Project: Dress or Shirt?

Front View

As I've mentioned in a previous post I've only had a little bit of time to work in the lab on the machines. When I was there last time I serged the edges on a scarf and then, instead of starting a whole new project from scratch, I found a dress in the scraps bin. It was a simple, single strap knee-length dress with just 2 bust darts, side seams, and a seam down the back. Nothing fancy about it. I decided to spice it up a little bit.

I shortened the hemline so that it's a shirt length and it's shorter in the front than the back. Then I seam ripped the side seams and sewed in a panel of black satin fabric on each side. The panels are about 2 inches wide. After finishing the seams around the armhole and hemline I decided to take the straps and change them. The dress had two cords to tie in the back and when I seam ripped the sides I cut them off. With these I cut them again, but in half, and braided them with the one strap on each side. Then I sewed the braid to the top and voila! Fancy braided straps! It took less than an hour and I have a cute tank top ready to wear out and about! 

Close up of the braided straps.

Side View

I'm hoping that I can find more good finds, especially at Goodwill, to alter and make my own. It's neat to just see something and think "Hmmm, I can take this plain shirt and change the neckline and add some details and trims and wow now I have a fancy cocktail dress." It's not all like that of course, but I do enjoy making things different and being able to just be creative and try different techniques. Especially when the garment is really cheap or free, because then it's not wasting fabric, money, and time! Hopefully I'll be able to spend more time in the lab, I really want to work on my bustle so I can make my bustle skirt! Stay tuned for more on other projects later on this month.