I love finding a fantastic dress with it’s own unique details. I was given this white and tan striped linen dress that was much too big for me. I learned this technique in a tailor shop, and it’s a technique that I use over and over again. Here’s a quick overview of how I fixed it.
If you had a dress that doesn’t fit well you can also just add back darts!
I love the fun stripes and the linen texture. It’s the perfect summer dress. If you are sewing stripes this is how to match stripes.
1. Cut off sleeves. Mark sides. I wanted to keep the skirt flared so I only pinned under the arms and at the waist. Mark where you want the sleeve seam.
2. Sew in sides and trim.
3. Finish edges and iron seam open.
4. Cut two armhole. I cut on the black dots.
5. Check width of sleeve to the new armhole. I had to take in my sleeves about half the amount as my sides. Trim and finish edges. Iron open.
6. Reattach sleeves. Finish edges.
That’s it! You now have a new dress!
dana says
July 13, 2012 at 3:56 amSo did you sew up the side seams all the way to the shoulder? And then completely cut out new armholes??
I really like your blog – you give so many great sewing techniques! Thank you!
Heather Feather says
July 13, 2012 at 6:31 pmI sewed up the side seams until I hit the armhole. Because of the shape of the armhole, this raises the bottom of the armhole so I cut mine down. Does that make sense?
Keit says
June 23, 2012 at 5:33 pmIndeed, a lovely summer dress. And with the cute, white belt is even more lovely!
concretenprimroses says
June 12, 2012 at 12:29 amGood tutorial. Thanks!
Kathy
Kasey Campos says
June 9, 2012 at 6:09 pmThis is great, I think I must put my baby in my after photos too! I like it 🙂 SO cute!
Found you from the co-op…your new follower. I can't wait to see what is next!
Jenny says
May 25, 2012 at 6:02 pmawesome! I'm going to save this tutorial for later. I love thrift store shopping and sometimes see fabric I love in dresses I don't.
Nelson Scoville says
May 25, 2012 at 4:38 pmGood job!
Kristie says
May 25, 2012 at 3:40 pmWay cute. Wish I was brave to just chop into stuff.
Also, was that tailors chalk in the picture? Where might one pick up stuff like that?
Amy says
May 25, 2012 at 2:51 pmVERY cute. I'd like one like this for church!
katherine says
May 25, 2012 at 2:30 pmthat is an awesome dress! love the details.