I stumbled upon this amazing face dress when surfing Anthropologie’s website a few months ago.
Immediately I knew I was not willing to pay out the $450 US that was required to own such a cool piece. Instead, I thought I’d DIY that sucker.
Painted Face Dress DIY
I already had a black slip dress from a few years back.
The Anthropologie dress that provided the inspiration for this project is beaded and that is what I thought I wanted to try to do.
These were the materials I put together to do the project initially.
Scratch that idea.
Don’t bother with all those beads, it was a nightmare.
It took FOREVER to sew on the beads and the fabric puckered horribly. The whole thing looked very unprofessional. I finished the nose and hated it. Removing the beads afterwards took almost as much time as sewing them on. ARGH!!! The plight of the DIY’er.
Start over.
Instead, I decided to simply paint directly on the dress. So much easier!
Materials required:
Black slip dress, acrylic paints in multiple colours of your choosing (you can buy fabric paint but I don’t think it is necessary) and a white pencil crayon for sketching.
Method:
- Sketch your design directly onto the dress with the white pencil.
- Once you are satisfied with your sketch paint directly on the dress.
- Be sure to place a piece of cardboard under the area you are painting otherwise the paint will bleed through to the other side of the dress.
- You can heat set the paint by simply putting it in the dryer afterwards however it has been my experience that once you paint that acrylic onto fabric it’s there forever.
- The dress is fine to be washed, removing any white pencil sketch marks that remain.
I’m really pleased with how it turned out.
I painted the initial sketch with just one line.
Afterwards I decided to go back around and paint small dots on the inside and outside of those lines mimicking the beading and thickening the image.
I’ve layered a turtleneck under the slip dress as we are well into cooler cold temperatures now.
(groan)
Oh how I hate winter.
The vintage red boots are for sale in my Etsy store FYI.
I’ve got a little collection of 1980s-90s red boots in my store now as they are so on trend.
Besides…who doesn’t like wearing red boots?
They sass up whatever you’re wearing, like an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence.
Plus it is well known fact that wearing powerful red Super Woman boots means you can jump tall buildings in a single bound.
Or in my case, chubby pugs.
Same difference.
I’m thinking about shortening the dress a bit. It looks fine when I’m wearing tall boots or when I stretch but I can’t go around stretching all day.
Unless there are a bunch of 70% dark chocolate bars hanging from the ceiling.
Yeah, I’d stretch all day long for that no problemo.
Have you ever painted on clothing?
If so, did it turn out?
Here are some other DIY projects I’ve created by painting on fabric; painted jean jackets, painted jeans, doodled jeans, painted t-shirt.
Linking up with the lovely Patti over at Visible Monday.
Very cool dress makeover. I particularly like the addition of the dots around the painted lines!
Thanks Sue : )
walking art!!
totally genius!! absolutely fabulous!
those boots are very chic – and i would not shorten the dress but thats the length i always wear and love the most – on me.
now i must find some acrylic paint and cut out a shift dress……….
😀
xxxx
p.s.: sorry for commenting hassle @moi! next time press “veröffentlichen”/blue button 🙂
I can’t wait to see your version!
Thanks for the commenting tip on your blog : )
Most awesome dress creation! You have mad skillz for refashioning and I like your dress better than the Anthro (will you be putting it in your store?). And yes to red boots, or hats or gloves, they make me happy. xox
Patti
http://notdeadyetstyle.com
I am going to hold off on adding this to my shop…when I put extra time into something like this I like to keep it.
I would never have thought to do this Suzanne, but what an amazing result! Of course you are so creative and artistic!!
And the red boots??? I have a feeling, I’m going to have to buy some soon—I absolutely love them!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thanks Jodie : )
You have such a steady hand for all those dots!
Your execution is flawless and the result is very striking and graphic, but I keep looking for the rest of the face.
I know, boring of me!
Red boots are a definite yes. I love mine to bits.
Okay I find that very strange indeed that you are looking for the rest of the face. Ha ha! Especially for someone as creative and totally “outside of the box” as yourself.
That dress is just fabulous, you are clever! The length and shape lend themselves perfectly to the brilliant artwork. You did a great job!
I’ve hand painted before – I had a pair of denim bellbottoms I used to wear in my early blogging years that I decorated – but ended up selling them. Jon’s done a few boring vintage handbags that went down well with customers, too. xxx
Do you regret selling off those bellbottoms?
Wow, Suzanne, you are so talented! Try as I might, I could never achieve something like that. You did an amazing job, and those fabulous red boots are perfect with the dress. Must get mine out soon! The only time I ever painted on clothes was when I was a punk in my teens and customized some T-shirts with permanent marker … xxx
Did the permanent marker bleed when the tee was washed? They are so much easier to use than a paint brush. I use paint markers but they are finicky.
I do love a good DIY! Very well done, and for a much better price 🙂
You did such a brilliant job on that dress (and I’ve seen it close up)! I have tried painting on one piece of clothing, and wasn’t thrilled with the result, but I’m willing to try again. I did have better luck painting the white Doc Martens.
Have you been using your new found sewing skills Shelley?
Wow, that’s an awesome outcome! Totally unique and fun. I love how you added the dots – that must have taken forever but it really adds punch. And your colours are really vivid and solid. Again, it must have taken patience. But so worth it. I think this looks great as it, but it wouldn’t hurt to go shorter. It’s a sassy little dress, show some leg! Hahaha! And I like how you describe the boots as exclamation marks on your legs. Yes!
The dots aren’t that bad to do. They go quite fast. Probably faster than the lines.
What a brilliant idea and the dots make the design pop even more….the beads do sound like the DIY job from hell!
They were a nightmare. Never again.
What an impressive outcome Suzanne. DIY projects are often all about the learning curve and sometimes I’ve abandoned entire projects with the realization that I had delusions of grandeur. Beading is tedious work and on a knit fabric it would be very difficult.
I have painted on fabric. Actually some were drawn first as you did and a couple were done with stencils. I have plans and materials for a couple of fabric stenciling projects but haven’t found some of those items since our recent move.
I think your dress is just amazing. You look beautiful in it and styling it with the tall red boots is also creative perfection! Anthropology’s prices are ridiculous so that potentially adds to the triumphant feeling of accomplishment. 🙂
Trying to locate everything after a move is a nightmare.
Yes, so often the DIY I visualize in my mind is totally different than how it turns out.
Wow, that is a amazing dress! You did a fantastic job and the dots you added make it so fun!
This is fabulous, dear Suzanne, what a cool DIY and perfect, by the way! Congratulations! So yes,$450 is such a price for a dress, you did it so well and by the way, it’s a unique piece, your creation! And it’s as cool as the Anthropologie dress, as I said, congratulations! As you asked, I never painted clothes, but I embroidered a lot, since I like embroidering. Sequins are really a nightmare, but the result is so cool and beautiful! I also looove red boots! You look fabulous! I hope you have a great day! Bisous!
DenisesPlanet.com
Oh my goodness I am in awe. You did such an excellent job. This is divine. Don’t sell those boots, don’t shorten the dress. It is perfect as it is. And no I have never done anything in th DIY department. I suck at that.
Greetje
Ha ha! You are so eloquent when you write Greetje : P
As much as I’d love to keep the boots I need to find some with a lower heel. My stiletto heel years have long since passed me now.
Love the dress and the method you used to make it, I hear you with the time lost to beads…but you persevered and triumphed! Fabulous. The extra little dots did the trick…looks like beads,
Love the red boots, too,
Thanks for your kind remarks on my Instagram posts…
Much appreciated
❤️❤️
Elle
https://theellediaries.com/