My daughter bought this fashion-woe. It was one of those really nice dresses that looked smashing on the rack, but was ill-fitted and ugly once you look in the mirror. Have you ever made one of those clothing mistakes? *Raises hand up high!* She came to me to fix it for her, and after a lot of mulling around, I decided to chop at it. Last week I showed you how to refashion a cute striped shirt longer by adding some lace. This week, we are going to use that same lace and remake this outfit, too.
Remaking a Ill-Fitted Dress Into Something Sexy
She is wearing a shirt underneath the dress in the first picture, because the neckline cut is just too low. A deep cut line can be very sexy, but it has to be a well-fit, first.
After a few unsuccessful attempts to make a waistline, I decided that I needed to take the plunge and just chop the dress up. We happened to find another knit dress that fit her nicely at the Salvation Army the next week, so I used it as a pattern guide.
Do you see the blue markings?
As my youngest used to say when she was 5 years old, c’mon, let’s go, chop, chop!!
From here, it was pretty easy. I pinned up the new sides and sleeves, turned it under, and sewed with a zig-zag stitch because of the knit stretch. To prevent the foot from snagging on the material and stretching it out, I used some tissue paper underneath the fabric. You can see it here, where I ripped it away. Don’t worry, it will wash away in the washing machine.
Here is some remnants of my lacy camisole from last week’s refashion:
Using more of the t-shirt fabric, I made two layers, one of lace and the other of t-shirt, and cut into a square.
Iron and pin together. I am fortunately, because my lace has a ridged edge already, so I can just iron under right there. I sewed it at the edge there to make it easier to attach to the knit dress.
Pin it up and sew it in. If you are OCD like me, you will want to fix the seams of the t-shirt and lace once it is sewed in. I hand-stitched for more control, but if you are better with the machine than me, you could probably get away with just doing that.
Here it is! All done!
Looks so much better, doesn’t it?
This is a great idea. I have so many shirts that are too short. And using the bottom of a camisole is brilliant- it saves from having to hem the bottom.
I solved two problem shirts at once! 🙂
This is a great idea. I have so many shirts that are too short. And using the bottom of a camisole is brilliant- it saves from having to hem the bottom.
I solved two problem shirts at once! 🙂