Tuesday Remake: Linda’s NDAD Donation

I received this dress in a little package from Linda, and the letter that came along with it was priceless!

BEFORE

Dear Marisa – When I saw this dress at the local thrift store,  thought of:

1. Dana Carvey

2. Marisa

3. The phrase,”isn’t that SPECIAL”

4. Polyester double-knit

Who better to transform this ugly duckling into the swan it wants to be?  So, go get em’ girl, just PLEASE don’t rock the ugly church lady shoes!!

Yeah…no

The note made me giggle because it DID feel super Church Lady because of the THICK polyester material.

Dana Carvey at his finest.

I also felt super proud because Linda thought of me when she saw this atrosh piece (let’s all say “aww” in unison), so I knew I had to do her right.

First the piece had to be seriously taken in.  Since I’m actually keeping it a dress, the fit was key.  I ended up taking in each side of the dress about 2 1/2 inches and the sleeves were given some TLC too (about 1 1/2 inches).

Serious taking in

I tried the dress on and pinned it in place before I got my sewing machine out and took it all in, permanently.

Sew in place!

Post-sew, I cut the excess material from my new seam…

Edge trimming!

…and then went shorter!

Going short!

I decided that I’d add a little bit of neck flair and took some lace remnants and did a little coloring on top with a Tulip fabric marker.  Because of the black/grey pattern, I thought this charcoal shaded lace would look mostly lovely at the neck, next to the black piping.

Addition of the flair!

I hand stitched this lace piece down in place and had a dress that was totally ready to be worn in public!!

AFTER

It was chilly and windy in LA, so I wore layers with the dress, but just had to brave one shot without my coats!  (Yes, coat(s)!)

I got to hang and catch up with one of my favorite people and we did that over blood orange sorbet.  Usually when it’s cold out I avoid eating things that are frozen, however this sorbet was too good to pass up.  I also liked that there was a whole matching thing going on – my dessert and the huge orange at the rim, my hair, my coat, the candle on the table…

Red party!!

I ended up layering the dress with a gold, waffle-y Trina Turk jacket, then with a 3/4 length overcoat by Tulle on top of that.  It really would have been awesome if I chose a jacket that actually covered my forearms, on the cold front, however I was quite pleased with how my outfit looked.  A pair of grey stretchy gloves á la Target and my Betsey Johnson tights assisted with that chill factor, for sure.

3/4 jacket sleeves was not the smartest idea…

PS, it’s pretty rad when people think of you in certain instances, ie. “I totally thought of you when…I saw Jessica Chastain’s hairdo on the Golden Globes/I was listening to Justin Timberlake’s new single on the radio/I ran into this really sassily dressed toddler at Trader Joe’s (all true), so to be associated with not-so-cute dresses while out shopping, Linda, I am HIGHLY humbled and overjoyed