Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Too short dress to just right top

When Savers had dresses for 50% off a few weeks ago, I picked up this cute one. Unfortunately, it was way too short to be a decent dress and too long to wear as a top.


Also, the previous owner had cut off the side ties, accidentally cutting the fabric at the same time.


I recently had great success removing the elastic stitches on a garment with this refashion. I decided to do it again only on the back side of the dress, so I'd have some room to redo the sides seams without the dress getting too tight. I left the gathers in the front, though, to have a defined bust on the top. After I re-stitching the side seams, I chopped off some of the length.


After hemming it, I was left with this summery top. It looks a little like a maternity top, though, so I may tweak it some more. Also, I need to find a use for the scrap I cut off the bottom. Suggestions?


Thanks for reading!
-Amy


6 comments:

Queen Of Rods said...

How about using the scrap portion for a peplum on a skirt or a t-shirt? An alternative would have been to shorten the blouse at the waist instead of cutting off the bottom in order to save the embroidery. You did a great job on the blouse and it looks very nice on you :)

cfort82 said...

Love the quick and easy refashion the embroidery is very pretty. I'm glad you were able to save the item.

Cindy - EOD
Upcycled Design Lab

jenny_o said...

It may look more to your taste with a slimmer skirt or pants, do you think? I like it and it fits you well now; good adjustments. I rarely think of making a dress into a top but I need to do this more often.

Unknown said...

To make your top less empirey-maternity looking, add a few rows of shirring with elastic thread to create a stretchy waistband. The lower portion of the shirt will look like a peplum, great for hiding tummy flaws.
I would get some wonder web and make appliqués out of the embroidered border and sew them back onto the blouse or use them for another refashion or sewing project

Sandy said...

A few ideas:

It might help to shorten the top more and add the embroidery back on...the embroidery will add weight so the top won't look so full over the tummy. Or you could trim the embroidery background up to the embroidery and then stitch directly to the top at the current length.

You may find that releasing a bit more of the shirring at the sides will mean that the fabric is not pulled so taut in the area under the bust/over the tum. you will still have the defined bust, but not the defined tum.
Sandy in the UK

Unknown said...

You simply have to put one foot in front of the other and keep going. Put blinders on and plow right ahead. See the link below for more info.


#right
www.ufgop.org