Super-Duper Easy, Less Landfill Waste, a few $ and hours = a Shift Dress + WIN!

It all began with buying denim by the pound. Mind you, there were some flaws. But with only pennies at stake, there was nothing that could not be cut out or around. When I see all this textile that will soon be headed to landfills, my heart breaks at the coming environmental damage, but also jumps with exciting possibilities.

First, there were faded denim curtain panels showing some beautiful blue ombre and shades that reminded me of the ocean. In addition, the denim was so worn and soft, and yet durable. I was not sure what I wanted to make initially but knew I wanted something cool and comfortable for this tropical climate.

I always wash fabrics, even if they appear and smell clean or have attached dry cleaning tags. “Better safe than sorry” is a good motto when buying preloved clothing. This denim curtain panel appears to have shadows on it. Actually, those are the places where it was exposed to the sun and natural fading occurred.

Next, the many pairs of preloved jeans were irresistible! Two were stretch, which I do not recommend, but their prints and shades of blue were lovely. I also found a large denim skirt that had a ruffled flounce around the bottom.

Since there are no patterns available I decided to use an old stained shirt as a pattern. First, I cut off both sleeves. Then I folded the body in half to have a “front” and “back” pattern for whatever I was going to make.

I am not a ruffle kind of person but was intrigued by the one along the bottom of the skirt. Perhaps a 3/4 sleeve with a ruffled edge would be fun? I used the shirt sleeve to cut 2 ruffled denim sleeves from the jean skirt bottom and placed them aside.

As I looked at the denim fabric I decided to make a simple, loose-fitting shift that could be pulled over the head. There would be no zipper or buttons and I could use the shades of blue and some interesting piecing of the other denim fabrics. The front was basically one piece as was the back, but I felt that it needed some jazz. I decided to use the 3 jean pant legs to make some vertical piece-work along the bottom.

Hmmmm, so far so good, but did it need more or would I be “putting feathers on a turtle?” I had salvaged the 2 pockets from the printed jeans and also had made 2 ruffled sleeves. Add them or not? Decisions, decisions….. so, for the first time, I put the question out on a few sewing and upcycling Facebook pages.

I decided to go with the simple look for 2 reasons: 1. It would be cooler, and 2. It would be less heavy. Those pieces (shirt, sleeves and pockets) are now safely stashed away for a future project.

The final steps were finishing the neckline and arm holes with interfacing and then hemming the dress. The interfacing was made with denim from the curtain panel and surprisingly easy. The pieces were stitched to the right side of the openings, ironed inside, then top-stitched to stay in place.

The hemming of the dress provided a nice surprise. Since some denim at the bottom was stretchy and I did not want the hem to roll up, I added a wide horizontal piece along the bottom. The plan was to iron it up and use it as a large, weighted inside hem. As with many works in process, we can flexible and adapt as we go. I loved the longer look and the horizontal denim piece below the vertical ones so I simply decided to keep it!

———————————————————————————————————————————-