Date Night Dress Refashion

It isn't very often that I get to go out for a night on the town with my husband.  So, when the opportunity arose last night, I knew just what I wanted to wear.  This Japanese style print and design caught my eye at a garage sale a few weeks ago.  Aside from being only a dollar, the best part about this dress is that it was made right here in Honolulu.

Frumpy dress.

Of course, I couldn't wear the dress in its current condition, as I looked quite frumpy.  I began by getting rid of the length.  

You can't really see them here, but on the sides, there are slits, and over the slits are Japanese style knots.  My intentions were to keep them, but by the time I got them off, I was running out of time.

Side slit knot.

In the end, I sewed up the slit and made an even hem all the way around.  I then put the dress wrong side out on Dotty and began fitting it to size.

Fitted and pinned to Dotty.

When resizing sleeves, I usually make a single stitch from the edge of the sleeve all the way to the bottom of the dress or shirt.  Perhaps a better seamstress would detach the sleeves, resize them, and then sew them back on.  In this case, my single stitch worked.  

Sized and pinned from sleeve all the way down the dress.

The dress already had a zipper in the back, so once it was stitched up and the sides and hem were done, I cut the excess off with pinking shears (to keep it from fraying).  Viola!  I had a new gorgeous dress for my date.

I loved the way it turned out, and I even got a few compliments.

The Hubby and me.