Africouture Refashion - Vintage Refashion

So it's taken me a little over 8 years to get back in school. Now that I'm officially considered a "non-traditional-aged" student I am back in and majoring in Fashion Design. I thought it might be cool to document my journey here. So there will hopefully be a lot of repurposed projects shared here. Hopefully you dig that. If not, you're probably not in the right place anyway. 😁

So anyway, my first reconstruction project for class was supposed to fit the theme:  "Africouture". If you know me at all, I'm basically the whitest white girl ever so you can imagine how much I was scratching my head at the idea of this. Somehow I pulled off a design that encompassed the theme and a silhouette I'm quite fond of for myself. Without further ado:

Here is the before. Left is front and right is back.

And here's the after!

Just a little run down of what I did because I didn't take pics as I went:

Turned it around backward because I loved that caged neckline!

Chopped it in half to make a co ord

Cut all the button loops off and sewed a new shirt hem to create a V in the back

Sewed a new shirt hem on the bottom with a long stitch to prevent too much stretching (this material was weird)

Sewed a wooden statement button on the top for closure and to make it an open back crop top

Designed and sewed a permanent scalloped wooden bead necklace on the caged neckline

Cut a lot of length off of the skirt, but from the top instead of the bottom

Cut the length off to make it slightly high-low to accommodate curvier girls!

Created a casing on the top of the circle skirt to thread non-roll thick elastic as the waistband

Sewed the skirt shut from the inside

Boom! Done!

It sounds like I did a lot more than it felt like, but apparently I did well because it ended up being picked for the MTSU fashion show and THEN it won 1st place in the tribal category!

So I won a scholarship! I honestly wasn't expecting any of that. I was just trying to make a good grade.

But I'm so excited to make more refashions! I have a beautiful vintage shirt dress I can't wait to revive. I will be able to jump into it next week after finals I hope!

Thanks for following my journey!