Okay, so I've been trying to decide what project to take on this time around, and I found myself getting kind of frustrated about the lack of fabric variety (in price, type, and print) here. I did get spoiled living in Southern California where the swap meet provides tons of
super great deals and where the Fabric District is only an hour away (and I wasn't really sewing back then so I didn't get to use it either, grr!) Basically, I think a California trip is overdue.
So anyway, I didn't feel like I had a knit I was dying to do something with. I had an idea-- I used to refashion clothes all the time. That's kinda what made me love sewing to begin with. So, I went back to those roots and headed to one of my favorite consignment/thrift stores here. I scoured the rack of maxi dresses looking for something I could work with. Most of them had spaghetti straps or a racerback, and I didn't quite know what to do with those. But finally I found a couple that had a cool print and wide-enough straps to work with.
I ended up finding this bad boy-- a size Large sleeveless maxi dress.
I was excited for a fairly easy project that still allowed me to be creative. I LOVE refashioning things. I feel like it's a great place to start with sewing. You don't have to follow all sorts of rules (I've always hated patterns... they still scare me) and you can kinda just play with the piece until it becomes something you like. This was especially great for me because I love thrift shopping and so I would find great fabrics or patterns that I knew I could do something to for next to nothing.
Anyway, the plan was to:
- add sleeves
- shorten to just above the knee
- take in the sides so that it wouldn't be baggy, but loose and breezy
I love the funky pattern. I love the looseness and ease of this dress. I feel like I could wear it running errands and then add a piece or two to go out for a summer date night. It's comfy and cute and I really like how it turned out. Oh, and it only took about 3 hours to do. Easy peezy.
Materials:
Sleeveless Maxi Dress of your choice
Parchment or pattern paper
Time:
2-4 hours
Directions:
Step 1. Try on the dress and mark the desired length you want the dress to be (add 1-2 inches for a hem).
Step 2. Line up side seams of dress and iron if necessary. Try to get the dress to lay as flat and matched-up as possible. Fold in half twice. Lay out on cutting mat and cut off bottom of dress at desired length you previously marked. Set aside this excess fabric for the SLEEVES.
Step 3. Try the dress on again, this time paying attention to how much you want to take in the side seams. Mark with a pin (if wanting to change the entire shape of the dress, you will need to pin the new shape down the whole side... if just wanting to take in, one pin near the armpits will do.)
Step 4: Determine how many inches you are taking in each side. In my case, it was about 1 1/2 inches. Pin the FRONT and BACK of dress together down each side seam. Then measure on sewing machine 1 1/2 inches (or whatever you want your seam allowance to be) from needle and place a piece of black tape there as a seam allowance guide.
Step 5: Sew down side seams at correct seam allowance. Follow the curve of the dress.
**This is the most difficult part-- making a pattern for the sleeves.**
For the dress I was working with, the armholes were slightly different in front and back:
Step 6. So, I had to be really careful and particular when making a pattern for the sleeves. I folded a piece of parchment paper in half and used the fold as the fold coming down from the point of the shoulder and down the arm (does that make sense?) I stuck the parchment paper into the armhole and used the corner of my paper, where the fold started, as the point of the shoulder. Then I played with the angle of my paper until it was the right angle I wanted for the sleeve. I pinned the parchment paper in place (pinning through paper and BOTH layers of the dress)
Step 4: Determine how many inches you are taking in each side. In my case, it was about 1 1/2 inches. Pin the FRONT and BACK of dress together down each side seam. Then measure on sewing machine 1 1/2 inches (or whatever you want your seam allowance to be) from needle and place a piece of black tape there as a seam allowance guide.
Step 5: Sew down side seams at correct seam allowance. Follow the curve of the dress.
**This is the most difficult part-- making a pattern for the sleeves.**
For the dress I was working with, the armholes were slightly different in front and back:
Step 6. So, I had to be really careful and particular when making a pattern for the sleeves. I folded a piece of parchment paper in half and used the fold as the fold coming down from the point of the shoulder and down the arm (does that make sense?) I stuck the parchment paper into the armhole and used the corner of my paper, where the fold started, as the point of the shoulder. Then I played with the angle of my paper until it was the right angle I wanted for the sleeve. I pinned the parchment paper in place (pinning through paper and BOTH layers of the dress)
Step 7. Then, starting with the FRONT side of the dress, trace the armhole of the dress (where sleeve attaches) and draw out what you want the bottom of the sleeve to be.
Step 8. Flip the dress over and repeat step 4 with the BACK side of the dress (Remember, the shape of the arm hole on my dress was noticeably different from front to back).
Step 9. Cut out the sleeve piece (keeping the fold, making sure the the length of the sleeve matches in front and back).
Step 10. Unfold the sleeve pattern piece and pin it to excess fabric cut off from the bottom. Cut out one sleeve.
Step 11. Flip your pattern piece over, pin to excess fabric. Cut out second sleeve (I had to do this because I was working with a one-sided print fabric)
**Since the sleeve pieces will look a little oddly shaped (if armhole front and back looked different), make sure you keep track of which side of the sleeve piece is for the FRONT and which side goes in BACK.**
Step 12. Pin sleeve pattern pieces to armholes. The easiest way for me to do this is to match the middle of the sleeve piece (where the crease from the fold is) to the point of the shoulder (shoulder seam). With right sides together, pin the middle first, then pin around FRONT and BACK to the armpit seam.
Step 13. At the armpit, your sleeve pieces should jut downward (to create a true sleeve). Pin these to each other, but NOT to the dress. Sew up just to the armpit.
Step 14. Sew along the edge of the dress's armhole, attaching the sleeve.
Step 15. Unfold the sleeve.
**YAY! Hardest part, done!**
Step 16. Hem the bottom of the dress. Hem sleeves.
And you're done! Try it on and see what you think. If you need to tweak it, go ahead. In my case, since the original straps were kind of skinny, the shoulders looked a little funny. The sleeve wasn't shaping right for the point of my shoulder. I ended up having to take in the shoulder seam with a dart and extend that into the sleeve to kind of create an actual seam that went to the point of my shoulder. This helped to create the right shape and trick the dress into looking like the sleeve was starting where it should.
Anyway, it was a simple, fun refashion and I'm excited to wear this one. :)
Step 14. Sew along the edge of the dress's armhole, attaching the sleeve.
Step 15. Unfold the sleeve.
**YAY! Hardest part, done!**
Step 16. Hem the bottom of the dress. Hem sleeves.
And you're done! Try it on and see what you think. If you need to tweak it, go ahead. In my case, since the original straps were kind of skinny, the shoulders looked a little funny. The sleeve wasn't shaping right for the point of my shoulder. I ended up having to take in the shoulder seam with a dart and extend that into the sleeve to kind of create an actual seam that went to the point of my shoulder. This helped to create the right shape and trick the dress into looking like the sleeve was starting where it should.
Anyway, it was a simple, fun refashion and I'm excited to wear this one. :)
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