As cliché as it sounds fashion is really a passion for me. I am constantly watching what people are wearing and my mind is always thinking of new things I can sew and create. This together with my constant fading interest in my current wardrobe, makes me a perfect candidate for clothing renovations!
The inspiration for this clothing renovation came originally from the Rosie Wrap Dress in our KassKo Exclusive Collection.
After completing this dress in the blue and red, I started working on the same design in black.
(Some time later)…The dresses are done and they look fabulous…but we can save those details for another blog. So here’s my dilemma, what to do with the left over fabric? I’ve ended up with about half a meter to three-quarters of a meter or so of the black fabric. Unfortunately, not enough to make another wrap dress. But I love the wrap dress style and of course I need another black dress 😉
At the moment I’m loving pleats. Such a versatile element and really a transeasonal design.
So there it is, the basis for my design, black fabric for a wrap dress with pleats as the skirt. As this is not a simple sewing blog but rather a renovation blog…let’s do some renovating!
I have a fantastic skirt in our KassKo collection the Amelia pleated skirt in black. The plan is to create the similar style to the Rosie wrap dress at the top, then cut my Amelia skirt in black and have a little play and see how we can create something fantastic for the bottom of the dress.
After a little cutting, I have now pinned the bodice of the dress.
Next step is to unpick the side seam and zipper of the Amelia skirt.
I have removed the lining of the skirt as well.
Now I will attach the skirt to the bodice with pins. The reason I don’t sew it all in one go is that I’m still designing as I go along. 
It looks awesome, however, there a definitely changes and tweaks that need to be made, including how to tie the wrap dress together and the length of the dress. I’ll leave that for the moment and move on to the sleeves.
I always find when doing clothing renovations, or even when sewing and designing new outfits, I find I need to treat each design as an artwork. That is, I need to go away and come back to it a few days later, as that helps inspire me to decide upon the next step of the design.
So a week later I’m feeling inspired.
First thing I have decided is, the pleats on the skirt part are too low. It is really not flattering, so I’m now going to raise the skirt and put it on the waistline. This has made a huge difference. The other change is, I was originally going to put sleeves on, however, I’ve decided it’s too heavy with sleeves, so I am going to leave the dress sleeveless.
On my clothing shopping trips I came across some fabulous trims from Darn Cheap Fabrics in Glenhuntly Road.
I am going to use the gold bias binding for the neckline and the gold clasps to close the wrap dress.
And for a little added interest I have made the hem in a few layers, so it is long in the back then cut shorter in the front.
The completed dress. Love it!
Check out my Instagram @KassKoFashion for other images, designs and inspiration. xx
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