How to Give a Dress a Makeover

Originally posted 2012-05-16 08:00:30.

Altering a Dress and Changing the Top

I love dresses.  Yes, I actually wear them on occasion – even on some of my trips to the home improvement stores to buy lumber, parts, power tools, etc! I really love the Bohemian style dresses made in India with their “flowiness” and bright colors! I have a couple of dresses that I absolutely love but they are a little too revealing for me so I very rarely wear them. It occurred to me one day that I can take the dress, cut off the “revealing” part, and completely make it over into something more appropriate for me! Yay! Today, I will share how to give a dress a makeover…

How to Give a Dress a Makeover

Materials:

  • Dress
  • T-shirt
  • Scissors & Seam Ripper
  • Serger (<– affiliate link – or Sewing Machine) & Thread

Here is my dress before…

 

How to Give a Dress a Makeover before

I love the color and decided to replace the top with a white t-shirt. The dress has an elastic waist and I definitely wanted to keep that. I measured from my shoulder to where I wanted the elastic to sit, them transferred the same measurement to the t-shirt.

 

How to Give a Dress a Makeover marked waistline of tshirt

I cut the t-shirt apart…

 

How to Give a Dress a Makeover cutting the tshirt apart

… then removed the top part of the dress.

 

How to Give a Dress a Makeover removing the top of the dress

How to Give a Dress a Makeover dress with top removed

I pinned the two together and stitched the seam on my serger. If a serger is not available, the seam can be sewn on a regular sewing machine using a stretch stitch.

How to Give a Dress a Makeover sewing the new top on the skirt with a serger

Voila! A “new” dress that will make me feel cool and a lot less self conscious this summer!

 

How to Give a Dress a Makeover completed project

I love it and it gets much more use now that it is more appropriate for me! Here’s another great way to create a dress out of t-shirts… Any questions on how to give a dress a makeover? Leave a comment below!

3 Comments

  • Crafty Cousins says:

    How fun! I love the colors. I’d love for you to link it up to Crafty Cousins.

    ~Natalie

  • wedding gown alterations OC says:

    A regular dress can have a makeover and be captivating, with the help of a creative seamstress. This type of project is good for those who want to try out new things especially with the clothes that they wear, to be slightly different from others. The example that you have given in this post is quite inspiring, thanks for sharing!

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