I absolutely loved this piece when I opened up the package sent by Stacey. I loved the beaded applique but had not a clue what I was going to do with it to make it work. "Marisa - this dress comes to you via my grandmother who had this in her collection of 'pieces worn to family weddings' part of her closet. Not sure who's wedding this was worn to, but it was worn somewhere. Since it's taking up space in her closet and she was sorting through things to get rid of, I asked if I could send it your way and she said that she hopes you make something wonderful out of it! Have fun!! Lots of love, Stacey & Nana"
I'm feeling pressured to make something that stands up to Nana's liking so fingers crossed it works out :)
Let's work!!
I decided to make this a top, so I began with removing the sleeves from this dress.
I grabbed seam rippers and took each sleeve off completely.
I tackled the drapey parts next. There was drapey fabric connected to the front and the back of the piece and I first removed the seams on the sides of the dress that kept them together.
Once the seam was removed, the front and back drapey pieces were now separate. I began to trim off the area on the shoulders that kept the back piece attached because I'm taking this completely off.
With the back drapey material removed, I went to the length next and trimmed half of it off. Wanting to make this a top/shell, I trimmed the piece about two inches south of my waist, saving a bit of space to be hemmed.
After I trimmed the length, I pinned down the raw edges at the bottom of the piece as well as around the arms and stitched them in place.
Now the front of the piece still had the drapey fabric hanging on each side, so after I put on my new piece, I took each end and tied them together in the back, making a knot.
A shot from behind...
Such an easy way to make a dress like this work - you don't have to get rid of all that extra fabric, just reposition it!
I caught up with my gal SZ over a spread of a chopped salad and the house red...lovely way to end the holiday weekend!
Hope everyone had a lovely weekend!!
Stacey and Nana - thank you both oh, so much for sharing this piece with me. I felt special and chic getting to wear this in my own way. xo
