Thursday, May 05, 2016

As happy as a little girl

Today's refashion was another $0.69 find at the Salvation Army. If it weren't less than a dollar, it is unlikely I would've taken a gamble on it. "But Jess, you can make just about anything into a better looking garment, what's so bad about this?"  Welllll....because I actually couldn't even fit into it when I got it home, which was valid, because it is a dress for a child. :)
Girls' Plaid - before
Yup, that's the before picture.  I couldn't button it, nor get my arms through the sleeves to even take a picture, so that's all you are going to get by way of an untouched look at the dress.
First step, get rid of the stained bib on the front.
Girls' Plaid - gross lapel
Ew. You must go now.
Next, I decided that I would remove all of the straight stitches on the inside and leave the serged seams, which added about 1/8" on each side.
Girls' Plaid - seam ripping sides
I also didn't need the ties to do the job of cinching the waist, so I removed them.
The next step was to make the sleeves large enough for woman-sized arms. Luckily, the sleeves were gathered, then sewed down with a cuff. So, by removing the cuff…:
Girls' Plaid - cutting sleevesGirls' Plaid - cutting sleeves
I freed a bunch of fabric! 
Though still a bit too small to actually button up, paired with a tank, this dress works!
Girls' Plaid - afters
Check out my full blog post to see the lengthy process of seam ripping, re-sewing, and styling indecision that turned this child's dress into one that mostly fits an adult! :) 
Have a good one all! 

2 comments:

I Can Work With That said...

I like the change.Very cute.

jennifer elliott said...

Adorable! I'm a sucker for blue plaid! I think the dress or tunic looks just fine with leggings or skinny jeans. Great job.

Jennifer, EOD