Modest makeover: 50¢ shirred maxi dress!

I seldom get up early enough to go yard saling, but a few weeks ago, our church and our school were holding yard sales just a couple blocks apart, so our family made an effort to hit them both. One of the things we picked up was a cute shirred-top dress. The back tag was ripped out, but I suspect it's not really supposed to be a little girl's maxi dress (probably a medium girl's knee-length dress?).

It was a little big for my daughter (and I wouldn't let her wear a strapless dress to church)(especially not one that would fall down!), so I wanted to add sleeves to help it fit her better.

Matching the fabric wasn't an issue: the tiered skirt also had another layer of the same fabric underneath.

I had my daughter try on the dress, and I measured from the side seam to what seemed like a good point in the front to get the width, about 4 inches. I made sure that width would cover her shoulders, too. Using a rotary cutter, I cut 4 inches off the bottom part of the underlayer of the skirt. The fabric is a gauzy-type cotton weave, so I did a fake overlock stitch (a zigzag stitch along the edge) to minimize fraying.

I took my extra fabric and cut it in four pieces. Then I failed to pin right sides together and totally messed up sewing those pieces together. (Hooray! Wayward! As if breaking yet another needle wasn't wayward enough!) I wanted to make a double-wide fabric so I could gather it to help match the dress, and I would use the presewn rolled hems instead of having to sew my own. But I wasn't careful about which way the hems were facing, and three of them ended up facing out. (Seriously?!)

I gathered the ends of the sleeves and sewed them along the top edge of the front, then had another fitting with my daughter to get them the right length before sewing them in the back. (I mean, I wish I'd done it that way. I really kept it all pinned during the fitting and it was a big hassle.)

My daughter is happy with the result (but she wasn't happy I interrupted her during her favorite show to take pictures!). When I wash it, the gathers will take on the same wrinkly appearance as the rest of the dress. I love that they totally look like they belong, and it was WAY easier than cutting out a real sleeve pattern and all that entails.

Best of all, total bill for the project: $0.50!


What are your weekend thrifting finds?

The 30-minute, $5 Shrug shrug

(Yes, shrug shrug.)

Next month, I'll have the honor of presenting one of the 2011 Whitney Awards. I have a dress I really like, but it's sleeveless and a little too low in the back (we don't do sleeveless!). In the past, I've worn a beautiful pashmina-style scarf, but it's just a little too big for this event, and I really love the top and waist detail of the dress, which tend to get lost with a big coverup.

So I decided to sew a shrug. I looked for the easiest pattern I could find, and I came across Modest Prom's 30-minute, $5 shrug pattern. It's very easy (easier than it sounds from the description, or at least to me!) to sew, and it really did come together in 30 minutes or less. (Since I used a medium weight fashion knit, I didn't bother with hemming the edge.)

To make the shrug, you get 1/2 yard of 45" fabric, and sew the short ends together, right sides in (of course). Then you move that seam to the middle of the fabric "tube" and sew one long side together, starting and stopping 6" from either end. For added style, fold that last seam open and run a straight perpendicular line of gathering stitches in the middle of the last seam.

See? Sounds complicated, but it's really easy--I only had to sew 4 straight lines to make this! (There are also drawings on the pattern page that might help you.)

So why do I call it the "shrug shrug"? Because I can't really decide if I want to wear it. The sleeves are a little looser than I'd like, and the back covers up the waist detail I love so much. And I like the fabric--but I'm not sure I like it with this dress.

What to do?

What's your favorite way to stay modest?

Modest is Hottest

In our faith we have high standards for our lives. The For the Strength of the Youth pamphlet describes our standards which we live by. It is completely your choice of what standards you want to live by. These are standards set by the church which are strongly encouraged to live by. Something that is very important to me is modesty. I have high standards for myself which includes what I wear. Modest clothes are clothes that are not revealing. Some of the basic guidelines the church has outlined on modest attire include shirts with sleeves, no low cut in front or back, no bare midriff should show, and shorts/skirts should be worn to the knee. Bathing suits should also not be very revealing and should cover the stomach. Some say the church is too strict and should "lighten up." I disagree completely. It may be hard to find modest clothing but it's worth it. Dressing modestly has helped me and my self worth. Besides, since when did it hurt to cover up a little? :)

Now on to my craft! Taking a borderline too short dress and making it modest!
I needed a new dress for Easter (and because I love new clothes.) The mommers and I went shopping and found a cute dress and JC Penney. I tried it on and it was just a tad too short. Since it's so hard to find a dress with decent sleeves, we decided we could pull a Tim Gunn and make it work. With a few inches of fabric and some thread, you can turn a borderline dress into something modest!

What you'll need:
A dress that needs some adding to
Thread (1 spool of the background color, and one bobbin)
Pins (to pin the extra fabric onto the dress so it doesn't stretch or move while sewing)
A yard of fabric that is 5+ inches wide (depending on how long you need your addition to be you can have more or less than 5 inches. 5 inches is just a guess made to make sure there was the right length after sewing.)
Sewing machine (or you can do it yourself as well!)

Sew the extra material onto the hem on the back side of the dress. We gathered the fabric slightly to give it flow but that was just an added touch.

Be sure to choose thread that will blend into the background color. Sew on the hem and your stitches can seem more hidden. The bobbin thread can the same color as your extra fabric but doesn't have to be.

**We folded the fabric so there wasn't a raw edge. This may add an inch to the width of the extra fabric.

And just like that, you have a little extra length!

Want to know more about our beliefs and standards? Check out the link on the right hand side towards the top of the page. I added some links to the bottom of this post as well. PS you don't have to be young to have these standards :)

For the Youth
For the Strength of the Youth
Articles of Faith