Hi you guys!! Today's piece is SO good. The dress looked like it was straight out of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

I went straight into musical theater mode and gave my best "I'm getting the vapors" look.

But, look at those SLEEVES!

That collar too...

This piece needed some serious help to turn it into something that you don't need to be on a stage to wear!

Before we start, I saw this lovely little tag inside the piece - love when there are little hints of who wore this before me!

If I only had time to tag my clothes too...

I started off with the sleeves! Took them a bit shorter and got rid of the tightly cuffed wrist area.

Next came that skirt!

That major ruffle at the bottom was definitely coming off.

Once the length and arms were shortened, I prepped all of the raw edges before sewing new seams and a new hem.

We're almost there! The collar came next. I just wasn't into the lace trimmed edging...

...so with a seam ripper, I took off both sides of the collar. One side down...

...and now they're completely off!

I pinned the collar back together and stitched a basic seam around the edges to keep it in place before I began to craft a new neckline.

I trimmed a straight line down the center of the piece, using the edge of the square pattern as a guide, then pinned under my trimmed area to form a V, before sewing everything in place.

Ready for the reveal???

From dowdy to fun summer dress!

I paired this with some tan booties, my FAVE safari purse (as I like to call it) that my mom found at Goodwill in Charlotte, a vintage belt that came from my dad's high school collection, and a pair of aviators!

A big patterned piece made super wearable by pairing it with more neutral shades. It was just the thing for a little summer dinner party complete with brownies.