Thrift Shop Dress Makeover

This is a great project for a beginner seamstress. Most thrift shops have several old prom dresses to choose from. There are few things more frustrating than spending $40 on fabric and a pattern and then realizing you cut it out wrong. Sometimes I get an idea for an article of clothing but don't want to spend a lot of money on fabric, I will go to the thrift shop and look through thier clothes until I find an item that I think will work to cut up and use for that particular project. Now, I'll be honest with you, it doesn't always work out the way I want it to but I always learn something from the experience. A few weeks ago I went to the local thrift shop and found this beautiful long, purple satin dress. Of course it was a size 4. I paid $5 for it. Took it home and figured out a way to make it work for me. 

An old long dress, Sewing machine, thread, straight pins, measuring tape, seam ripper and scissors. You may need to purchase a zipper.

The original dress was in great shape, it was lined and the hem was still intact and there were no stains on it. When purchasing clothing at a thrift shop, inspect the articles closely, zipper, buttons, etc...

Measure how long you want the skirt section to be. I left the original hem because it was in good shape. I measured 24" up from that all the way around and pinned the lining to it. Cut 1" above that, this is for the seam allowance. Stitch 1/2" from the top edge, sewing the lining to the skirt section.

I was able to use the original zipper. If you want to do this, remove it carefully with a seam ripper.

Cut the bodice away from the skirt section at the seam.

The bodice of the original dress becomes the waistband of my new dress! All I did was sew the curved vertical seams straight and cut thewhole waistband 4" wide. Allowing 1/2" seam allowance on the top and bottom of the waistband, the finished waistband will be 3".

When I turn the mid section of the original dress upside down- it works perfectly for the bodice of my new dress! I measured 12" in length all the way around. Pinned the center of this to the center of the waistband and sewed it in place. I

I cut matching sections out of the lining for the bodice and waistband, matched up the center points, pinned the shoulder straps in and then sewed the lining to the dress.

I cut 4 circles out of the leftover material with my pinking shears. I then folded them a bit off-center and pinned them together, overlapping a little. Then I hand stitched them to the waistband of the dress.