Sew Crafty Friday: Dress Makeover

It is ALMOST Friday, in a few hours...so I am going to post my Sew Crafty Friday project now, before bed. I have some free moments~ the children are all nestled, snug in their beds and the husband is out in the garage bottling some homebrew. Since I am accustomed to going to bed at the same time as Mattie, I have some time to kill.

My project for this week is one I am really excited about. At the start of winter, I was shopping at the thrift store when I spotted this dress. Nicely made, corduroy, and in a very quaint style. It is hard to find non-sleezy dresses once you get into 'girls' so you gotta snatch 'em up when you can. Only problem was-I hated the drab color. I am not a gray kind of girl-especially when that is all there is! It lacked pizazz.



AND-it's previous owner decided (for some unknown reason) to cut/rip a slash in the front of it. That slash probably hindered many potential buyers but it was actually the thing that made me WANT to buy it. Why? Because when I saw that slash-I saw new potential! I liked the look of the slashed asian-esque v-neck. So I bought it and tossed it in my to-do/mending pile.



The other day I brought it out hoping to get Corynn into a new dress this winter. She doesn't have too awful many cute ones. I found a GREAT fabric and began the make-over. Here is how it turned out:


I love it! So does Corynn. She insisted on wearing it through the house for two days straight. The skirt twirls really well and the matching purse has been filled, dumped, and refilled many times. Only problem? She SWIMS in it! Her skinny little arms look like the scrawny sticks popping out of a snowman. Alas. This dress will have to wait until next year to be worn. She was devastated!

Here is a re-cap of what I did to jazz it up-and break up the awful monotony of gray...


I bias-edged the neck and formed the rip into the design, making it a cute and trendy V shape.


I pleated the edging of the skirt. First time I have pleated edging. I don't know if there is a science to it or not. My unromantic tool of choice was a butter knife. I folded the fabric over the butter knife every two inches.

I added a sash around the waste and tossed the old, crusty corduroy belt that was on it before. The sash is a huge improvement.

Then, I had just a bit of pleating edge left so I decided to use it to make a small purse to go with it. As you can see, I love my new sewing machine and am having LOTS of fun with all the neato stitches!

The handle of the purse was just a single crochet chain. I wanted to add beads to the sides and let Corynn do that part of the job. She chose coordinated colors-and then added a few jingle bells too! I wonder if that will thrill her when she is eight and can actually WEAR this thing?!? :-)

For more Sew Crafty Friday entries, visit Sew Crafty Friday.