I know we have quite a few crafty dopers around, so I’m sure some of you must also be interested in sewing!
I have an old dress which is starting to go beyond shabby chic and into plain old shabby. I’m thinking about contacting a dressmaker to see if they can make me some new dresses based on the old dress.
Is that possible? Would they need to pick apart my old dress in order to copy the pieces of fabric?
I don’t think it’s a particularly complicated dress, but then I wouldn’t know! It’s a square neck, sleeveless, princess seams top, high waisted to a flared midi-length skirt. There’s a zip in the back but I don’t actually use it (it’s not a particularly tight fit and I cinch the high waist with a separate belt).
*How do you spell it when you want to say ‘one who sews’ and not ‘pipes for poo’?
“Seamstress”
I suspect it is very do-able, though, yes, they will have to take apart the original. I have never done it, but a sewing website I subscribe to gives directions for just this very thing. Worth a try, anyway.
I say, do it. Call around to see if they’ve done this kind of thing before (picking the dress apart and using pieces to make a new one). I think it would be kind of exciting to pick out material, leave it with the seamstress, and go back to pick up a beautiful new dress in the exact same style! (I’m planning to do this myself, that is, pick apart the old garment (not many small pieces), keep in mind seam allowances,
and use as a pattern on new fabric. I just have to pick a new fabric, already!)
Seamstress, thank you!
So far I’ve had a ‘we can’t take on new work until October’ and a ‘we only do alterations.’ sigh
Have you tried craigslist? I was looking for someone to take my 20-year-old wedding dress off my hands - free - and had success there.
I’ve had the notion (hah! punny!) of doing this myself, with a favorite dress of mine that is cut perfectly for me. I ended up looking for a similar pattern at the sewing shop and making a dress that was close, but not exactly It™. I couldn’t bring myself to tear apart the old dress just in case my experiment failed 'cause then I’d have two collections of dress pieces.
It might be easier to just taking sewing lessons at a local shop and figure out how to do it yourself. By the time the seamstress shop can “take on new work” you could have learned how to do it yourself.
That’s not a bad idea actually, although the dress is overlocked and I don’t currently own an overlocker. Hmmm…