March 27, 2009

wardrobe refashion: small changes make a huge difference...

i bought this dress at the salvation army a few weeks ago, and though i loved the fabric and general shape, i had a couple of issues with it:
the band of dark fabric at the bottom seemed too wide, and strapless bandeau-type tops aren't the most flattering on me. so i figured out a way to solve both problems in one fell swoop.

i started by hacking off about half of the band at the bottom:

then i measured from the top of the dress to where my neck and shoulder meet, and based on that, drew a rough pattern of a halter strap, which i pinned to the fabric i had cut off:

i used a double layer of fabric, for two reasons: 1) i thought it would look right beside the thick elastic-filled top of the dress, and 2) i hate to hem. so i ended up with 4 halter strap pieces, which i sewed together at the middle and then along the edges...
...then turned inside out. and i made a boomerang! thanks for coming, next time: fabric nunchuks! hee hee.
to attach them without the stitches showing, i sewed them to the edge of the interior seam at the top of the dress, where the elastic band met the main fabric:

then i hemmed up the bottom edge, and ended up with a dress that i love!



- cakehouse

11 comments:

AngelTree Gems said...

Very cool, and a great idea. :)

Anonymous said...

Nice!

MaryAnne LoVerme said...

adorable!

KimmChi said...

that looks great!

Unknown said...

I love it. Looks great on you.

→lisa said...

Wow, very nice job! You're right about the bottom hem band being too big.

May Luk Ceramics said...

The "after' is definitely more flattering and better. Good styling!

nordeasoaperie said...

nice idea! halter tops look better on me too! :-)

Ikyoto said...

I'm with you on the hating to hem! Hopefully we'll see more creative solutions to this as Wardrobe Refashion continues.

Anonymous said...

Much more flattering! Great job!

Luck(x8) said...

Cute!