Reinvent yourself with fabric scraps,
repurposed clothing, and imagination.

Two years ago, my then-7-year-old

daughter asked if she could have some

lavender fabric that was left over from

curtains we’d made. She said she wanted to make

a dress out of it. “Sure,” I said, not expecting more

than a wraparound skirt knotted together at the

corners. She hadn’t yet learned to sew, so her dress-

making tools were limited. I didn’t give it another

thought, until she emerged from her room an hour

later in a long, sleeveless, mermaid-style dress that

was hooked together in the front with gold pipe

cleaners, each threaded through small “button-

holes” that she’d cut with her kid scissors. Each

pipe cleaner was then twisted into small flowers to

secure the dress. I was truly amazed at how cool

and inventive the outfit was.

“Fancy dress can be

traced to the Dark Ages,
when it was popular
for people to dress up
as devils and saints.”

Cut to last May, at the second annual Maker Faire

in San Mateo, Calif., where over 40,000 people

gathered to invent, create, and gawk at extraordi-

nary projects that makers shared. Mixed in with

the motorized cupcake cars, battling robots, and

crafting demos was Swap-O-Rama-Rama, a bustling

trading post (cost of entrance: a bag of used

clothes) in which people of all ages swapped, cut,

and remixed old clothes into amazing new garments

— just as my daughter had done with her fabric.

SORR’s creator, CRAF T columnist Wendy

Tremayne (page 168), told me she was impressed with all the clothing mods. “Silk blouses became transformed with ornate, artist-rendered silk-screen images. Ties became skirts and belts, and suit jackets were hacked by mixing other garments into them … What’s amazing about watching people make things at SORR is that people make clothing that is celebratory of their own personalities, rather than a compromise based on what’s available on a rack in the store.”

This notion of playful dress-up, self-expression through fashion design, and transformation of simple materials into something magical is the inspiration for this Fancy Dress issue of CRAFT.

Another term for costume, fancy dress can be traced to the Dark Ages, when it was popular for people to dress up as devils and saints (page 46), and has captured imaginations ever since, through masquerades, fancy dress balls, playing dress-up, and of course, Halloween.

We talked to some of our favorite costume junkies, including multimedia artist Marnie Weber, who uses thrift-store treasures and papier mâché to make spectacular costumes for all of her projects (page 60); hula hoop performer Annie Weinert, whose original costumes are as remarkable as her hoop dancing (page 48); and Angie Pontani, whose burlesque troupe relishes her handmade, awe-inspiring headdresses (see page 50 to make one yourself!). And if you’d like to expand your fancy dress horizons to include your canine companion, check out our DIY pirate pooch costume (page 56).

In addition to our fabulous Fancy Dress section, you’ll find dozens of other crafty projects, including knitted caution tape, a suede macramé curtain, candy box purses, a crochet cocktail ring, a hay twine rug, a garden birdhouse, and much more. So grab your materials and your imagination, and bring it on. ×

Fancy Dress

Reinvent yourself with fabric scraps,repurposed clothing, and imagination.

Reinvent yourself with fabric scraps,
repurposed clothing, and imagination.