Holy beau-tee-ful mou mou-ness! I found this long prairie style gown at a local thrift store, and fell in love with the cotton fabric, the little late 70's flower pattern, and the layer of see-through material on top - not to mention the frill on the bodice with pink buttons!Only thing is, no one really sports big long mou mou's anymore so I thought it would be great to take the focal point of the dress (the frilly chest area) and turn the rest of the gown into a smaller summer dress.
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STEP 1 : I measured the dress for the length I wanted it, more of a mini dress. I measured from the top of my shoulder to where I wanted the dress to hit on my thigh - leaving a small amount of room for the hem line.
STEP 2: I used scissors to cut off the extra material (which is enough to make a whole 'nother skirt or dress!
Step 3 : I then turned the dress inside out so that I could make the other measurements, for my waist, chest, hip - then marked it with straight pins so that a new seam could be sewn.NOTE: I had originally wanted to keep the sleeves on but because I had to take in many inches of fabric, I ended up removing the awesome see-through sleeves. In the end I liked this better anyway (not to mention i had no idea how to put them back on!)
STEP 4 : Sewing time! This is where I used all my measurements and straight pins to make all the new seams - the new seams will be along the right and left side (where the original seams are), and then to hem the bottom.The new seams will depend on whether or not the dress fit you to begin with - if it already fits your size, all you'd have to do is hem it into a mini dress for summer fun!
YAY!!! This is the finished upcycled summer dress..... sooooooo not a mou mou no mo' ! In fact, this shit is so cute it's almost punk rock. I left frayed edges where the sleeves used to be for a more punky look.
Check out all the angles... (the frill makes it awesome from the side!)
Time for a party. :)
Xoxoxo
