Black & White & Oh-So-Right

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!).