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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

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Time: 1h30

Turn a shapeless maxi dress into a fit-and-flare frock
Maxi dresses have been around forever, so they're the kind of thing you're practically guaranteed to find in a thrift store (or op shop, as we call them in Australia). But what if you're after something with a bit more shape? Set up the sewing machine and follow along...

Posted by Style Wilderness from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia • Published 13th April 2015 • See Style Wilderness's 8 projects »

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Step 1
The maxi dress I used for this project was too big for me around the bust, so I had to take it in a bit, but for the purposes of simplicity let's just pretend that your dress fits you fairly well around the top half. Cut the dress off at the waist (try it on and look in the mirror to work out where the narrowest part of your waist is, and trim it off there). You may have to deal with a zipper, in which case unpick the zipper from the waist down.
Step 2
Put the skirt part (ie the section you just cut off) on and bring the hem to knee length, or whatever length you want the finished dress to be.
Then trim off the fabric that sits above the waist.
Step 3
Make gathering stitches around the waist of the new skirt section (basically make two rows of long stitches around the top of the skirt, about 1cm in from the edge - but look up "gathering" on YouTube if you're not sure how to do it).
Step 4
Fit the skirt waist to the bodice waist by pulling up the gathering threads. Pin right sides of skirt and bodice together and sew. Sew the zipper into the center back seam of the skirt.
Step 5
Remove the gathering stitches and press the seam down towards the skirt. Finished!