Dress to Seperates!

Hi, everyone!

I have had this dress for several years, but never wore it. It was passed along to me, and while I liked the fabric, there was never enough room in the bust. So I decided that the magic of refashioning would save the day!

Here is the dress as I received it. I loved the crinkly red-black dye, the soft fabric, and the front panel embroidery, but unless I had a breast reduction, this dress was never going to fit the girls. The combination of the sleeve length and the neckline (which is higher in the front than it is in the back) made me feel kind of frumpy every time I tried the dress on. So I decided to make two useful wardrobe items out of the dress; a front-opening shrug and a skirt.

This is the back of the dress--a series of elastic bands to create an adjustable fit, which dipped about to the middle of my shoulder blades. It's hard to tell in this picture, but if you look closely, you can see the top elastic band is about 2 inches below the front neckline. Blech.

And here it is after refashioning! Front opening shrug with skirt, mixed with a belt, a tank, and a necklace to see how it might work as an outfit.

Here is the back, with the embroidery adding interest to the back of the outfit.

And there was no waste fabric with this outfit; I used the section of the panel I cut out to make a hair accessory. I used the cloth to make a bow and I pulled the elastic out of the channels and using the elastic to make the bow into a pony tail holder. :-)

Thanks so much for looking! I love looking at everyone else's refashions, and I appreciate you having a glance at mine!

I usually blog here, when I have the time.

Take care,

Elise Too