I’ve had this dress for almost a year, picked it up for $15 at the antique market.   It is almost a relief to have finally done my fixes on this dress; clothes are really moving from the to do rack to the closet!  I really love this dress, I feel really at home in it.

Here’s a look at the before:

A 1970s version of a 1930s dress.  You can’t see it in the photos but the little flowers are flocked which I love (not much flocking left but still counts for something).  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the style, only it needed some repairs here and there.  But for the most part I don’t like high necklines; I feel too closed up.  And the sleeves were shortened in a slapdash fashion by its previous tenant (Hmm, I sense a trend) so I had to do something about that.

This is what I did:

• Cut out and lowered the neckline; removed neck facing that was clearly visible under the sheer fabric.
• Added a pleated Petersham collar that I tacked down by hand. (The stitches seem very obvious to me even though I tried my best to not sew too tightly; I might redo it but it’s fine for now.)
• Cut the sleeves down, leaving a little bit of the previously gathered fabric which I hemmed creating little ruffles.
• Fixed some general wonkiness around the bust seam.
• Cut off the lace and ruffle at the hem and shortened the skirt.  I considered fixing and re-attaching the ruffle but decided I liked the simplicity of the plain hem.
• The ties were very much uneven so I shortened one. (I did not match the lengths exactly as I don’t see a problem with them being off just a little.)
• Fastened a little brooch to the neckline (from Seventh Muse).  I’ve fashioned other things like a yellow velvet bow and such which I can switch out at will!

I have to say I quite enjoy detailing all the repairs and alterations I do to my vintage finds and I hope you do too!  I think so, and I find your comments very kind and encouraging.  Thank you.

I have this habit of buying vintage for a bargain (because pieces are damaged, ill-fitting, etc.) and taking forever to getting around to making repairs and thus wearing said items.  But I’ve made the commitment to change this bad habit into a good one and I’m working my way through my to do pile. This is the first post of my vintage dress parade and I’ll detail the fixes and tweaks I’ve made for each one.  I’ll try to remember to include “before” shots next time, hee hee.

The above late 1930s or early ’40s dress was quite the steal as it was falling apart in various places, had a motley crew of ugly buttons and was an unflattering mid-calf length.  My fixes:

• Changed the buttons to clear glass ones with faceted edges; I figured this would work well both in the light-colored printed (and flocked!) fabric as well as the navy blue organdy.  (My camera died before I could get any close up shots.)
• Added bust darts for a better fit.
• Trimmed the flutter sleeves for a little bit more modern look.  (I felt like I would fly away before I narrowed them down!)
• Hemmed the skirt by a few inches.  Each tier in the skirt was a little bit wider (taller?) than the proceeding one, from waist to hem.  Instead of hemming just the bottom tier (and messing up the sequence) or hemming each tier (too much work!), I hemmed the second navy blue tier to match the width of the first one.  This way there is still some order/design to the width of the tiers.
• Used the piece I trimmed off the skirt and turned it into a sash (original belt was missing).  I can see here that the sash could stand to be shortened (that’s the beauty of taking photos of your projects - you see things you might miss in the mirror!).
• Made other minor repairs like loose seams, wonky tiers, etc.

Next: I love wearing this ’50s dress.  I found it soon after seeing (500) Days of Summer and thought it looked like something Zooey’s character might wear.  I bought a pale grey-blue crinoline just for this dress.  I’m also wearing the same pale blue slip I’m wearing under the dress above.  I considered going dark but then you wouldn’t be able to see the print on the sheer fabric very well.  Anyway, here’s what I did:

• Removed the sleeves: this dress had half sleeves with quick and dirty hems that were not so great.  Since I don’t like fixing/sewing sleeves I just took them off and finished the openings by simply folding under the edges (which doesn’t always work due to the curves but luckily it did in this case).
• Let the waist out: the wearer before me had a tiny waist and had taken it in in several spots around the ruched waist panel.
• Hemmed the skirt. (I will almost always do this!)
• Repaired little holes and opened seams.
• (I thought about pinning on that dark blue rose that I’m holding at the waist along with a ribbon sash but the flower is a bit dark and I think the dress looks nice unadorned.)

Hope you enjoyed this little dress tour!

(By the way, thanks for the Lucy love from the last post - it made her blush!)

I knew I was going to check out the Liberty of London stuff at Target this past Sunday.  I also knew I was not going to wake up at 6am (ON A SUNDAY) to get there before the store opened, especially with the time change (side note: Yahoooo!!!).  I wanted to avoid the mad rush and figured if there was nothing left for me when I got there at 11, then it wasn’t meant to be.

When I arrived, I first headed to the women’s section.  Not unexpectedly it was a bit of a mess and I could tell my size was virtually sold out.  There was one dress left and while it fit, I put it back because it was polyester.  I’m not a fabric snob but I was hoping for cotton.

Then I went to the girls’ section: score!  Cute and cotton dresses aplenty and this was one of those times that I was glad to be petite.  The smock dress above is my favorite.  The color is not something I would normally pick out for myself but it goes well with my skin tone and the length is just right.

I also snagged these darling gardening gloves (the ones on the right).  I actually needed a pair:

OK, here’s where the decision-making comes in.  I don’t know if I should keep the following:

I love the sweet pea print of this top, but is it too juvenile for me?

Same question goes for this sundress (called a cover up on the tag; I guess it supposed to go with the swimsuits).  I love the almost psychedelic print.  I don’t normally wear such loose styles and do I really need these?  But wouldn’t these be great for late summer when the weather is really warm?  Could these transition into mommy-to-be wear?  (I’m not a mommy-to-be, by the way!)

I don’t know, any thoughts?  Did you pick up anything Liberty at Target?

Poppytalk is doing Spring Color Week and while I missed the first 2 days I thought it would be fun to jump in (especially since today is Yellow! Yay!) and post this photo of things I’m looking forward to wearing once the weather is more consistently warm.

• Ruffle copped cardigan wit after market vintage mother of pearl buttons: F21
• Vintage 1970s ’30s-style flocked dress: local antique market
• Vintage 1920s dress: Clever Nettle

Is anyone else here participating?