Wednesday, May 25, 2011

great work dress tutorial

As you have probably figured out by now, I love a good deal.  And I also love buying clothes that don't fit (on clearance, obviously) and adjusting them to my size.  This particular dress was on sale for $3.50 at the GAP, but the only one left as 20 sizes too big.   I bought it anyway, figuring that if the alteration didn't work, at least I'd have a good amount of fabric and two zippers to use for other projects.  Turns out I didn't need to worry about that.  I love the way the dress ended up, and the fit is fantastic.

Originally, the dress looked like this.  (Just a tad too big....)


So I turned the dress inside out and traced a pencil skirt onto the inside of the material.  Then I did the same with a well-fitting tshirt.  That gave me a good idea of how much material should be taken off the edges.  (Luckily, for this dress the zipper is in the back.  Taking in on the sides is way easier than trying to take in the back.)



After sewing along the lines I drew, I cut off the excess fabric.  Unfortunately, the neckline was still way too wide, and I wanted to add some sleeves.  Lucky for me, I had plenty of material to work with.  I took some of the excess material and cut out two identical reectangles:



I hemmed one side of the each rectangle and then stitched it into the side of the neckline.  Luckily, this dress already had an asymmetric neckline so precision was not all that important.


I then cut out two curved shapes from some more of extra material.  I hemmed the edge, used a gathering stitch on the top, and stitched them on as sleeves.  (The curved shape helps them fit nicely on the curve of the armhole.)




The final product:  (I got a LOT of compliments on this dress today.  And again, none of my students guessed that I had made it.)



I wore it with a flowered belt (purchased with a gift card from Anthropologie) and purple flowered shoes from Zara in Mexico City.  (I'm not sure if they ever sold these shoes in the US, but I LOVE them.  They add a nice little splash of color to the outfit. 


29 comments:

  1. I remember those shoes! Awesome job on the dress!

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  2. Very nice! One of these days I will make a larger size into something cool for me!

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  3. WOW. I am so amazed on your alterations. I love your blog, it gives me so much ideas. Why go shopping when I have a closet full of clothes that I don't wear: I can just alter them!

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  4. Cute! Come to join our link party: http://fabricbowsandmore.blogspot.com/

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  5. ooh, I love it! I'm always checking out clearance for big size stuff so I can alter them, thanks for the inspiration! :)

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  6. I love the upcycle!! Great job!!
    Stopping by from A Glimpse Inside.

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  7. Wow! You did an amazing job! I am just ,well... amazed!
    Connie

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  8. Seriously your re-purposing ideas are always awesome. You make me want to go and sew right now!

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  9. i need to go shopping more often and try stuff like that, the worst thing that could happen is have an awesome dress! and you dress SO much better than any of my teachers did!

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  10. Wow, that's incredible. Makes me wish I could sew.

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  11. OH wow, that is pretty fabulous!! I'd love for you to link up!!

    http://polkadotsonparade.blogspot.com/2011/05/wow-me-wednesday-11.html

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  12. Nice job! The belt adds an extra touch to the dress. :)

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  13. amazing transformation!! that is pure talent!!

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  14. Wow! What a tranfomation! LOVE the dress!! :)

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  15. Fabulous! You did a great job and it looks really good on you.

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  16. Such and amazing transformation! Beautiful dress! I will have to try to start practicing a little more on my sewing skills

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  17. FABULOUS!! I love it! I am a beginner to refashioning and really want to learn more. You did a GREAT JOB!! Thanks for the idea! Kristy from www.apronsandapples.blogspot.com

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  18. i LOVE it! I always love a good refashion. I bet this dress has more va-va-voom than the original would have in your size! Very chic.

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  19. Thanks for linking to Take-A-Look Tuesday - I featured you today!!
    -- Mandy, www.SugarBeeCrafts.com

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  20. that dress looks freakin' amazing!! you are wonderful at down-sizing clothes!!!!

    Cardigans and Cookie Dough

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  21. Awesome!! Great dress...

    Nicole

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  22. wow- FABULOUS! You are so gorgeous- and thin. Perfection! What an amazing re-do! Makes me feel silly for all those xxl I passed up on mega clearance!

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  23. You know you've got talent when you can do something like this. WOW!!!

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  24. Big puffy pink heart it!
    Featured you!
    hugs-
    Tiff

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  25. Are you serious?! WOW!! This is FABULOUS!!! FAB. U. LOUS!!!!!

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  26. holy crap! Seriously?!? That is so awesome you are incredible! Link this up at Scrappy Saturdays on Candace Creations!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! Glad I found you blog and now following :)

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