Thread: Formals into Costumes

I'm new to Bhuz and not an expert sewer........Do you ladies out there ever convert formals to costumes?

I hope so, because I just have to tell somebody!!!!!!!!!!! The formal shop in my town is going out of business and I made a haul!!!! Most were stretchy material and had bling already on it. Closer to November everything is going to be 75% off!!!! I'm going to wait for the more exspensive dresses then. Oh I'm dreaming of how I'm going to arrange everything.......I'm I crazy? Please let me know I'm not alone..w.:

You are not alone!
I haven't done it my self, but I've seen some transformed, they looked gorgeous!!!
Maybe someone will post pics?
;-)

I've been thinking about starting to do the same thing, maybe if I learn to use my sewing machine...

I don't have pics as I have sold the few I have done this with, but some are very easy to covert - just add more bling in the appropriate places. Others take some doctoring. But, if you can get the dresses inexpensively, and don't mind doing a little work, they can be great!

{{{HUGS}}}

You're not alone.
Buggirl's Increasingly Strange Tokyo Tales... - Dress to Bedlah
Buggirl's Increasingly Strange Tokyo Tales... - How a dress became the law (because I RULE!)

Wow Ozma, that's soooo creative! I love it!

I've just started my very very first project! For an upcoming show, I want to make a bedlah covered with mirrors. I've already covered the bra with my basic fabric, which went well so far.

Not bad for someone who couldn't even sew on a button a few months ago *proud* :-)

Ozma, these are great -- creative ideas, and beautiful results.

I must chime in to say I bought an evening gown recently at a belly dance flea market for 10 bucks, which I intend to wear in a performance next month, nearly as is (only needs to be hemmed up a little). Super sparkly, sprinkled with silver beads all over and even has a couple of sequin appliques!

The best part is that this amazing treat comes from the thrift shop that the woman I bought it from works at. Thrift shops rock, actually -- at Goodwill I got a great skirt covered in teal sequins that I only needed to add new waistband elastic into to convert it into a shiny new(old) costume skirt.

Wow, that is pretty awesome, i wish i had the time and patience to do that.

Originally Posted by Khuzama

Wow, that is pretty awesome, i wish i had the time and patience to do that.

hahahaha...dress-to-costume conversion is what I do when I want a quick project!

I did this one

Bra swag now gone thanks to the sage advice of Ozma ..g.:
Still working on the belt a bit (again Ozma's words of wisdom come into play.)
There's a learning curve, I'm stuck somwhere near the point where it gets super steep. But fixing old costumes seems to come easier to me.

The trick is to get a really good bra, and reinforce the crap out of that sucker because pro costumes aren't made with soft cups anymore.

Besides that, look at the dress, see the patterns it has, the beading, get bottles and bottles of fray check because when you start snipping beads start flying.

Yup I've done that. Here is a photo of my niece Amanda wearing a costume made from 2 formals that cost $10 each, plus some rayon fringe. The whole thing cost under $35. I cut the neck of one formal lower, and cut gauntlets from the other formal (so I still have a lot of extra fabric)
Amanda 2.jpg - tribe.net

I had to chaperone the prom last spring, and I kept thinking about how fun it would be to convert some of the dresses into belly dance costumes. (It was a long boring night otherwise.)

Originally Posted by nitewindz

Yup I've done that. Here is a photo of my niece Amanda wearing a costume made from 2 formals that cost $10 each, plus some rayon fringe. The whole thing cost under $35. I cut the neck of one formal lower, and cut gauntlets from the other formal (so I still have a lot of extra fabric)
Amanda 2.jpg - tribe.net

Oh my goodness, she looks great and I love that costume!

I love seeing what's been done. I have a fun blue glitterdot "jessica rabbit" style dress that I'd love to turn into a dance dress.

The, he, he! Why do you think that I purchase (from a Bhuzzer) that sequined baby yesterday.



One black 'n' coral pink bedlah coming up, one!

Qamar

You guys are amazing. I love these pics!

i'm still working on my lace up leopard and have made some progress but haven't gotten a chance to take pics of it yet. but here it is months ago (it has more beading now) and it used to be a regular dress:


and of course my room is messy (always is, ha!) so don't mind the background.

it now has straps, beading and bling on the bra, and beading around that slit on the skirt. still not sure what to do as far as fringe goes :-/

I made this from a $20 stretch crushed velvet halter gown, as an example of thrift shop costuming for one of my books.

I added the sequined appliques and chunks of blue iris beaded fringe. The lace gauntlet is optional, I thought an asymetrical effect would be interesting.

Anybody interested, I'd sell it as my BD gown days are probably over!

Hey, Chris! I'm glad you're on here now!


Ladies, how are you getting your pics to display right in your posts? I don't have any room left with my attachments full for swap pictures. Thanks!

Originally Posted by dinalydia

I made this from a $20 stretch crushed velvet halter gown, as an example of thrift shop costuming for one of my books.

I added the sequined appliques and chunks of blue iris beaded fringe. The lace gauntlet is optional, I thought an asymetrical effect would be interesting.

Anybody interested, I'd sell it as my BD gown days are probably over!

I always loved this one when I saw it in the book!

Funny story... I bought a formal from a thrift store, used it as a halloween costume, then meant to repurpose it as a bd gown. Until... I realized... it smelled like cat pee! I treated it, et cetera, but clearly it had been treated by the cat far too long ago. :-D So that project stopped before it started.

I have done that so many times! It makes those horrid 80's dresses actually worth something. But remember that those formals need special reinforcement as they were not intended for such hard use and dance costumes need to be sturdy or you will be forever repairing.

this is so inspiring!
that is a great bit of advise Eshta! i admire your costumes!

Originally Posted by eshtabellydance

But remember that those formals need special reinforcement as they were not intended for such hard use and dance costumes need to be sturdy or you will be forever repairing.

You are right. I sewed a stiff padded bra (just the front half) directly into the dress, at the side seams and through the front, where the stitches were covered with appliques.

No worries then - what sort of bra to wear under the halter dress and will it slip out and show?

Where I added side and back hip fringes, I reinforced just that area with non-stretch interfacing underneath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About posting images: post an image on a photo site like Flickr or Photobucket, or your own website. Then right-click on the image to find the "address" - it'll start with a http, end with a .jpg

Copy that and paste it into the dialog box for the image place icon (little mountain).

Ozma..that gold costume. Just...freaking beautiful! You make it look so easy. You know what's dumb, I used to hand sew everything. I never got into sewing by machine. I once made an entire civil war day dress like 6 years ago by hand..and then abruptly stopped. Getting back into it has been hard but your pictures and your re-dos and your costume makes are so lovely.

Originally Posted by dinalydia

You are right. I sewed a stiff padded bra (just the front half) directly into the dress, at the side seams and through the front, where the stitches were covered with appliques.

No worries then - what sort of bra to wear under the halter dress and will it slip out and show?

Where I added side and back hip fringes, I reinforced just that area with non-stretch interfacing underneath.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About posting images: post an image on a photo site like Flickr or Photobucket, or your own website. Then right-click on the image to find the "address" - it'll start with a http, end with a .jpg

Copy that and paste it into the dialog box for the image place icon (little mountain).

Thank you!

Originally Posted by AllyisLuma

Ozma..that gold costume. Just...freaking beautiful! You make it look so easy. You know what's dumb, I used to hand sew everything. I never got into sewing by machine. I once made an entire civil war day dress like 6 years ago by hand..and then abruptly stopped. Getting back into it has been hard but your pictures and your re-dos and your costume makes are so lovely.

I got here from very little handsewing in my background. You can do it.