Thursday, June 24, 2010

Sweet Summer Dress

Do you ever check out the Make It and Love It blog? I love that blog! I wish I was as talented with my sewing machine as Ashley is. But I enjoy looking at her projects & imagining that one day I will be able to do some myself. Anyway, I remember seeing her post Altering a Knit Summer Dress a while back. When at Target a couple of weeks ago I came across this same knit dress except they are on clearance now for only $15! So I grabbed a bright pink one for myself & decided I was going to attempt to shorten it for summer.
Here it is before:
And here it is after:
So I know it's hard to tell that it's shorter from the original, but trust me, I took over 9 inches off! I basically followed Ashley's directions from her blog post & it was pretty easy! I just wasn't ready to tackle the ruffle along the bottom or the fabric flowers, so I just covered up my seam with some black polka dot grosgrain ribbon. Super cute & easy! And, it does match my new black & white polka dot tankini! I have to say that I am proud of myself for not totally screwing this one up! It already passed my washing machine test & I think it will be wearable for the summer, great for at the beach or the pool too.

Here's a close-up of the bottom so you can see the ribbon:
As with every project, I always learn something! With this one I learned that knit is difficult to sew! Luckily I was adding the ribbon to cover up any little blemishes! Also, I tried clear thread for the first time & it's a little tricky to work with (Hello...it's clear!) but the results are great!
At least I feel like the more I practice with my sewing machine, the better at it I get! It's just a slow process! ;)

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