Remake: Stripes and Dots Housecoat

You guys got a little teaser of today's remake, yesterday.  Oh just wait...there are more pics. This housecoat had a lot going on.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The mix of patterns, the ric rac, the bow-like pockets.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

I loved the color and saw this as a total challenge, so...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

...I had to take it home.  Those stripes, dots, and ric rac were counting on me.

As large and in charge as those pockets were, I just had to say "so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, adieu. Adieu, adieu, to you and you and you."  I grabbed my seam ripper and got working.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

One came off...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

...and so did the other!  Pocket party time!!!!!!!!!!

I mean, what a huge difference, right?  Such an amazing update to make it a little less juvenile feeling.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The length adjusting came next.  I only shortened it by the width between two of the buttons, which was about four-ish inches.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The hem got pinned next in preparation to sew!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

And it's now ric rac time.  It was going to come sooner or later...

I removed the pieces on front...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

...and then hit the sleeves.  I now have a decently substantial pile of ric rac!!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

I targeted the neck next.  To break up the stripes a smidge, I opened up the neckline...

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

...and then worked on the back of the piece before I began to sew.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

Now that everything was pinned, it was sew time.  The hem was tweaked, the neck was tweaked, and the garment also got brought in a few inches.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The final look??  With some boots, a wide white belt, and my sunnies, this former housecoat was ready for a sunny Los Angeles day!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

I must say that I didn't even really notice the awesomeness of the sleeves because of the ric rac!  The polka dot section did a little overlapping on the stripes section, kind of like a petal!

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

Now it's very cold in many parts right now, so this is something that can be paired with tights, sweaters, coats...whatever makes the most sense in your climate!  It's getting chillier here in LA (high 60s, which is only "chilly" for us because we just had a 90 degree day last week, but I know I sounds crazy) so I paired this with a denim jacket as an extra layer for when it gets dark.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

The piece is so fab now!  It went from a super busy housecoat to a cute new dress.

New Dress A Day - DIY - vintage dress - Goodwill

See what getting rid of a little ric rac can do??  This piece was elevated in no time with a few easy adjustments.  And if need be, I happen to get into a housecoat-y kinda mood, guess who can un-belt this piece and chill on their couch watching football or episodes of Nashville?  Yep, me!!  Hip, hip, hooray!!!