DIY: Sort Of Long Dress Into More Fashionable Dress

I always scour the $0.50 rack at the thrift store for dresses that could be made into more fabulous looking dresses. I'm so predictable in my shopping habits that when I told my daughter, Quinn, that we'd be hitting up the thrift store, she asked, "Are you gonna buy a dress, Mommy?" I've got to be careful what I do around her. She always knows my secrets!

Anyway, I found this cute dress.

Quinn hid my black flip flops, so I'm going gold!

I didn't try it on. I figured it had a good print and if it was too small or didn't fit me at all, I could use the fabric for some other project. When I did end up trying it on, it was nearly perfect. It was just a tad too long.

You can't tell in the first picture, but the bodice had this great ruching type detail that was not only flattering, but very comfortable.

Extreme bodice close up. P.S. I'm not sure if it's ruching or something else and I'm too lazy to google it. (-;

Since I totally lucked out on the dress being perfect except for the length, I went the lazy way around and just folded the bottom hem up a couple of times to hem it. No need for scissors today.

I wasn't completely lazy. I did measure to make sure I was doing this evenly all the way around.

Then I got to sewing.

Once around and that was it!

Before I offer up the "after" shots, I just want to mention that when I was folding over the hem, I noticed (and snipped off) a tag that said, "Do Not Iron." So, the after shots are of a slightly wrinkly  dress because that tag was all I needed to confirm my laziness for the day!! Which is probably attributed to the fact that I had to do this in a rush because I only had about half an hour to spare this morning!

I like the way this picture came out, but it's blurry for some reason. Let's try this again.

Much better!! Except now I look like I'm in a bad mood. I just can't win.

Even though this dress has kind of a summery print and is pretty light-weight fabric, we're having a bit of a snowstorm this morning and I wanted my styling to reflect the current weather (for once!!). I really like how it turned out with winter accessories, but I will probably wait to wear this dress until I can wear it like this:

I look much happier in my summer accessories. Coincidence?! Ha ha ha

I love how just the tiniest fix can change an article of clothing from drab to fab. I also love how just a few changes in accessories can take an article of clothing from winter to summer.