From Snug to Swingin'

I feel in love with this Gap dress the moment I saw it at the thrift shop. Isn't that orange print just gorgeous? The problem - it was a little too tight around my hips, and the clingy fabric showed every bump and lump (of which Rosy has none, of course, lucky girl). I decided to turn this into a swingy top that will be much more flattering and comfortable.

First, I removed the ribbon from the bottom edge. Then I cut off the skirt, about an inch below the bottom of the zipper.

Next, I opened up the side seams up to where the bust darts started. Then I cut two triangles from the bottom portion of the dress.

I attached each triangular insert with French seams - first sewing with wrong sides together, pressing the seams, then sewing again with right sides together to encase the raw edges, and pressing them once more.

I trimmed the triangles to be even with the front and back edges. Then the whole thing got a new hem. Since this material was slightly slippery, I folded it up once and stitched it, then folded it up again and stitched again. It's easier to control that way.

I was left with a decent sized bit of fabric, so I decided to make a quick drawstring bag for small knitting projects. I hemmed the three raw edges the same way I hemmed my new shirt.

One of the long edges was folded down about an inch, and I sewed two parallel lines about 1/2-inch apart for the drawstring casing. Then the rectangle was folded in half, and I sewed the side and bottom to create a pouch. I made sure not to sew the ends of the casing closed though, so I'll still be able to add my drawstring.

I grabbed a piece of matching ribbon from my stash (the original dress' ribbon was too flimsy to be re-used). I fed it through the casing with a safety pin, then added a toggle stopper and a big glass bead. I knotted the ribbon ends together to keep the bead on and trimmed them nice and even.

And now I've got a simple new project bag for my knitting!

And of course, a new shirt too!