- Ooh, my god, oh.
I'm twisted up in this, y'all. (laughs)
- Hi, I'm Megan, and today I am challenging
a designer to turn my old bridesmaid dress
into something that I can wear everyday.
I wore this dress in my best friend's wedding
last summer, so it has a lot of sentimental value.
Which would maybe make you think,
don't cut it into pieces.
But it would be nice if I could wear it everyday
and be reminded of that lovely day.
I really do like this dress.
I like the one shoulder and the bandy part here.
Yeah, the dress was like $200.
So, if I can get more than one use out of it,
that would be nice.
- What's up, y'all?
I'm Matt Sarafa, I am a celebrity fashion designer
out here in LA.
I have worked with some of the biggest names
in Hollywood, like Tyra Banks, Iggy Azalea.
I like clothes that push boundaries
and kind of break the rules.
I'm very edgy, very dark.
I think it's gonna be a tough challenge.
I wanna say it's easy, but I don't wanna jinx myself.
So, I'm going into it expecting the best,
but preparing for the worst.
- [Megan] Hello!
- [Matt] Hi, gorgeous!
- I'm Megan.
- I'm Matt, nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- Oh my gosh, is this the infamous dress?
- This is her.
- Okay.
- She's very important to me
and holds some memories.
- Well, I'm gonna do you right with her, okay?
I already have ideas, they're already buzzing
through my brain.
She has so much potential.
- She does.
- So much potential, so.
- Am I allowed to anything that you're gonna do?
- I'm not gonna spill all the beans to you,
'cause I want it to feel--
- Can I have some beans?
- I'll give you like one little spoonful of beans.
So, I think we're gonna change the color
of her a little bit.
So, next time you see her,
she's gonna be a completely different (beep).
- Okay, bye!
Good luck!
- Bye!
All right, so for Megan's dress,
I'm really excited about this.
I think what I'm gonna do
is turn it into kind of more of a crop top
kind of deal, and then we'll have
all of this material left over.
I think I wanna do some sort of
a really dramatic kind of detachable sleeve.
Think we're gonna dye it into more of a plum,
deeper purple color.
Hopefully, 'cause dying is very tricky
and you just gotta kinda say your prayers
and make sure that everything turns out right.
So far, that's the plan, but fashion never goes
according to plan, you gotta roll with the punches.
All right, so we're just gonna get this dress
up on the mannequin, just so I can see
how it hugs all the curves, and see any alterations
that I need to do.
So much fabric.
So much of this lilac color,
I'm gonna throw up.
Her skirt is riding up, that's very inappropriate.
It's not so bad, it honestly isn't so bad.
It has potential.
I'm gonna chop it along this seam,
and then we'll have both of these layers
of fabric to work with.
Pressure is on, 'cause I know this means a lot to her.
So, I'm trying not to ruin her little sentimental dress,
but you know, I think it's gonna be worth it.
These aren't even sewing scissors,
these are like $20 paper scissors from Target.
It's doing not too bad of a job.
Y'all can be balling on a budget.
I love customizing my stuff,
because a lot of times, like, you never wanna
walk into the room and be wearing
the same thing as someone else.
So, it's better to transform everything,
and then you're the only one in the world
that has it like that.
Ooh, my god, oh.
Oh god, we're toppling over over here, but we got...
I'm twisted. (thump)
I'm twisted up in this, y'all. (laughs)
Okay, so we got this skirt layer off.
We've got to do the same thing for the slip.
So, just chopping around the zipper,
'cause you never wanna cut the zipper straight across.
Because then once you unzip it once,
you're never gonna get it back on.
So, we're just gonna kind of cheat it a little bit
and get it, just exposed and away
from the material as much as possible.
That looks great, huh?
(laughs) Now she's got a tail.
Look, that's already a lot cuter, I feel like.
Okay, so we've got our two little basins of hot water,
and we're gonna start the dying process.
When choosing your dye, you wanna make sure
that you pick the right one for the type of fabric
that you're working with.
So, this is like a polyester kind of blend,
so we want to make sure that we have a synthetic dye.
This stuff is messy, so don't get it.
Oh my god, it has one of these labels.
This is like my worst nightmare
having long nails.
We're just gonna stab it.
I'm so sorry to whoever scissors these are.
I'm gonna back up. (laughs)
Oh my god, oh yeah, that is pigmented.
I'm honestly just gonna use the whole bottle, I think.
I should've put on gloves before I did this.
Do as I say and not as I do.
Definitely not made for men's hands
with acrylic nails, that's for sure.
These are (laughs) un poquito snug.
So, you just wanna kind of give it
a little mix, just disperse it
throughout the water.
Let me take. (snap)
Ow, did I break a nail?
No, I'm good, okay.
Just kind of dip her in there.
Oh my god.
Dying is so scary, you guys,
like it's very unpredictable.
You can do the same thing twice
and you're gonna get a totally different result.
It's all in the hands of, like, a higher power.
(upbeat guitar music)
And then, we'll let it set for 30 minutes,
so hey, Siri.
Set a timer for 30 minutes.
You can't hear it, but my Siri's a guy,
'cause I'm gay.
(laughs)
Oh wait, no now I think I messed up the gloves,
'cause now I got (laughs) dye on them.
So, it's been about 30 minutes.
Our dress has been brewing in here.
This is the color that we were able
to come up with.
Ooh!
So, it's not quite as deep as I was expecting,
but it is a big improvement from this.
Definitely an improvement,
and y'all can't deny that.
Oh my god, oh, let me stand back.
And then, you kinda wanna ring it out a little bit,
just so that we don't transfer
too much dye into the clean water.
Oh my god, ASMR for y'all.
(water dripping)
All right, and then we just let the excess color
kind of bleed out.
That is actually really pretty.
(upbeat music)
We have a casualty.
Actually, like 10 casualties. (laughs)
All right, so we got it out the dryer.
The color, as I said, dying is very unpredictable,
but we definitely made a little bit
of an improvement.
Putting the piece on the manequinn,
it just makes it easier, because you kind of see
the body shape form.
How it's gonna look when she's actually wearing it
versus just like a lump of fabric on the table.
That looks almost like toga, like,
very Greek goddess inspired.
We probably only need three panels, should be good.
(upbeat music)
Now, the hard work begins.
I'm already sweating, y'all.
I'm gonna get the biggest hand sewing needle
that I have, like the longest one.
And then, we're gonna do a little bit
of gathering or ruching.
So, you want a real long piece of thread.
Not that long that you get lost a bit.
I'm like actually so good at threading needles.
That's like one of my strong suits in life.
Think I'm gonna do a double, you don't have to,
but for me, I just think it's better
to be safe than sorry.
'Cause then, once that thread breaks,
it's over for you.
Career is over, you're canceled.
So then, basically, you wanna do just kind of like
a basting stitch all the way around.
A basting stitch is just a really,
kind of like, long, loose kind of stitch.
If it's too tight, it won't actually work.
And then, at the end, we're just gonna kinda
scrunch it all together and it'll create
a really pretty, kind of, draping effect.
Here we go, this is the pretty little draping effect.
You see it's almost like a little veil now.
Now, I just cut off this little piece
from the hem of the dress,
and we're gonna kind of fake our own
little bias tape.
Basically, what that will do
is kind of just cover up and encapsulate
all of our ruching that we did.
So, I have my little iron here
and handy dandy ironing board.
How do you make it?
Oh, just kidding.
Fold this into fourths, kind of.
So, we're gonna do a little hem here,
and then on this side.
And then, we're gonna flip it in half,
and then sandwich the dress in between.
Boss (beep) mattsarafa.com.
(upbeat music)
So, for this, I'm stitching it using,
like, it's called the invisible stitch technique.
So, basically, on the front side,
so the right side, I'm just doing
little pinpoint stitches just so that you get
a little bit more of a clean look on the front.
So, this is pretty much the sleeve.
That's gonna be so pretty,
especially once we have the rhinestones up on it, woo!
It's gonna be over for these (beep).
Finish this up, 'cause my hands
are starting to cramp up.
So, we gotta get moving on this project.
We have a plentitude of snaps.
And these are a (beep) to put on.
Especially with long nails.
Like, I said there's only a few things
I can't do, this is probably one of them.
But I'm gonna try my best.
(upbeat guitar music)
I think the aspect of having
it convertible, almost from day to night,
like the snap on and snap off sleeve,
it allows for one piece to be very transformational.
And you can wear it for many different occasions
and many different events,
and it's just a way to add, just like fun drama.
Like, just with a snap.
(snap)
That was so cheesy, I hate that. (laughs)
(beep)
So, we also put a snap on the zipper
just so that it's able to be kind of tucked up,
because, like I said, we can't really cut the zipper
without dire consequences.
Cute, look at that.
Look at that motion.
I don't know, I think I wanna do...
That, I think that's sexy.
Right?
Yeah, that's hot.
She gonna be getting all the men in the club
with this on, I already know.
And these are pretty easy to sew on,
and these are really fun just to add
to T-shirts or dresses.
All right, y'all, I think we've finally come
to a place where we're ready to show off this design.
So, let's bring her in and see what she thinks
of our blood, sweat, and tears
that went into this.
Megan, get your booty in here.
- [Megan] Someone needs to guide me.
- Oh yeah, (laughs) I'll block it, okay?
Oh my god, shuffle on over here.
- [Megan] Ah!
- Yeah, let's do a drum roll.
Three, two, one.
Ta-dah!
(gasps)
- (laughs) Oh my god! - Va, wa, voom.
- Oh my god! - [Matt] You love?
- I am obsessed. - [Matt] You love?
And the best part is the shoulder sleeve
is detachable, so if you want to rock it,
you know, a little less drama, you can do that
or you can-- - Why would we opt
for less drama?
- That's what I thought, but I wanted to give you
the option, just in case.
- Can I put it on?
- Of course!
(upbeat tech music)
- [Megan] What if I told you this used to be
a bridesmaid dress?
- No.
- The whole, it was a full dress?
- Wow, I think that's awesome.
- So, it might not be a Monday through Friday,
running to the market kind of top.
But now that it's been fashion flipped,
I can wear it to a million other events
and occasions, and keep the memory
of the wedding that I wore it to initially
close to my heart.
(upbeat funky music)