#1: Bringing a vintage dress out of the past

I'm feeling like it's a sewing day today. I have this dress that I scored for really cheap at a thrift store in Fargo last summer. I've never worn it, cause it's absolutely hideous, but I see some sort of potential in it, just like Professor Henry Higgins saw potential in Eliza Doolittle in that one movie. We'll find out if I'm right! On the right you can see the ugliness in it's original form. Look at those shoulders! & the bottom got cut off a bit but it hits me just below the knee. Bad.





My plan is to modernize & summer-ize it a bit by shortening both the hem and the sleeves. And the shoulder pads need to go -- I don't need help in that area. Cutting is always the scariest part, because there's no going back after you make a cut.






Next up is fixing the sleeve lengths. They are gathered and sewn to a band that is fitted around my arm. First I must seam-rip the sleeves, which always takes forever. Then cutting and resewing is all it takes for some shiny new sleeves!





I'm really pleased with the finished look. As you can see from my end result, the overall look of the dress did not change much, but the shortening has made it much more modern and wearable. Now I can wear the dress in the fall/winter with tights, AND the summer without. Exciting, huh?

Overall time spent: About 2 hours
Money spent: $8 (for dress from thrift store)

I looked up some similar dresses online to see what kind of comparable products there are out there.

These dresses share the general shape of mine & are also made of semi-sheer fabric. The dress on the left is from Nordstrom & retails for $128; the dress on the right is from Mod-Cloth and costs $47.99. It was actually very difficult to track down a dress that shared more than a couple of traits with my dress. The neckline is very old-fashioned looking, and the length of the sleeves is unusual. And I'm happy about that! One of the biggest draws of DIYing is owning unique items.

The Premise

I am creating this blog as a way to learn more about the DIY culture and movement. I will be creating/discovering and following through with my own DIY projects over the next few days in order to gain a better understanding of it from a personal viewpoint. Along with my hands-on work, I will also be researching the movement from other DIYers' perspectives. I plan to interview relevant individuals in the community about their relation to the DIY culture and movement and researching blogs/websites online dedicated to crafting. After I am finished I hope to have a well-rounded look at what it takes to be a DIYer, as well as what motivates people to Do It Theirselves. I hope this space will be as fun for you to look at as it will be for me to create!