Style Up: Pretty
You will need:
Must have sewing kit
Fabric Scissors
Paper scissors
Needles
Thread
Pins
Quick unpick
Tape measure
Fabric chalk
For the dress…
1 Pale pink top with 3D floral detail on shoulders which was £30 from www.oli.co.uk
1 Nude pleated long sleeved column dress which was £90 from Blush
1 Cream tulle skirt which was £38 from Beyond Retro
2 Metres of fabric flowers on mesh trim which I got at £3.82 per metre from Barnett Lawson
For the hair …
8 Purple and yellow fabric orchids on wire, I got these at £5.88 each from Barnett Lawson
2 Small hair combs, I got mine at 20p each from Shepherds Bush Market
1 Kettle (for warm water)
10 Tea Bags – any brand will do!
1 Large bucket
To accessorise…
2 sets of string pearls, I got a seven string pearl necklace for £29.95 from What's About Town, and one long Pearl and gold necklace with small ceramic flowers which was £44.95 by Heaven & Earth. You can use as many necklaces as you’d like!
Some high heels. I chose some pretty sandals with frill front detail, £49.99 by Zara
A pair of pretty lace ankle socks – the ones I used are called Ivory lace socks, £6 by Jonathan Aston
A gold bag – mine is the retro solid handbag, £25 from Rokit
How to make the dress
1) Take the pale pink top and carefully remove the beautiful 3D floral detail from the shoulders. I use a quick unpick which is much easier to work with than scissors.
2) Now grab your pleated column dress and pin the floral detail which you have just removed from the top onto the shoulders of the dress. You will need to hand sew these on to the shoulders of your dress using your needle and thread.
3) Now to give this outfit a bit of volume and shape add a tulle underskirt to go underneath your dress. Now, grab those fabric scissors and your 2 metres of fabric flowers on mesh trim from Barnett&Lawson. Cut in between each individual rose on the flower mesh trim, cutting approximately 40 individual roses.
TEA DYING
4) Now let's get creative! To give these flowers a bit of a vintage feel so grab a bucket and whack in 10 tea bags. Boil half a kettle full of water and pour onto the tea bags in the bucket. Now, grab your 40 individual white fabric roses and put them straight in. Leave the roses in the bucket with the tea bags to dye for 20 minutes stirring once or twice.
5) After 20 minutes take the roses out, squeeze any excess water out and leave on a window sill to dry. Or if it's a rainy day, pop them on a towel over a radiator.
6) Once the roses are dry, using your needle and thread hand sew each flower onto the hems of your tulle underskirt spreading them out equally on the different layers.
Now your fabulous pretty dress is completed but we need to give this outfit a top to toe pretty look, so its time to accessorise your lustrous locks.
How to make the hair accessories
7) Grab your two combs, I used pretty pastel coloured combs, and the fabulous orchids on wire. Wrap around 4 orchid flowers individually onto each comb, wrap these between the teeth of the comb spreading evenly so you can no longer see the top of the comb. You will then be left with 2 eye catching floral hair accessories which you can wear as you wish.
Now put your dress and pretty underskirt together, layer your pearl necklaces and pop your hair accessories in. Team with a pair of high heels and some pretty lace ankle socks, grab your bag and you’re good to go. Pretty as a picture!
