dress help

I bought this size 18 dress from a charity shop that has a gorgeous floral print on it. seeing as i'm a size eight, i want to alter it so it fits me. does anyone have any ideas? i've already done a dress that cuts off mid-thigh, has a scoop neck and half-sleeves and buttons down. that was done from a huge dress, that again, didn't fit me but i liked the print.

this dress has an elastic waistband and buttons down to the waist. does anyone have a nice pattern/how-to on how to make it a wearable summmery dress?

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3 replies since 14th September 2010 • Last reply 14th September 2010

Reply #1:

Could you unpick side seams (or make some) and take in the slack there?

You could also wear it baggy, nipped in at the waist with a wide belt.

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Reply #2:

Like Pandora said, you could put the dress on inside out (to make it easier to re-stitch), get someone to pin it to the shape of your body then stitch some new seams. If the dress has sleeves then that could be a little more difficult but it's do-able. I'll run off and see if there is tutorial for re-sizing sleeves, I'm sure I've seen one on here...

Hmm... Not really what I was looking for but this could work for the sleeves if it has any.
<a href="http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/t_shirt_reconstruction_she_shirt">http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/t_shirt_reconstruction_she_shirt</a>

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Reply #3:

If you are sizing down that far you will have to lift the shoulders so that you have enough fabric under your arm.
Then you can re-shape the side seams and under arm.
The best way to reshape for arms....remember the back piece has a shallower curve......Find a paper pattern that has the right shape that you like and use it as a base pattern. It's easier than trying to match up a sleeve and arm hole by eye. There is a lot of fabric in sleeves so you will have plenty to play with.
The centre front may be too long too so you would probably have to cut across the waist level taking out a button and button hole to get rid of fullness.
You can get rid of fullness at bust level (if neckline too low) by lifting the shoulder seam and making the seam more towards the back ie You would make the back shoulder fabric shorter.
You would have to take the fullness from the back too. The best way is to lay a plain back pattern onto the dress and mark out the pattern onto the fabric. Make sure your shoulder seams match up.

Hope this makes sense. Message me if you need any help Happy

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