I was really excited about this $1 score. Don’t I look thrilled?
Teal is my absolute FAVORITE color! I also really liked those fabulous big brass buttons on the front!
Unfortunately, this frock was too big for me as-is, and I would have to do some pretty dramatic reshaping.
I’ve got this. 🙂
The sides had to be taken in a good bit, but I also had to be thoughtful about what shape I wanted my new dress to take.
I opted for a 60’s-ish mod styling instead of the more streamlined/fitted look I had also been contemplating.
I pinned my dress on my form, like I do. 🙂
Each side got stitched down…
Then, each side got serged!
Almost done!
I just needed to raise that hem and take those sleeves up a lil bit!
Look at my new dress now!
I LOVE how the shape of this turned out…fitted, flared, and fun! 🙂 It was exactly what I needed for a brunch outing at The Kraken with pals!
Erin thought it was pretty cute too!
Cheers!
Stunning retro dress. The buttons are fabulous. That’s how I dressed in high school and college, and I still love the look. You look like a tiny brunette Twiggy.
This turned out fabulously. I think the mod silhouette was a perfect choice with those buttons.
I Absolutely love your style and way of refashioning! Oh to look as marvelous as you do in them lol do you have any suggestions or suggested sites for women (or men) who are not of the small frame? I love all your frocks and dresses but the bottom of my pear shape is large and far from a 4….or an 8 & 10! Lol thanks and keep sewing!
Wow!!! I Love this dress! One of my favorites!
Yep – you NAILED this one – when you said MOD I thought heck yeah, that’s the perfect thing for this numbah! Nicely done Jillian – and those boots are almost too freaking perfect!
This is so, so great and one of my favourites! Teal is fab on you – and the boots totally round it all out.
great job on this one!!!
Boo-yah!
This entire look is so cute!! The flared dress…matching booties…eecks!! One of your best yet!
you are my new refashion hero! subscribing now!
I want to start to refashion but I would have to say… I went to the near Red, White and Blue resale shop and all their dresses were somewhat pricey. Any Ideas on what would be a good place to go to or may be there are some days better than others. I went on the weekend and they had a 50% off sale but the dresses were about $20??
By the way I just started following your blog and I love it. I went back and saw all your previous posts so creative. 🙂
this one def tops my faves. i am glad you went with that cut. the outfit is bitchin. good job all around.
I love how this dress turned out!
Question and I really hope I’ll get an answer to this: when you take in a dress, I don’t see that you do anything for taking in the sleeves, how do you manage with the extra fabric under the arm, do you cut it or adjust it in a way, please let me know if you can.
Thansk.
Bonjour du sud de la France. Tout ce que vous faites est beau et original. J’admire votre savoir faire. Cordialement. Cathy
I would love to have a closer look on those wonderful boots!
the dress is amazing, I think that these days your inspiration is better than ever, congrats!
Love the colour on this. I think a pair of French darts would really finish it off nicely.
So very Twiggy-esque! What a great job and you wear it well!
OMG, That is adorable. We don’t have any Thrift shops in Albuquerque that sell stuff for $1.00 though!
Same here. I don’t see many dresses for under $5 (US) and many of them are selling for $10 or more at some Op-shops that are not even specialised fancy ones. It just means that I can not go over board and have to choose carefully but still much cheaper than buying new. One Op-shop recently had a $1 sale and I was actually disapointed that everything I tried fitted me well and I didn’t have to change anything!
You nailed it girl with the 60’s look! Great job.
Ok, 700 posts? Does that mean you have 700 clothing items? Where in the world do you put them all?
A couple of years ago, she was doing a new refashion every day and donating the finished pieces to a women’s shelter fundraising shop after wearing them once. I don’t know if she’s still doing that. Also she’s done a few refasions for friends and I think the reader refasions count towards the 700+ posts as well, but that’s still a lot of outfits!
Oh, and a couple of posts weren’t clothing, like making catnip mice and sunglasses cases out of shoulder pads saved from previous refashions.
I love what you’ve done with this dress. I don’t like gold metal so I’d probably change the buttons.
The dress looks fabulous. I can’t get enough of the color teal either. Besides red and turquoise it is one of my favorites. Be well!
You go girl!! You look like you’re dressed for the 60’s!
I should know cause I was there!!!
I love this dress, but the shoes make the outfit!
Soo prety, I really like this one, and it seems so easy to do. I do have a question though.. Do you separate the sleeves and re-attach them? Or you simple sew under them together with the body of the dress?
Thank you, you are my inspiration!!
Thanks! I don’t reattach the sleeves, I just sew a rounded seam all the way around the arm pit. Works just fine! 🙂
Love everything about your new outfit! and the 700 posts too! congrats and keep sewing on!
WOW! This update is AMAZING!
Fantastic remake! I love the color and the new shape, oh! and those boots! Great job… as always.
I love this dress! Fabulous, just fabulous 🙂
I love this refashion. When I scrolled down and saw the boots I was just like WoW! I love that outfit. The buttons are great too
Super cute!!
I love that you have matching boots! 60’s mod is always fun
How do you get rid of the huge sleeves without removing them? You just sew up the side and include the sleeves, too. Final results are all good!
A-line shifts were such a big hit in my younger days! This is one of my favorites…the color, the buttons, the shape. What is there not to like! Great job and of course you are adorable wearing it.
Jillian, the dress is fabulous! Looks like you could have made a bedspread from the fabric, there was so much of it!!
Great job, you have such a visionary gift! Your boots and style really takes these outfits to the top.
Love reading your blog and admire your talent.
Been following you for a while and I have to say this is my favorite so far. Love, Love, Love teal! Beautiful work.
that dress is so 60s and so very cute on you. Another success, Jill.
My absolute favorite! A real show stopper!
and you make it look so easy to do !
I love this !
Dress is awesome, but I love those boots too. They are a perfect color match!
Don’t fret. I think you do wonderful changes to items. Keep it up, I always look forward to your outfits. Kimber
I was a little concerned about your hair in the pic of you holding your orange drink . . . on closer inspection I realised it belonged to the lady behind you! lol!
Fantastic dress by the way x
OMG I had to go back up and look… too funny!
Teal/tourquiose is a universal color that everyone looks good in. I love the refashion, did you take the sleeve out and set it back in?
Fabulous!!! Would love to know what type of fabric this was?
Damn girl! It looks fantastic!! That’s my favorite dress style… so so so cute! My goal for 2015 is to learn to sew!! I’m a thrifter (99% of my wardrobe is thrifted) so see things all the time that I LOVE but are too big. Imagine what I could do with mad seamstress skills. Ah-mazing!
Same here but learning to sew was my 2014 goal. You must do it, you will love it! I had things sitting in my spare wardrobe for years that I did not wear due to one or two little things that were not quite right and being able to adjust and wear them is AMAZING!
Love it! I like how you kind of stuck with the original shape of the dress but made it more modern, fitted, and you. Great color too!
The boots really make the outfit! The buttons are perfect for the style you created. Love it!
Looks awesome on you! Bravo!
Teal is my favorite too. You did a super job on this and I know you will feel as beauiful as you look whenever you wear it.
I love, love, love this one!!!!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Amazing!!! And the teal boots…KILLER!!!
So Cute!!!!!!!. Id love to see you use the scraps as a bag or tiered skirt. Great job.
I have been wondering too what has happened to some of the offcuts. Your fabric stash must be amazing Jillian! I’d love to see all the dresses you have stored too and how they are stored. My sewing room is such a mess. Do you ever merge two items of clothing or make something totally new from the off cuts?
You such an inspiration to me. I want to learn to sew. & you seem fearless. Any tips for a newbie????
Thank you!
And yep.
One word.
Play.
that’s awesome, and the boots to match!! wow………
That looks absolutely fabulous on you!!! Great job!!! I also love how your boots match perfectly. Bonus!!! 🙂
Teal looks great on you. It looks like pooh on me, but fab on you. Way to rock it.
I absolutely LOVE this refashion! Teal is one of my favorites too.
So 1960 you really nailed it
Good job
Teal is one of my favorite clors too.
Very cute with those boots. Teal is my favorite color too.
Love the dress, love the shoes and live the hair!
Your shoes are perfect!
Wow! That’s a cool dress! Congratulations on 700 refashions!
As a former 60″s chick, I applaud your new creation with tremendous enthusiasm. If you are running out of ideas, mine the vintage styles. I love this dress!!!!!
Adorbs! My fave colour too. Love the way this one ended up.
My favorite yet!
Love it!
Pretty darn cute!
Lovin’ those killer teal boots. They go perfectly with your dress! Tres chic!
The boots are wonderful!!! Are they new or vintage?
That is so fun! Love the flared look.
Love this one! How do you take in under the arms when you are refitting something this large? Do you just sew up a new seam instead of taking the sleeves off?
The proper way to do it is to remove the sleeves and resize the shoulders….blahblahblahblahblah. But I don’t have the patience/time for that. 🙂 And I don’t feel like the time spent doing it that way is worth it. I just sew a curved seam under the arm pit. Works just fine as far as I’m concerned, and it takes very little time. 🙂
LOOOOVE this one so much!!! And teal is absolutely your color!