OCR Text |
Show Woman's World Refresh Wardrobe by Restyling Garments No Longer in Fashion I THINK we cad divide women Into two groups when they look into their old clothes closets. There's the first group who make a wry face and who try to get rid of these garments as quickly as possible. pos-sible. Then there's the second group. These women thoughtfully pick up each garment, consult their fashion notes and convert the dresses Into something that could have come from a smart department depart-ment store. To the smart woman, there's not a dress no matter how old, that cannot prove useful if she Is clever with the needle. Some garments naturally will require a good deal of restyling or even complete alteration. alter-ation. Others will need Just a slight change in neckline or skirt to make them completely new and refreshed. re-freshed. Dresses frequently discarded are old formals which look so woebegone woe-begone when they come out of closets. clos-ets. Yet look at the beautiful materials mate-rials in them, and think for a moment how nicely they could be made into perfectly beautiful housecoats, house-coats, new formals or fresh-looking suits. If the neckline on an old formal is hopeless, it's an easy matter to alter this. Perhaps you will buy a bit of net and work this into a new type of yoke and sleeves. Sequinned straps may be taken apart and used at the wrists as seen in so many of the gowns showing Grecian influence. in-fluence. Or, take the sequins apart and use them as a decoration around the neckline, or clustered together in a design or flower. Make a Velvet Housecoat Out of an Old Formal If you have an old velvet formal or dinner dress of prewar vintage, you may be delighted to discover that the velvet is of an exquisite It you have an old formal . . . quality. Restore it to life by steaming, steam-ing, or have it cleaned professionally. profession-ally. Your daughter may be looking for one of the new bare shoulder formals for-mals to wear at her high school dance, and this might be just the material for her. There will probably prob-ably be enough for Just such a dress. If not, select a small quantity quan-tity of wide grosgrain in matching match-ing color and use it at the skirt or around the bodice for trimming. Another good idea for the velvet garment is a housecoat. If there is not quite enough material to make a comfortable coat of this type, plan to use coral and lime draping at the front, as this is a very effective effec-tive combination with black velvet. Among the innumerable uses for this velvet, you might discover that the dress could be remodeled into a Victorian or Renaissance style formal for current wear. Recut the neckline, making it a square or sweetheart type, and add a bit of lace ruffling to give charm. This lace might also be used as an insert In the skirt or as a decoration around the wrists. Consider the Material When Doing Restyling Just as you select a new dress for its appropriate material, you Make a perky suit from it. must consider material when remodeling. re-modeling. I think you will And that old taffeta and satin formals can be made into bright, perky suits either for yourself or a teen-age daughter. daugh-ter. These materials are luxurious and require rather high style to set them off properly. For the present season you might like to make them into a lovely suit perhaps with a modified bustle. First select a good pattern and then prepare the material for your project This will probably require ripping the whole garment apart as the remodeling will be. a complete change from the former garment. Pay particular attention to such detail as the sleeves and the bustle and follow the pattern carefully. care-fully. If there is not quite enough material, use contrasting ribbon, or modify the style just a little to suit the individual wearer. Bustles are attractive only if they are styled correctly. A dress form is handy to have for moulding the lines carefully, as they may require re-quire slight adaptation from the original orig-inal style. Pin and baste carefully arid then try the effect on the actual person and make any other necessary nec-essary adjustments before putting in the final stitches. You will have to sew both of these fabrics carefully to make them look their best. Allow plenty of room, as they do not give when worn. When sewing sheer material, set the machine stitches carefully, and test on a strip of fabric before you do any actual sewing on the accessory you are making. You may also use tissue paper underneath under-neath the material when sewing, as this gives the material more body while you stitch. This is easily eas-ily ripped off when you finish the sewing. |