shopping in my closet, part 2 (in which I convert a long denim dress into something I'd like to wear)

The finished product.

The original dress.

This is a dress that was a hand-me-down from my sister Libby. All my sisters live for the times that Libby cleans out her closet. There's always great stuff to be had, and a lot of it. I scored this one several years ago, and it needed an update.

The facing pinned on. I made the facing from the leftover material.

First thing to go was the long length. I cut it off at the knee length I wanted, then made a facing to hem it with from the material that was cut off. I could have allowed length for a turned hem and done it that way, but I prefer doing the facing to avoid having to gather the extra hem width on an A-line.

A facing is basically the same shape as the bottom of the dress, about 2 inches or so deep. It is sewn on with right sides facing and then flipped under and blind hemmed. After I did that, I also ran two lines of stitching around the hem to mimic the original look.

The new hem (bottom two) compared with the old one (top). The new one doesn't have the same weathered, crinkled character, but maybe it will after washing, drying and a really hot iron.

Next thing to go was the long sleeves. After trying it on and marking it, I cut them off shorter than I wanted because I planned to use the old skirt hem as a new cuff.


The sleeves were more roomy than I wanted, so I took some tucks in them before adding the new cuffs.


Here's the finished sleeve. The old skirt hem is now the new cuff, with a button stolen from the old cuff.

Maybe you have unwearable things lurking around that just need some love, a trim and a few stitches? It's a good feeling to remake something that is just taking up space in your closet into something you'll enjoy for a few seasons. As a matter of fact, I've already worn it. Now on to the next piece on the pile...

P.S. I cannot tell you how excited I am as I await the (hopefully imminent) arrival of my new serger! Yay! I've been dreaming of getting one for a while. Can't wait to get my greedy little fingers on that thing and rev it up.