Thrift Store Dress Make-Over

Well I finally got around to re-vamping one of the many dresses I stocked up on from the thrift store. My motivation to get me going came from my new pair of peep toe heels that have ruffles around the back. So CUTE!

Finished product.

Ok, back to the dress. The dress caught my eye because it had some really nice details. I liked the back cutout, pockets, the buttons up the back , 3/4 length sleeves and the fit. On the other hand, the length, shoulder pads, neckline, and bow had to go. It was quite frumpy to say the least.

Before

It also had a hole.

Once removing the bow and shoulder pads I hacked the length by a good 6 or 7 inches. Next came the neckline. An easy slit down the front turned it into a V-neck.

Goodbye shoulder pads and bow.

I pinned back the neck flaps and secured with what my mom and I call "stitch witchery," the iron on no-sew stuff. After I hemmed the bottom it still wasn't the shape I wanted. I grabbed one of the pencil skirts my mom made me and layed of on top of the dress. With this as a pattern I pinned and sewed the skirt to taper toward the bottom.


Finally, with the excess fabric cut from the bottom I made a belt. I'll give details about the belt in a future post, but I will say I was pretty excited about how it turned out. It involved my first button holes ever!

I have to say this is my favorite dress make over yet. I love how the overall shape turned out and how the pleats were accentuated by the tapering of the skirt. When you are just pinning and cutting (and never measuring, because I find it tedious) you never know what you're going to end up with!

Have a great week everyone!





*I'll be linking up to these Parties