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. :)

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.

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.

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…:

I freed a bunch of fabric! 

Though still a bit too small to actually button up, paired with a tank, this dress works!

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!