Custom Wedding Dress & Kimono Upcycled Clothes | オーダーメイドウェディングドレス&着物ドレス
Remember the dress I refashioned it over the summer (also wore in this video)? Whenever I buy/make a dress, I try to think of ways to wear it differently. One dress should be able to be styled in at least three different ways: 1. Wear it by itself 2. Wear it as a top 3. Wear it as a skit. This dress is like an extension of a T-shirt; it is fitted and very easy to style.
I wore it with the peplum top I recently made, and also with a vintage pleated skirt I bought in Shimokita.
I bought this black tank maxi dress at a small shop in Aoyama, Tokyo for 599 yen ($6). I don’t remember the name of the shop, but it was on a back street near the Max Mara store. The shop has a variety of clothes, shoes, accessories and watches for all 999 yen, but when I went there they were having a sale and some of their stuff were 599 yen.
I usually try things on even if the clothes are super cheap, but this shop didn’t have a fitting room. So I went ahead and bought this dress … mistake! I put it on when I came home and the fit was horrendous. Look at the pictures above! There were multiple problems with this dress – I don’t know how one simple dress can have so many flaws. The armholes were too tight and uncomfortable; neckline cut super unflattering; and the whole dress made me look like I was five-months pregnant.
So I decided to dissect the dress and made it better:
First, I lowered the neckline. I wanted the neckline not too low that I’m showing my bra, but low enough so I have breathing room (I hate turtle necks!!) and still look flattering. I wore the dress in front of the mirror, marked where I wanted the new neckline to be with chalk. After that, using a french curve, I drew a new neckline and cut.
The neckline and arm holes are finished with bias strips. I didn’t have the same black jersey for new bias tapes, but I had a similar one with the black block pattern. So I made bias tapes with that.
Using this bias strip, I finished the neckline and arm holes. I had to widen the arm holes because they were too tight.
For the body, I marked new lines based on my bust, waist, and hip measurements so the dress fit to my body. I did not include seam allowances because I wanted the dress to have minus ease, considering the fabric has a lot of stretch.
Finally I added a thigh high slit on the left side.
Now I like this simple maxi dress so much better. I can see a lot of possibilities for different styling, using belt, scarves, accessories and jackets. It is also a great transition piece to have from Summer to Fall.
Some behind the scenes photos of the Secret periwinkle dress I posted yesterday. If you are a sewer interested in making this dress, adding side cut outs is a pretty easy modification of basic bodice with princess seams. The dress is not lined, instead, it is finished with all-in-one facing to finish the neckline and armhole. I cut four pieces of bodice side front and four pieces of bodice side back. I sewed the triangle shape on the side, clipped the seam allowances and ironed. Then used the piece (two pieces sewn together at the cut out and turned) as one side bodice piece.
I like this kind of subtle cut-out. I think this dress is totally wearable for work with cardigan or jacket on to hide the cut out, and you can take it off for after five fun!
