Happy July 1st!! What I love about today's piece is that it didn't take much to give it a completely different look! It's awesome when you can change a few little things to really transform the style/look/feel of something. Here it goes...
I got this dress from one of the swap parties that I attended this year. It was an ASOS dress and was not my size, however I adored the bird print!
The bones of this piece are amazing - I tried it on at the party and gave it a good look over before I tossed it in my bag. I saw lots of interesting ruching and layers and knew this piece could totally become something I'd love to wear.
Hey long waist ties!!!
A super chic dress is just waiting to emerge!!
Right off the bat I had to make the top of the dress work. There was already ruching down the middle, so I just enhanced that. I took two large safety pins and gathered this area even more, cinching another inch and a half or so.
There were these fantastic rounded edges sewn into the fabric (right by the ruching) and those really got my wheels turning.
I decided to follow this round shape and remove the material above it which went all the way up to the neck. Hello new neckline!!
I re-pinned the rounded area where the stitches were removed to prep for a quick sew - I ended up grabbing the same grey shade of thread just re-secure the seam that had been compromised when the other bit of fabric was taken away.
I also tweaked the shoulder area a bit as well. If I were to have removed the entire panel, the shoulder would have started where the ruching is, which ultimately wouldn't have stayed up. I opted to keep a bit of the fabric attached to the shoulder and I made a 45 degree angle with it...it kind of gives more of a 40s-esque feel.
With everything pinned, I stitched my new seam at the neck and tweaked the shoulders.
Now those waist ties that were attached to the dress were pretty long. It ended up working perfectly to wrap them around my waist twice and tie in the front. It was an insta-cinch for the waist, so I didn't even need to take it in at all.
The little peplum at the waist can actually be seen now!! I love that little accent!
I added some red lips as my only accessory and wore this to dinner with friends. It was amazing because I got tons of compliments - so fun saying that I got it for free from a girlfriend who didn't want it anymore and then just changed a few things to make it my own!
Ooh, and the extra material at the bust was just tucked under the bow I made, which completely hid it from view.
And now, this dress can totally work for varied sizing because I didn't do any structural adjusting. The pins can be changed out and the waist can be tied to fit, if I happen to bring this back to the next swap party to add to the mix!
Who knows...maybe my friend will want her dress back again??
Oh, and check out the original dress...
Happy Monday, friends!!
