How to Make a Dress from Plastic Bags

Last week, I started preparing my outfits to attend Blog Elevated.  Thursday, the first night of the conference-Welcome Reception, I was going to have to work all day and head straight to the conference afterwards.  So I wanted to make sure my outfit/attire was appropriate.  So I asked on the Blog Elevated Community, "What is the proper dress code for Thursday night?"  This conversation led to me having to design a dress of out Kroger plastic bags and actually wearing it to the conference.  Oh yeah, and there is a $100 Kroger gift card that was mention as a prize....so of course I was up for the challenge.

So first I looked online to see if anyone had actually ever made one, and yes, plastic bag dresses have been done before.  I look to see all the different designs but none really stuck with me.  A friend, CS-who has actually made costumes before, suggested using the plastic bags are real cloth.  So I had to stop looking at them as bags.  Well that was hard to do.  I remember when I was trying to come up with an idea of my dress thinking, easy peasy.  CS suggested me using it like cloth and cutting a pattern out, done!  I can do this.  Easier said then done.  I grabbed my bags and put them flat on a table.  Little did I realize I was not going to be able to find any scissors in my house Wednesday night.  Oh yeah, I needed the dress for Thursday night and here I am Wednesday night trying to design, put together, and finish this dress.  I felt so Project Runwayish.  All I needed was Heidi and Tim Gunn to come in and critic my work.  If you can't tell, I am a fan of that show.  Anyways so first I tried one designed and that did not happen-no scissors.  So I had to use a knife to cut the bags and that was not cutting smooth, straight lines.  I was so frustrated.  I cut a total of 8 bags and taped them together.  I made sure to keep the logo, that is part of the design.  Taped it all together and I had somewhat a tube top looking dress.  The next morning I tried to get into the dress and I could not.  My thighs, hips, nor belly would let it come up.  I tried from the top down, and nope.  So I started cutting the top to see if I could get in, and no.  Eventually I had cut off half of the dress.  I tried it upside down and that was the only way I could get it on.  But then my logo would be upside down.  I was mad.  I gave up and just threw the dress aside.  Later on in the day I decided to give it a second chance, I could not give up.  I really wanted to finish what I had started.  I wanted the dress to fit me comfortable and to be something I would actually wear.  One thing led to another and well check out the pictures.

This is the Kroger plastic bag dress:  (picture courtesy of Blog Elevated Community)

Here are the different pieces to the dress at a close up of each piece:

Top-(made it to fit like a shirt, taped all side but one so I could get into it, with logo at the front)

bottom-(Made it to fit like a skirt to the length I would normally wear my dresses too)

Belt-(Made a braid design.  The flower was added at the last minute, it was missing something.  I took the pictures in my blue dress I originally was wearing so you could actually see the design.)

Necklace-(The chain to the necklace was the original belt I was going to wear but it ended up being too thin and was thrown aside until this.  The Kroger pendant is a shrunken down Kroger plastic bag.

I totally forgot to take a close up of the purse.  I had a small Kroger purse that held my coupons and my Kroger card.

As you can see, this dress is what I used as my inspiration for the Kroger plastic bag dress.

(picture credit to Kristin Still Barclay from In Deep H2O)

I was not the only person who wore a Kroger plastic bag dress, check out Bon Crowder from MathFour.com

(picture credit to Pamela M Kramer from A Renaissance Woman)

 There goes the purse I was telling you about-coupons hanging out and all.

I can honestly say I had the best time in my little Kroger dress.  So glad I decided to wear this Thursday night.  It was an ice breaker.  I had my 15 minutes of fame because everyone wanted to take my picture or take a picture with me.  I thought I was going to be embarrassed but I wasn't.  And I am so glad Bon played along too, or else I would have looked like the crazy girl in the Kroger plastic bag dress.  Bon and I wore our dresses, proudly, all night long.  At the end of the night, we both ended up splitting the $100 prize!

THANKS KROGER!!!

Have you ever done something crazy like this?  Would you have done it?