Dress Deconstruction

I have a lot of costumes. And that's an understatement. There are six big tubs out in the garage, and about six feet of hanging creations in our laundry room. There comes a time when I have to go through and be honest about what I can keep.

This dress was one of the first costumes I made, back when I was about 11 or 12. It is made from velvet and an embroidered cotton left over from our living room curtains.

It is also entirely handsewn.

Unfortunately, a decade or so later there's not much I can do with it. It doesn't fit me, or anyone else I'm likely to do a photoshoot with, and is much too fragile to rent or lend out. And I have so many costumes that keeping one sheerly for sentiments sake is completely impractical. Especially when the fabric is still good. So I cut it apart and will be reusing the fabric in other projects.

This is another early creation that also isn't good for much now, as it is rather baggy and short and doesn't fit a particular time period. So it also got attacked with a scissors and will now be reused in other projects.

Was it sad to cut these costumes up? Yeah. But since there was no way to use them, or in the case of the velvet even keep without major restoration work, it seemed a really practical thing to do. And I have really exciting ideas about what I'm going to do with the fabric, so stay tuned!