Thrift Store Dress Make-Over (03.08.10)

I decided to take a break from my crafting blogs to talk about my latest sewing adventures. When I went to the thrift store last week to find another dress for our vacation and I found this gem as well. I loved the pleats at the shoulders and the flowy sleeves. Cons: the shoulder pads, awkward mid-knee length, and mysterious yellow stain.

First things first, I took out the shoulder pads. Then after trying it on it only needed to be taken up about an inch. Conveniently the hem in the dress was around two inches so I took the easy way out and folded the hem on top of itself and hand sewed it together. After putting in the new hem, I wanted to get rid of the stain by dying it purple. Note: when dying a 100% polyester dress make sure to get a poly dye, I used Idye Poly. The color came out great. The stain unfortunately came out more pronounced. I'm guessing it was an oil or grease type stain...maybe butter, who knows.

Well then I had to get creative. I paired a black v-neck tee over the dress and rolled under the shirt sleeves to make it look like a vest, and to show off the dress sleeves. I paired it with my black tights and boots and I was ready to go.

I'm not sure if you can see it, but that is the stain.

Shoulder pads...eww.

My "cheater" hem. But the fastest hem I've ever put in.

The relentless stain

The dress all fixed and ready to be shown off.