeous dress for very little cost.

Look out for more Boutique Narelle posts detailing liberating modest fashion techniques.

Fiat lux!
Narelle

DIY Curly Girl Success: 4 tips to cut and style your own hair with confidence

CurlyGirl DIY Success: curly before, still curly after

I'm remembering that traumatic moment at the hair salon when I realized I'd just lost all my long curls. And the hairdresser's response, "You just haven't got curly hair."

Ever been there?

That was April 2011. After an hair-endous follow-up conversation with the hairdresser as I sought to help her and myself figure out what went wrong, I have not stepped inside a hair salon. No thinning scissors have come near my head. No more stylist-induced split-end distress for my tresses. No more uneven length. No more hair grief, waiting for my freaked hair to recover from shock.

Now my hair is in the best condition of my life. I've been on a journey of discovery to get here, a journey kick-started by emotional abuse from a hairdresser. One day I'll write a book about it.

In the meantime, here's my best advice for you if you're a curly girl, or think you might be if you but knew how to care for your hair, and if you could keep it safe from straight-styling hair cutters!

Narelle's Top Tips for Hair Care (curly or straight)

1. Read this book: "Curly Girl: The Handbook".
Get book now on Amazon. Kindle version also available.
Get book now on Book Depository.

2. Educate yourself with curly-girl tutorials. A DVD comes with the "Curly Girl" book. Browse on youtube. Google forums where people chat about hair like yours.

3. Experiment with hair care methods to find what works best for your unique hair and body.

4. Get yourself a set of CreaClip hair cutting tools so you never have to trust (or pay) a hairdresser again. It's so easy at www.CreaClip.com. Video tutorials provided.

5-minute DIY trim over the sink using CreaClip and scissors

The "after" photos in this post were taken about two hours after I'd cut my own hair using my curved CreaClip hair cutting tool, a process that took just five minutes. The ends of my hair had air-dried when I cut them. They had not been brushed or combed straight prior to cutting.

After cutting, I re-moisturized the ends by lightly twitching on a little extra non-toxic conditioner.* Remember, it's mid-winter here in New Zealand, so TLC is a good idea anyway.

*MY REGULAR HAIR CARE PROGRAM: During my twice-weekly cleansing program, I use Neways non-toxic cleanser for my scalp, and leave-in conditioner for the ends of my hair. After showering, I gently wrap my wet hair in a teeshirt until I'm ready to style it. While styling my drying hair, I control frizz by spraying it with water+conditioner that I mix in a small spritzer bottle. This spray is all I use to keep my curls moisturized and frizz-free during the rest of the week.

Curly Girl is not just a hair care style. It's a lifestyle.

This fresh-cut appearance is a great contrast to how it would look during my pre-Curly Girl years. Back then, whenever a hairdresser cut my hair (wet or dry), my hair lost its curl for four to five days, and took weeks to regain ringlets. Now, as you see, my hair has as much curl and body after cutting as before it.

The curly girl method works, but it's not just a cutting style, it's a lifestyle. All the best with discovering the joy and freedom of the right lifestyle for YOU. You and your hair deserve it.

Fiat lux!
Narelle