#26: Blue Ruffle Dress

Hi all! I've had jury duty all week, so I haven't had much time to sew. So here's another of my earlier transformations from the Summer. I found this blue sheer dress at the thrift store for a buck.

Before: Blue ruffle dress

Before: From behind

Those ruffles had me feeling like some mix between a pilgrim and Olive Oyl from Popeye the Sailor Man.

Feelin' the frills?

So those were the first to go!

Since I did this transformation before the blog was ever an idea, there are no process photos, but here's how I did it:

1) First I carefully removed the ruffles from around the sleeves and the neckline.

2) I then separated some of the criss-cross neckline from the skirt at the front of the dress.

3) Next I cut straight down the center of the back from the collar to where it met the skirt. This was to make space for the next step.

4) Despite the thin material, the shoulders had some nice structure. So I grabbed each shoulder and folded them down toward the center at the front of the skirt so that the shoulder seams now faced each other. I pinned them with some space in the middle. Then I sewed the new bust/neckline to the waist of the skirt. Imagine that now the shoulder seams are facing each other and the sleeves are now both pointing up. (I totally wish I had a picture for this. It would make much more sense.)

5) I probably should have sewn and cut off the extra material that used to make up the area between the original waist and shoulders, but since I was trying to be creative and find ways to take it in without sewing it, I took the extra material and pulled it behind my back. I hand-sewed a button and a button hole onto either side (this was back when I had my first little sewing machine that didn't have a feature to sew buttons or button holes), and used it to make the dress fit better around. (I wish I had a picture for this too.)

6) Next I tucked the back material into a low "v".

7) Lastly, I sewed the original wrist holes closed, and I twisted the arms to use as straps.

Here again is the before:

Before

And now the after:

After

After: From behind

I remind you that I made this in the midst of record-breaking Summer heat, so a fresh, airy halter dress was a welcome transformation. But to be completely honest, I didn't really like it so much after I wore it. Plus, the material was too see-through to wear without something underneath, and it's hard to find strapless slips (I wore a strapless shorts jumpsuit underneath in the photo). Not everything's a hit, right?

I have a rule that I have to wear everything I've made at least once, so after one wear of this dress, it went back into my big bag of projects. I've got a few more things in mind that I can make with this material. Those will come a little later....  :)


Anyway, I hope to have some free time again soon to keep working on something new.

Until next time, blessings!