A thrifty gifty!

(Katamari moment.)

Today Stephen and I stopped by Fan-tastic Thrift. Here's what I found!

I'm fairly certain this dress was destined for me. First because it's a polka dot dress, and all polka dot dresses are destined for me. Second because it fits like a glove. Didn't have to alter it at all. 

And then there's this dress. I was drawn to the light, airy fabric and the color, which is kind of hard to capture (it's more of a pistachio than the pictures make it look). I also liked the ruffle on the front. It had good bones! ...But that's about it. So I took it from this...

To this!

The first order of business was to hem it. Only I discovered when I looked closely that there was a stain right under the butt on the back. Some old lady probably sat in something, then was all sad about ruining her church dress. Or so I imagine. So anyway, I decided to cut just below the stain and hide it in the seam allowance of the ruffle I added using the very bottom of the original dress.

Next I had to decide what to do with the sleeves. First I cut them shorter, to see if I liked them better that way. No dice; still too matronly. So I spent some quality time with my seam-ripper and took those puppies off completely (Shoulder pads and all). Then I just needed to re-hem the sleeve edges....

And that's where I ran into trouble. After taking off the sleeves, I tried it on and discovered that the arm holes were too large and showed my bra under my arms. So I had to take about an inch and a half out of the shoulder seam....which was a HUGE PAIN because of the way the ruffle is sewn in. But I did it anyway. 

So then I had a much more fitted top on a dress that is about 10,000% less old lady-ish! Yay!