Gift Repurposing

When I was in Arkansas last year in November, the wonderful Diamond Dames gave me a very considerate gift.  They picked up this gown for me to repurpose, knowing I would do something interesting with it.  It was a bit too small and had some rust stains on the skirt, but I kept it in my wardrobe until I could figure out how best to use it.  I'm so glad they thought of me when they found this gown.

Thursday night I finally had a plan.  I would take apart the gown and use it to create the bust panels and skirt for my new number.  Sure, the gown will no longer have the same silhouette as the original gift, but it will work perfectly for my new project.  Some clever rigging, some hand painting and rhinestoning fun, and the gown will have been fully repurposed into something that will work well for me.