Charity’s NDAD Creation

Jan 26, 2013 | 25 Comments

Say hello to Miss Charity!  She sent in this fun pink piece and the color is making me happy while it’s raining outside.  It seems to be perfectly sunny right here on the interwebs because of her project!

A while back a friend passed along this plain sleeveless dress to me – I liked the fabric, but when I put the dress on, I felt like a complete frump!!  Being inspired by reading through your entire archive, I decided to alter it.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Upcycling - Vintage Dress

Charity – Before

That’s right, girl!!  Time to alter!

First, I chopped the dress to a reasonable length and then hemmed it. I cut the neck into a V shape, took the dress in (dramatically), and then finished off with a cinch-and-pinch.  I used the ties that I pulled from the sides of the dress.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Upcycling - Vintage Dress

Charity – After #1

I wore it like this for a while, but it still wasn’t exactly what I wanted, so I tried again.  This time I cut sleeves from the remainder of the dress, sewed them in place, removed the shoulder ties, and then lettuce-edged the hem and sleeves with a contrasting thread.

New Dress A Day - DIY - Upcycling - Vintage Dress

Charity – After #2

I also added a faux white layer under the neck, since I got tired of actually layering it. This time, I love it! 

In fact, I’m wearing it right now! I wrote about this shirt as my first blog post, HERE.   Thanks for the inspiration, Marisa!

When something doesn’t work one way, just keep at it until you get it to just the right place – I love that Charity kept going until she got something she loved!  Kudos, girl!  (…and congrats on the little bebe on the way!)

In all · Reader Creations
  • Sue

    Wow, loving it. Good job.

    One of these days I’m going to get brave enough to try a redo of my own. :)

    • Sue

      Oh and how do you “lettuce edge” something?

      • Charity

        Thank you! To do the lettuce edging, I use a really close zig-zag stitch right on the edge of any stretchy fabric, and pull in front of and behind the presser foot equally to stretch the fabric while I sew it. The tight zig-zag keeps the fabric from unstretching, so it makes a bunch of little curliques along the edge instead. =) It takes a while to do, but it is one of my favorite ways to hem a knit.

  • Diana

    I really love the second piece. Great job!

    • Charity

      Thank you! I love it too

  • James

    Second piece is definitely the winner. You are a gifted seamstress!

  • Leanne

    Great job Charity! So creative, and I love the second look a lot! And congratulations!

  • sash

    love the second one.

  • Lauraly

    Second piece wins! Great re-do of the re-do!

  • Ginia Magers

    I am so impressed! I really like the second look and your super long, pretty braid! I am just trying to grow my hair long enough to braid!

    • Charity

      Thank you! That braid is my longest project yet… 22 years and never cut, although honestly most of the length is from the past 3 years. =)

  • Jennifer

    I agree with the crowd – I love the second makeover much more than the first. That tunic doesn’t even look like it was made from an old garment. Well done!

  • Carole in Vermont

    Wow— really, really impressive. Thank you for sharing this! Those hems are really cool, & I’m glad you explained how you did it.

  • Diane

    I love the second piece – wonderful re-make! Thanks for the inspiration to keep going even when things don’t always turn out the way you envisioned.

  • Sarah_H.

    Yes! Very nice top. Good sewing there. Did you copy sleeves from a pattern you had?

    • Charity

      Thank you! No, I put the top down flat and traced the armhole, then drew the sleeve seams at the angle that looked similar to some shirts I own, and cut that drawing out on a fold of fabric. It worked well for this knit fabric, but it probably wouldn’t work well on wovens. =)

  • Linda

    I love the shirt best too, and love that you explained how to do the lettuce edging, which I have seen before, but never even thought about how it could be done before. Can’t wait to try that sometime. Very pretty!!!

  • Charity

    Thank you all for the lovely comments! It’s really nice to hear that you all like my redo =) And thank you Marisa for the feature! =)

  • me

    love the second one, only thing is, it looks like right from the beginning that it had a stain/ grease spot, and i can see it in both the original pic and the second redo. i would suggest dawn dishsoap to get it out :)

    • Charity

      Lol, I don’t see any spots… now I feel blind! I’ll look at the shirt again and see if I can find any to try Dawn on. =)

  • http://www.facebook.com/marie.roxanne.3 Marie Roxanne

    I like the lettuce-edged hem! I am going to try to find a tutorial for that! And adding sleeves instead of taking them off… now that’s a new concept. What a good looking shirt!

  • http://www.facebook.com/tollyfaye Tolly Bockbrader

    very awesome!!

  • missy

    now THIS is real sewing. awesome job!

  • Judy B

    Wow, this is really impressive–ADDING sleeves and the lettuce edging–I love it!

  • http://www.facebook.com/kate.martin.90226 Kate Martin

    This looks great! Nice work — I love the lettuce-edged hem.