Blue Tank to Tunic Dress: Smart Fashion Tricks for Modest Women on a Budget

Tank Upcycling Technique #1:

Turn a Tank Top into a Tunic Dress

Thrifty Tricks for Modest Sporty Women:
Low-budget fashion tips to keep you stylish, safe, and covered while active outdoors

The Design Challenge

Early in my exploring of ways to cheaply and quickly add classy options to my activewear, I discovered the technique of adding a skirt to a sleeveless top or tank. 

This tunic with faux kick pleat was my first trial of that concept. I was just starting to cycle, so garment length and hem width were also experimental. My goal was a knee-length tunic. Keep reading to find out why I didn't achieve that.

The shaped tank top, bought secondhand at nearby SaveMart for about $5, is viscose, soft, drapey, and durable. The fit is excellent -- loose without looking like a sack.

I had a strip of cotton denim that was a good colour match. Basing the skirt design on an adorable dress with contrast kickpleats that my mother had been sewing for her granddaughters, I found a way to recreate the look with the limited fabric I had available.

I folded the selvedges to create an attractive horizontal border that showed off the rightside/wrongside contrast of the denim, and used bias binding to join the panels and add further impact. To hem, I sewed a zigzag stitch 15mm above the raw skirt hem then pulled out the horizontal threads as far up as the stitching, creating a fringe.

My next step was to sew the tank and skirt together. At this point I found that the top ratio greatly outweighed the skirt ratio, and the weight of the denim created unsightly ripples in the viscose where the seam sat level with my crotch. So I created big tuck pleats in the tank until the bottom-to-top ratio looked balanced and the problem seam had enough support for the weight.

This outfit has been great for cycling to the post shop, clambering on rocks, harvesting seaweed, gardening, bush walks, and relaxing at an urban barbecue. I feel smart, modest, and feminine, while also knowing my limbs have the freedom of movement demanded by my activities.

This viscose/denim combination is easy wash-and-wear. The only aspect other than a bit more length that I'd want to change is creating more hem width, because the stress where the pleat flaps join has been more than the fabric and stitching could well sustain (see seruptitious repairs in photo of garment interior).

I originally paired the tunic with wide-leg Tencel jeans, but I've grown out of them. Wide-leg trousers are hard to come by at present, so I'm modelling this outfit with stovepipe jeans.

Now you know a fabulous trick for upcycling a secondhand tank top into a new and classy dress for very little cost.

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

Fiat lux!
Narelle

The Two-Shirt Dress: Smart Fashion Tricks for Modest Women on a Budget

Shirt Upcycling Technique #1

Cost Challenge

When you don't have funds readily available to buy clothes, you're always looking for ways to give yourself new clothes without spending money on them. When I discovered the following frugalista dressmaking technique, it opened to me an exciting world of fresh opportunities within my existing wardrobe.

Here are the items I started with. I had two favourite shirts that I could no longer wear because my biceps and wrists had increased in size (a novel problem for me). The shirts were still in good condition. I loved their fabric. Hated the thought of parting with them.

Inspiration suddenly bubbled when I realized they shared the same colour palette. I pulled out my unpicking tool (Quick Unpick) and carefully got to work.

Creative Challenge

Is there enough fabric in two shirts to make one modest dress?

I removed the long sleeves from one shirt and opened up the long arm seams. I used bias binding from my stash to neaten the armholes on the now-sleeveless shirt.

I removed the short sleeves and collar from the other shirt, and dismantled it at the shoulders and side seams.

Now to rearrange the parts, trim them to size, and put the jigsaw together. The trickiest part for me was lining up those two shirt pieces with the long sleeves and deciding how to get the most length out of them for the skirt. I used a coordinating crepe fabric from my stash to add fullness.

When I'd stitched the skirt pieces to each other in a circle, I gathered the top edge and joined it to the hem of the sleeveless shirt.

It's so much fun showing people my two-shirt tunic dress.

"See one shirt? See the second shirt?And here's the sleeves!"

It always makes them smile. It makes me smile too. It's become one of my favourite dresses. I didn't have to lose something I loved. Instead, I gained something special by upcycling it into usefulness again.

Learning the clothing tricks defined in this post has vastly increased the quantity of secondhand garments that are useful to me. I no longer feel so limited or frustrated by my clothing options.

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

Fiat lux!
Narelle

Resurrecting the Love Blues: modest summer wedding outfit gets tweaked

Dress Upcycling Technique #4

Modesty Challenge:

Create a modest outfit for a laidback summer wedding in the park. It needed to protect from the sun, receive layers for evening chill, and be casually elegant to accommodate both my sense of occasion and the outdoor theme.

Cost Challenge:

Try not to spend any money on it because I just spent the year's clothing budget on underwear.

My Solutions:

Fourteen years ago, I attended a summer wedding in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand, known as the Mediterranean of the South. The season can get very warm despite the southern latitude, and the sun is fierce. For the occasion, I found at SaveMart a viscose button-front dress with a lovely swish to the hem for NZ$8, and set about improving its style and usefulness.

I removed the short sleeves and replaced them with long sleeves (no sunburn for this fair skin, thank you). I replaced the boring shell buttons with shiny silver anchors (all twenty of them), and where the button placket still gaped, I added invisible plastic domes. I sewed matching loose trousers. And I decorated a navy hat to match.

Some ladies look at the trousers and long sleeves and think the outfit looks hot. Actually, it's very comfortable. The fit of the dress is so good no underwear is required, yet it's loose enough to allow air to flow. The fabric soaks up sweat which, with air flowing over it, turns the outfit into a personal cooling tent. The colour, design, and type of fabric make wet patches invisible. Wins all round.

That labour of love got worn once and has been hanging in my closet since. I pulled it out this Spring to inspect its state of wellbeing.

There was a little rust on the collar, which a scrubbing session with soap and finger soon made more or less invisible.

I'd put on weight so the trousers no longer fit. I removed the side zip, dropped the fitted waist to hip level, and inserted a soft elastic waistband.

All that remained to be done was redecorate the hat and decide what shoes to wear. (The ivory roses are tied to the jandal thongs with white thread.) Add a fan for the heat, an umbrella for the rain (yes, you can expect both in one afternoon), and I was ready to enjoy my friend's wedding in the park!

I hope you've found something beautiful and inspiring here today.

Fiat lux!

Narelle

Modestly Seeing Red: 5 ways to tweak a top to get the coverage you need

Dress Upcycling Technique #3

Modesty Challenge

Even in an enormous shop with a huge range of stock, it can be difficult to find a garment that has modest coverage and meets all of your needs for fit, colour, and style. I'm currently blessed with easy access to such a store, but it is rare that I find a garment perfectly ready to wear.

Cost Challenge

When they're not perfect but MIGHT be made better, the trick is in assessing whether the items you're looking at are worth the time and effort to adapt them.

I spotted a mid-calf length cotton sateen coat-dress with three-quarter sleeves at SaveMart recycled clothing shop.

It was in beautiful condition, but I shook my head over the neckline, the hem, and the sleeve length. At NZ$14 ("branded" price level), it was pricey. There was nothing else on the racks that day that demonstrated potential for winter warmth and modest coverage. I decided to take the risk.

Figuring Out How to Do Shorter Well

First round of remodelling, I shortened the mid-calf hem to just above the knee (I thought) so the dress silhouette would work with wide-leg trousers. This combination meant I could cycle in the outfit, provided the trouser cuffs were clamped at the ankle for safety.

As an early starter in my exploration of tunic lengths suitable for cycling in a breezy environment, in hindsight this one is shorter than necessary. I had to learn, by testing how different fabrics respond to diverse air movements, what is too long to be safe and what is too short for best coverage.

I also forgot that what looks covered in the mirror isn't so covered when you perch or sit down.

Placket, Button, and Dome

The double lapel took a deep plunge, and gaped at my narrow collarbones, so I folded half of one lapel back on itself to create an extended placket, installed a gold feature button with buttonhole, and secured the rest of the new placket with large domes.

Shorter Again

After a winter's wear, I'd had enough of trying to slide a fleece jacket over the three-quarter sleeves, so the second round of remodelling took the sleeves up to a flattering (and practical) quarter length.

The dress is occassion-adaptible. I've worn it for everyday activities like cycling and shopping, to meetings, and to a birthday party. I recently found out it goes well with red poppies and the New Zealand flag. I clipped a corsage (designer BN) on the dress collar while filming an ANZAC Day music video.

Click here to view music video
HEAL OUR BROKEN LAND
https://youtu.be/JcsfeB8LHXc

I hope you've seen something beautiful and inspiring here today.

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

Fiat lux!
Narelle