So, about a month ago, I found this dress at a local second hand store. It was about 6 sizes too big for me, and was just kind of weird. It had buttons, and pockets, and weird sleeves, and strange side pleats. The up side? I loved the plaid because it is so retro! But this monster definitely needed some help.
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What is this?? |
I knew for sure I wanted to keep the buttons, but nearly everything else had to go. So I started by taking off the pocket, sleeves, and strange side pleats.
After all of that, I was left with this beauty!
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Help!! |
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Please help me!! |
I got to work trying to make this beast fit. This took a while. How I do this is I put the dress on inside out and then just start pinning it smaller until it fits. Sometimes I have to make a few adjustments to make sure my seams are straight before I sew it up, but this seems to work pretty well for me. Now, if I only had a dress form! Aaaah...the things I could do. Back to work!
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Could it be???? |
After bringing in the sides, the dress still did not quite fit. There was still way too much fabric in the back. My solution? Darts! Basically, I laid the dress out flat and pinned where the fabric refused to lay down. Very scientific.
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Why is this picture sideways? |
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Whirrrrrr! |
Finally!!! It fit! Now for those sleeves. I can't say that I have ever sewn sleeves before, at least not successfully. So, needless to say I was a little nervous about this. I came up with a plan. I found an oxford-style shirt in my closet that was a similar fabric and had a sleeve shape that I liked. Then, I just laid my pieces of fabric over that shirt and used it as a template! To my surprise, it actually worked! On the first try!
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I do need two sleeves. |
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Now, pin that sleeve!
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I sewed those babies in place. It was all downhill from here! All I had left was to hem the bottom (I shortened it up quite a bit from the original) and hem the edges of the sleeves.
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Dexter, the refab overseer. He approves! |
A little steam, and voila! My new favorite dress for Autumn!
I prefer the Before and After Side By Side Mind Explosion:
You're inspiring me. I have a very cool vintage dress that is too big. I need to see what I can do to it, Ala Pandora!
ReplyDeleteVery cute. Worth the time!
ReplyDelete