You got the teaser of this fabulous blue party dress last week...
...and today it's time to see the upcycled results!
I started off by removing the pouffy sleeves.
Just to get an idea, this is the purplish discoloration underneath that was found under both sleeves. Cute, eh?
Once I got rid of both of the sleeves...
...the top portion of the dress looked just like this:
Because the trim is a bit much at the neck, I started to remove it with a seam ripper, right at the bust.
With the trim removed from the front of the dress, I was left with this train o'trim!!
To hide the leftover portion of the discoloration at the arms, I stitched down the layers of trim right under the armpits.
Now I'm still going to work with this frilly trim, but turning this dress into a halter and using these guys as the straps! I cut the center in half and moved on to tweaking the length next.
I want to make this fun and flirty, so a big portion of the length of the dress got cut off.
I pinned under the raw edges of the dress...
...and stitched down a new hem.
I ironed down the straps...
...then pinched and cinched the bust line, adding a safety pin to the center of the dress for a bit of ruching. My new party dress was complete!!
I love that this dress still has the party vibe essence! It still has a vintage-y feel, but it doesn't scream 80s anymore!
Those ruffles are hidden now!!
Except for a few hints of the ruffles in the back. I liked keeping the back of the dress' ruffles as they were, but it's always an easy tweak to stitch them down to match the area at the arms if I change my mind.
I think this makes a perfect wedding guest dress or one that's ready for a summer cocktail party.
Paired with a vintage shell purse and a pair of yellow BCBG shoes with bows, the accessories had just the bit of bold color flair to make the dress pop even more!!
After a long day of sewing, it's time to kick up my heels!!
Next time I have to remember not to lean all the way back when I'm sitting on a ledge right in front of succulents. Yep, there's now a band-aid on my back covering the little puncture wound. Oh the pains of fashion...
