Red Dress - Simple Fix

BEFORE

AFTER

I removed the frill - it looked like shag carpet :)

The bodice was a little loose on me so I made a new seam in the midline (brought it in about one inch) from the waist up to the neckline and then added a few brass buttons.  

All done!

Have a great Labor Day!

XL Pink Men's Dress Shirt Redesign

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

STEP 1: Remove collar and sleeves. Most importantly, introducing - Emma!

My sweet Emma, like most cats, prefers to sit on projects while they are being worked on. 

STEP 2: Use an old shirt that fits pretty well as a guide to estimate how much I need to take in the sides and how to angle the new sleeves. I turned the shirt inside out and used a marker to loosely outline the shape that I wanted for the sides and the sleeves. Then I sewed everything up and cut off the excess.

Optional: Use cat as paper weight in case shirts fly away

STEP 3: Make a new V-neck line. (Not pictured)

STEP 4: Cut off excess length and finish hem. This shirt is naturally shorter in the front and longer in the back. I wanted to keep this line so I used a ruler and marked 6 inches from the edge all the way around the shirt and connected the dots. I snipped away then finished off the edge.

 

THE END!

www.forestdesignhouse.com

Facebook: Forest Design House

New Contributor Introduction & Polka Dot Dress

Hello!

My name is Heather Whatton and I am excited to be a new contributor and a part of this community! I started to remake dresses a few months ago and I have been loving it. One of the reasons I started to refashion clothing is because I have a petite frame and it is often difficult to find clothing that fits me properly. I had been wanting to learn to sew in general so I thought that working on thrifted clothing would be a good place to begin. Plus: rumaging through Goodwill/Antique stores is one of my favorite activities these days and I love to see an old dress be revived. It makes me happy to find a community that shares the same interests and I look forward to getting to know everyone better.

Blog: www.forestdesignhouse.com (click on the TEXTILE tab for refashions)
Facebook: Forest Design House (I also post a lot of floral pictures so I hope you like flowers)

This was my first refashion!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Steps:

1. I removed the shoulder pads, sleeves and the collar with a seam ripper.

2. The waist line was too low on me so I took 2 inches off the top of the dress to raise the bust line and waist line.

3. Made a deeper v-neck in front and neckline around the back to compensate for step 2 (by cutting two inches off the top - it raised the whole dress and the neck line so that my neck was needing a little more breathing room)

4. Brought in the sides around the torso for a slimmer fit

5. Hemmed the dress to just above the knee 

6. Cleaned up the seams along the way

Waist Selfie:

Have a beautiful weekend!