The first thing to make me go “Yech!” about this dress was those huuuuuge shoulder pads! I mean really…try to wrap your mind around their enormity.


I quickly snipped off the offending pads.


The pads were the worst thing about this dress. It was only after I removed them that I was able to see its potential. The positives that originally drew me to this dress enough to invest a dollar for its acquisition were now more obvious than ever. I loved the print, the pockets, and the cut of the dress. There was, of course, still work to be done.
I didn’t like the length of the sleeves, and the skirt needed a bit of shortening (but only a bit!).

I pinned all those raw edges to get them ready for my machine.


I loaded my machine with black thread and put my prepped hems under the needle.

Now that I had my new hems…well…hemmed, I had to do something about that collar. I wasn’t digging it. It just didn’t work with the rest of the dress, especially with the new direction I was taking it in. I carefully seam ripped it off.


After the collar was fiiiiinally off, I pinned the edges that I had just opened to remove it together and sewed them back up.

I put the dress on, removed the first two buttons, and folded each side in to make a V-neck. I safety pinned them where I liked them, and ran each side through my machine.
I still wasn’t done. I hadn’t made a sash for a dress in a while, and this dress could use one to cinch the waist just a tad. I grabbed the scrap I cut off the bottom of the dress, folded the raw edge under twice, matching the folded under part with the pre-existing hem.

I quickly finished my prepped hem with my machine.

And that’s it! I was done and ready to dash out the door for my lovely friend, David’s birthday dinner at Mr. Friendly’s (one of my faves!).



I love this dress soooo much! Extremely cute.
nice site. i think i would have gone a bit further with the kimono affect of the raglan sleeves. maybe a faux wrap neckline down to the sash. it looks very cute on you.
That would be cool. I still might do it. 🙂 This one surprised me with how kimono-y it ended up looking. Thanks!