I was hit with an idea too sweet to resist: receive a bag of found/donated fabric scraps and, in two months, design a dress to hit the runway in a DIY fashion show in which all creations would be auctioned for charity. Andrea, one of the organizers asked me to participate, and ever since then I have been giddy to share my creating process. I wanted to wait until after the show so everyone could see the finished product in its catwalk glory. Here are the raw materials I received:
Here are my initial sketches… right away I was pretty sure I wanted to do some kind of cocktail dress- formal and girly.
My workstation:
The ruffles and skirt were the first thing to take shape. There was so much white fabric, I decided to do a circle skirt. Very easy- cut a circle, a waist-size hole at the top, then hem the edges.
The fabric I had for the top was a little more limited. I decided to do a halter top and use the highly cherished purple polka dot fabric for the ties on the top and skirt:
The rules stated that we should try to use as much of the fabric as possible. There was some of the white fabric left over and a bunch of scraps of lacy purple stuff. Inspired by my new Wabi Sabi book, I decided to sew the pieces exactly as they were as an overlay on the huge white skirt. The rest was made into some arm warmers, to complete the debutante sort of look I was going for:
AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT:
Things I learned:
1. I love this machine. It’s the best one I’ve gotten to work with which is good, since it is the only one that is actually mine. 
2. I’m becoming a thread tension ninja. I never realized just how important this is to having fun instead of screaming expletives.
3. You can actually do quite a lot with somewhat unideal fabric. It’s all about figuring what works where.
4. Deadlines are my friend.
Photos by K are still being held hostage by his camera (i.e. we still can’t find the cord). Until it is found, enjoy these photos by Bruce Bollard! (link).
What a treat to see you document this whole process!
I loved your dress, and actually bid on it, but some other lucky lady got it…
Nice work!