my favorite kind of recon – easy easy!
i’ve been pining for a plaid taffeta party something for a couple of weeks now – didn’t care if it was a skirt or a dress. i actually wanted to make a taffeta peony, so i started lurking plaid taffetas online. well, i scrapped that idea to the back burner when i realized how expensive that stuff is – and i wanted silk!
so imagine my delight when i found a little girl’s plaid taffeta party dress during my saturday shopping trip with lauren. it’s polyester, but whatever – PLAID. and $2.50!
here’s what i started with. it’s pretty small, but that empire waist is exactly my waist measurement. and before anyone gets sad about the death of a little girl’s plaid taffeta party dress, i will point out that it’s a walmart brand. pretty cheap stuff to begin with.
anyway, i removed the skirt from the bodice (and discarded the bodice – not enough fabric to do anything with!) and cut the hem off the bottom to form a waistband. since the hem is on the bias, i stabilized it with horsehair interfacing to give it some structure. i shortened the zipper & stuck it back in there with the skirt lining. the hem is just a simple rolled hem. easy!
this whole project probably took about 2 hours, and now i have a new skirt to wear for christmas parties 🙂 i already wore it this morning to put up the office christmas tree.
i even had enough taffeta left over to make a matching headband.
i look like a damn christmas present.
i’m okay with that 🙂
LLADYBIRD 
That is absolutely BRILLIANT!!!! Those capital letters and exclamation marks? They’re me screaming at my monitor. Absolutely inspired. I totally want a plaid taffeta skirt now. Prepare to be imitated…
Wow! I can’t believe you saw that child’s dress and thought of its future potential. What a great transformation and I love the matching headband!
Awesome recon, and appropriately Christmassy. Thumbs up from me.
You look fabulous. Who thought something from Walmart could end up looking so good 🙂
Super cute! And you are fast—I think it would have taken me more than 2 hours.
This is SO CUTE! You’ll be the belle of every holiday ball in this getup!
Jeez you are talented. That being said it would not have gone near my waist lol. How did you make the head band? Love bows.
i made a little fabric tube for the headband (casey has a tutorial for this on her blog, although it won’t let me link to the page for some reason?) and the bow was made using tilly’s bow belt technique.
as you can see, i didn’t make my fabric tube long enough to cover the entire headband. oh well! you can’t see it when it’s in my hair 🙂
Cute and festive! Way to reuse!
Ohhh, I love it!!
So cute, and it’s even pre-lined!
Oh my goodness! You are so adorable, and I am now inspired!! How fun is that?!?! Very well done, thank-you so much for showing us!
TOO cute. Love the matching headband, and the length of the skirt is perfect!
Completely and utterly adorable Lauren! So so so cute! Love the matching headband and am very impressed with the upcycling skills. So good!
0o0o this is such a cute outfit..I love your style
I’m so jealous! I’d love one for me! You look adorable and super Christmassy.
ME TOO! I want something that is plaid and taffeta for the holidays as well and your post has truly inspired me to get on that. For some reason plaid and taffeta are synonymous with Christmas in my mind (velvet too)…this might be due to my having had a plaid taffeta dress that I loved as a child. You outfit is beautiful.
Oh this is so cute! You ALMOST make me wish I celebrated Christmas. Almost. But the latkes, the latkes are so good…maybe I could do it in blue and white plaid…
This is fabulous!
SO cute and so christmassy, you look absolutely adorable. x
So cute. So so so cute.
So great, just chiming in here! Really lovely, the headband tops it off.