My Refashioned Romance

Instead of a bright red or pink outfit, I decided to go for a more feminine, romantic look for Valentine's Day this year. As luck would have it, a friend had given me this lovely floral dress a few months ago. It had a nice hemline that came up higher on one leg, but I wasn't keen on the two different floral prints together.

I thought a little lace might go a long way here, so I pulled out a pale pink piece of lingerie from my heavier days. It seemed appropriate to incorporate this into a Valentine's Day refashion.

I began by removing the flower brooch and the sleeves from the dress...

...as well as the bottom ruffle and the little rosette.

I took in the sides at the top to reduce the gaping at the armholes and then hemmed the armholes.

I also rehemmed the bottom edge, snipping the seam allowance around the curve to prevent puckering. And I gave both the hem and armholes a good press.

I think an empire waistline is very feminine and flattering, so I wanted to be able to wear a belt just under my bust. I snipped a couple small rectangles from the old sleeves, used them to create belt loops, and then attached them to the dress about 6 inches down from the armhole edge on either side.

Next, I carefully removed the lace border from my delicates and pinned it to the bottom of the dress.

I pinched little pleats in the lace as I sewed around the curves, so it would curve as well. To finish the ends at the center back seam, I first trimmed the excess lace.

Then I overlapped the edges and sewed straight down. Finally, I very carefully snipped the excess again, as close to the seam as possible.

It's been a cloudy, dreary day, but this fun new dress has breathed a little more life into it!