Today's piece was sent my way by the lovely Sarah who manages Maggie's Thrift in Phoenix, AZ. I loved the print, but loved what Maggie's Thrift supports even more. Here's what Sarah sent...

I have been following your blog for over a year and have been so excited for your success. Your down to earth, overly budget friendly, and fun projects are just the thing women need in their lives. I currently manage Maggie's Thrift in Phoenix. I enjoy finding fun outfits that I can recreate or that I can help a customer imagine recreating. Maggie's Thrift also serves as a job training program for its main agency Maggie's Place which offers homes of hospitality for pregnant women in need of support or housing. We look forward to seeing the revamp!

I couldn't wait to get started on this lovely romper! It was rather large...

...but as soon as I saw buttons underneath the arm area, the wheels started turning.

I was actually quite excited about the size because it's going to help bring my vision to life!

Oh romper...thanks for being you.

Here's a close up of those buttons under the arm area. This to me felt like it would be something you'd see as the front of a piece, so that's what I'm going to make it! Old arm area turned new front of the dress!

I chose one arm side to be my new front and then trimmed down the other side, from top to bottom, to completely open the back of the dress up. I'm making this a halter and using the intact arm hole as where my head will be and the intact strap as the piece that will go around my neck. This piece also rules because there are buttons on each strap, making it so super easy to open and close at my neck.

I put the piece around my neck and measured/pinned the area in back of where it needed to be restitched. I wanted to make sure that it didn't fall too low and would be fitted enough when worn. I also pinned the strap that was going around my neck in preparation for a new seam to thin it out a bit and get rid of some of the fabric to make it less bulky.

I sewed the back and the new strap...

...worked on a little pinch and cinch action at the bottom of each side of the neck strap...

...and had a brand new dress!!

I am so thrilled with how this turned out!!

It's like the buttons were meant to be front and center! The cinching on each side of the strap not only gives the dress more shape, it also helps with not chafing under my arms too.