Nifty Navy Chop: Smart Fashion Tricks for Modest Women on a Budget

Dress Upcycling Technique #5

This summer I've been reminded of a key to dressing well on a small budget:

As long as fabric endures in good health, it holds possibility as wearable and a potential money saver. 

If you're interested in limiting your waste footprint and reducing your financial expenditure, take a second look at the old clothing you've been thinking is past its usefulness. Your favourites may gift you another life of wear after all.

You may have seen how I achieved that with the yellow beach skirt. For my next project, I assessed a favourite polyester rayon shirtdress that I bought new for NZ$2, fourteen years ago at a Red Cross sale.

This dress introduced me to the delights of the classic shirtdress, a style that has been reinvented decade after decade for over a century because of its flexibility, comfort, and practicality. 

What I most love about this one is the back ties allowing easy fit, and the lightweight but opaque fabric allowing cool summer modesty.

When I bought the dress, I needed an ankle length hem. Adding a coordinating strip at the base achieved this. I also needed to trust that the narrow button placket wouldn't gape, so I handstitched closed the edge of the placket from hem to crotch, and added invisible domes (snap fasteners) between the buttons at the bust.

My current need is for knee-length dresses that I can wear with trousers underneath, so I decided  it was time for the chop. It was a quick job to shorten the dress. I took time to use the discarded length to create four patch pockets, the upper two for modesty, the lower two for practical use.

Extra Style Tip

The dress designer made pearly shell buttons a feature down the front of the dress. I didn't like the contrast of white buttons on dark navy, so I turned them all upside down. The sandy brown underside of the shell has an uneven texture I really like on this dress.

In these photos, I'm wearing the dress as a costume for the Napier Art Deco Festival, celebrating the Depression-era resilience and creativity of the survivors of the 1931 Napier earthquake, who rebuilt the city into the architectural splendour it is today.

Now you know a quick trick for upcycling an old dress into a new one for very little cost.

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

Fiat lux!
Narelle

Spit-Spot Waterproof Clothing for a Lady Cyclist

Practical Solutions for Active Women who want to be Modest and Stylish

When I moved to the city, a bicycle became my primary means of transport in all weathers.

Modesty Challenge

How to stay dry, covered, safe, and comfortable while cycling, taking into special consideration rain from above, splashing from below, and wind from any and all directions.

Functional Challenge

The bicycle that started me on my adventures was 22-year-old Plum, a step-through Town&Country mountain bike adapted for urban living. She did not have the safety features of chain guard and rear wheel cover that vintage ladies bikes are often equipped with, allowing modest ladies to cycle safely in long skirts.

I put great effort into finding a clothing or equipment adaption that would allow Plum to accomodate the long hems in my wardrobe, but I was unsuccessful. Even stovepipe jeans (worn under a tunic) were a hazard without ankle clips.

My everyday garb became knee-length dresses with ankle-hugging trousers underneath and an acceptance that, while riding, very often the dress would be rumpled up well above my knees.

That is, until I welcomed a new steed into the stable. Angel is a modern urban cruiser. She doesn't have a vintage chain guard and rear wheel cover, not even spray guards on her wheels, but the design is sufficiently protective to the rider that I can re-explore options in ladylike cycle wear.

My first experiment was with rainwear.

Action Challenge

It's raining.
I have to go out on the bike.
How can I stay dry?

Solutions

1) Parka in a Pkt by Denim & Co, a thrift-shop treasure found at SaveMart for NZ$10 -- light, portable, windproof, surprisingly waterproof.

2) BoutiqueNarelle rain skirt made from PUL waterproof fabric (sourced from a DIY nappy company). Designed to cover ankle-length skirts, its Velcro fastener tabs also make it easy to wear hitched up shorter.

The trial was conducted on a frigid wintery day (forecast high of 10°C). I wore the above waterproof layers over top of a thick knit tunic and tee shirt, fleece jacket, heavy denier stretch jeans, two pairs of socks, and leather ankle boots. When I reached my destination, I was able to shed the parka and skirt to drip at the door and take care of my errand in a dry and comfortable state.

It was a calm, almost windless day, so the skirt remained covering my knees for most of the journey. I think I flipped it back down twice.

My basket cover is made from PUL, the same fabric as the skirt. More commonly used for reusable baby nappies (diapers), I've found it keeps liquid out equally well as keeping liquid in.

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

Fiat lux!
Narelle

The Three Lives of the Yellow Beach Skirt: Smart Fashion Tricks for Modest Women on a Budget

Skirt Upcycling Technique #4

There is currently no fabric shop in my city, and I'm living on a very small income. This summer my need for a modest, pretty dress led me to take apart a favourite dress and remake it...for the third time.

This crinkle cotton skirt started life 11 years ago as a delicate, half-lined beach skirt with a fold-over knit waistband. When I bought it from Ezibuy for NZ$10, I separated the skirt from the band, added a full lining of gingham, then reattached the waistband.

Oh, how I loved that skirt. But soon the stretch band lost elasticity, and I lost weight, a combination prompting me to remake the skirt into a tank dress, meaning the garment would hang from my shoulders and it wouldn't matter what fluctuations were taking place at my waist. For this I used a JayJays knit camisole with a double layer at the bust and adjustable straps.

After a few seasons of happy wearing with a blouse or tee shirt over the top, the knit fabric of the camisole was beginning to disintegrate around the top edge. To extend its life, I stitched a supportive lining (visible in the above photo) along that edge using a strip of the camisole that had been cut off when attaching the camisole to the skirt.

This 2019-2020 season as we skipped Spring and jumped straight into Summer's intense heat, I realized two things. One, I wasn't wearing that dress because the worn knit camisole now felt a little icky. Two, the summer temperatures experienced here mean I need to avoid knit fabrics if I want to stay cool.

The woven fabrics of the skirt were still in excellent condition, so once again I unpicked the knit upper portions. This time I created a fitted, zipped bodice of woven fabrics (worn below with an overblouse of burnout cotton).

The yellow striped sleeveless bodice is a delicate polycotton I had in my fabric stash. I lined it with Egyptian cotton from a bed sheet given to me by a friend whose husband wears through his side of the bed linens with unfortunate rapidity. I'm sorry she has to buy new sheets so often, but I feel very blessed that I'm on the receiving end of this luxurious, quality cotton that feels silky soft and cool against the skin.

I've learned two things from the many lives of this outfit:

• Clothing made of quality, natural fibre woven fabrics is worth the effort to acquire because it lasts so well.
• As long as fabric endures in good health, it holds possibilitied as wearable and a potential money saver.

If you're interested in limiting your waste footprint and reducing your financial expenditure, take a second look at the old fabrics you've been thinking are past their usefulness. Your favourites may gift you another life of wear after all.

Napier Art Deco Festival 2020

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

Aqua Splash: Smart Fashion Tricks for Modest Women on a Budget

Skirt Upcycling Technique #5

How not to wave goodbye to a favourite skirt that no longer fits

So you've put on weight and your favourite ankle-length skirt no longer fits? You feel like you should give it away, but you love it soooo much. I know how you feel.

Assuming that the fabric is still in reasonable condition, this post details a way to alter it so you can continue wearing your favourite skirt.

My skirt was already lined, in a soft dobby cotton that is part of what makes it so blissful to wear. If your skirt is not lined, you can create a lining in the same shape as your skirt, which will make it super quick to create neckline and armholes. Alternatively, you can hem them or use bias binding.

Prepare

Unpick any elastic or band at the skirt waist, preserving as much fabric length as you can. Press the waist seam open.

Fit Test

Check that the skirt is roomy enough for the skirt waist to fit over your shoulders. The easiest way to do this is to lay the skirt over top of a sleeveless dress or tank top that already fits you. If you want to utilize the full length of the skirt, the skirt waist seam will become your shoulder seams.

If the skirt is not wide enough, but it does fit under your arms, use the Skirt Upcycling Techniques (detailed in Boutique Narelle posts listed under the Frugalista Dressmaking tag) that turn a skirt into a yoked dress.

If it is too wide for your shoulders, you'll need to cut it to fit your shoulders and realign the side seams to fit under your arms.

Design

Before you cut, decide if the neck opening is going to be big enough to pull over your head. If you want a closer fitting neckline, you'll need to insert a zipper at the back or front. If the skirt already has a zipper, you may need to lower it to match where your new neckline will sit. I had plenty of width so I removed the zipper entirely and stitched up the seam.

Mark

Using pins to replicate the fit of your sample dress or tank top, mark on the skirt where you want the neckline and the armholes, making sure there is sufficient seam allowance.

Cut and Sew

Cut out the shape of the neckline and armholes, extract the lining, and sew the shoulder seams on the dress and lining separately.

If you don't have a lining, bind or hem the neck and armholes, press, and you're done.

If you do have a lining, reinsert the lining (ensure right sides together) and sew around the neckline and armholes. Clip the curves and trim the seam allowance. Understitch the seams to help them sit flat. Turn the garment right side out. Finish off by pressing the seams.

Extra Fit Tip

My skirt had a lot of fullness which created a lot of bulk between the armholes at the back. I cinched this fullness by sewing D-ring loops with ribbons attached for a pretty and easy way to create shape at the waist.

Now you know a nifty 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