DIY: Big Black Dress Into A Little Black Dress

I got this lovely black dress from the thrift store for $0.75, making this my most expensive refashion yet!

My make up looks pretty decent in this picture. That makes me happy.

You'll see less and less refashions in the $0.50 and $0.75 price range because I've completely given up on that thrift store since the new thrift store in my area sells clothing for as little as $0.25 per item! Obviously, this dress was purchased before I started patronizing the new thrift store.

So, yeah, this refashion better come out worth the high price! Lol.

There's really nothing all that wonderful about this dress. It's a thick t-shirt material. No adornments. Nothing special to see here. But, I saw it and imagined it being a really comfy LBD (That's "Little Black Dress" for all you dudes reading this!). The only thing that sucked about refashioning this dress is that I knew I'd lose these awesome guys in the process:

No, not my leg, these awesome pockets!!

On the plus side, it looks like this dress came missing something already:

See those white/beige things? Those are the remnants of some shoulder pads!!

I wasted no time hacking into this dress myself. First up: the bodice..

Separating the bodice from the skirt.

I definitely needed to take the top portion in quite a bit. I figured this would be best accomplished by taking the skirt off so I could concentrate on the top.

My mom gave me some of her sewing stuff, including a chalk pencil do-hicky.

I tried on the top and thought I might have to take it in about 2 inches on each side. I marked it and pinned it before I realized that it would still be too big. So, I took off the shirt I was wearing, that fits me pretty nicely and used that as a guide as to how much I should take in:

Thank goodness I did this. Looks like I'd need to take it in 4 inches per side!

Once everything was pinned and ready to go, I got out my sewing machine which was threaded with white thread!!!! AAHHHH!!! Crap, I hate rethreading my sewing machine. But, it had to be done.

And I did it on the FIRST TRY!!! Woo hoo!!! I'm so awesome!

Instead of sewing a straight stitch, I sewed a zig zag stitch. Maybe that would be good? I don't know.

I cut off the excess fabric and then took a blurry picture of it.

At this point, I thought I might try on the top, just to make sure of the fit before I go any further. This is what I ended up with:

Doesn't look too bad like this!!

How cute! A little crop top! So far, so good! The top portion of my dress looks like it'll do the job, so onto the dress...

There goes those utilitarian pockets!! Boo hoo!!

I decided it would be less work to keep the original hem even though by cutting length from the top portion, I'd lose the pockets. Oh well. I'd rather save myself the hassle of attaching the dress and sewing a new hemline. I cut off the top 6 inches. I was in the mood for a slightly longer dress than what I normally wear.

Now the top portion looks so tiny!!

I almost took in the dress part of the dress, but laziness kicked in.

It took a couple of tries, but I finally pinned everything the correct way!

My last bit of sewing!!!

I checked that my kids were still alive since I hadn't really been paying them much attention. I noted that not only were they alive, but they were having a good time! I grabbed my dress and put it on (along with some shoes, a belt, and a necklace) and this is what I ended up with:

Hey there, Good Looking!

 I think I totally nailed the length! It's not too long, not too short. I think it's really flattering and gives the dress a really casual feel.

 

There's about 100 feet of snow outside. I won't be able to wear these shoes outside for months!

 My only issue is that I would've liked the top a little more fitted. When I tried it on, mid-refashion, it fit really well, but I think the weight of the rest of the dress fabric makes it seem more nightgown-y. Luckily, belts were invented to hide my sewing/fitting mistakes! The belt also adds a bit of interest, so I'm  killing two birds with one belt, so to speak.

I swear I have eyebrows. Not sure where I left them though!

I have, I'd guess, 5 or 6 LBD's but this one is the most comfortable, by far! The others are mostly above the knee. One of them is made of very wrinkly fabric. A couple of them are very fitted and at least 3 of them have low necklines! I'm so glad I found this dress because now I have a casual LBD. The perfect dress to wear during the day or to a family event where I don't want to be too sexy (like a Baptism or bridal shower or something).

I had a great time during this refashion. I ended up with a really comfy dress that I really love!