bits and bobbins

restyled denim dress

a couple weeks ago, i found this 70s denim dress at the goodwill down on haight street, one of my favorite local thrift stores. it had good bones: nice dark denim, and a fitted yet simple shape. but otherwise, it had it’s faults: weird, cheap looking ribbon trim on the cap sleeves, neckline, and pocket edges. it buttoned up the back (odd for a dress…you have to be helped into it!), and was just a smidge too small for me, thanks to my stupidly large chest. it was screaming out for help! so…of course, i had to swoop in and do some magic (or attempt some magic, anyway!)…

the front was rather plain, so i gave it a bib, edged with bias. and used bias to edge the square neckline, hem, cap sleeves, and zipper placket on the back. the reason for the placket? well, it was a hair too small, as i said, so i opened out the button plackets for more room, and the new placket covers up the button holes and gives the back some interest. the buttons on the front are covered with a little of the fabric i cut off the hem before attaching the bias. btw, all the extra contrasting fabric is a herringbone weave chambray type fabric i had in my stash already.

it’s not perfect, but it’s a lot more fun than it was before. and it fits!

i love this kind of work…taking something that’s not quite right and making it more so. and if it doesn’t work out, fine. but when it does…so wonderful, so satisfying.

July 16 2007 | Posted in creative dabblings., fashion musing, sewn(up).

1. July 16 2007 at 6:42 pm

   alexis

   Wonderful work.

   
   

2. July 16 2007 at 6:45 pm

   heather

   Wow, that is so cute! Such great lines. Nicely done!

   
   

3. July 16 2007 at 6:52 pm

   amanda mello

   I think it looks truly fantastic!

   
   

4. July 16 2007 at 7:42 pm

   melissa

   looks perfect to me! not to mention, adorable!!!

   
   

5. July 16 2007 at 8:11 pm

   candid cool

   great job

   
   

6. July 16 2007 at 9:37 pm

   stacy

   I love it – it’s so adorable!

   
   

7. July 16 2007 at 11:02 pm

   niki

   HOLY CRAP! That is the cutest thing I’ve ever laid eyes on! You have some real talent, girl. It’s too hard for me to walk into a thrift store and see more potential in a dress beyond hemming it up. I love it!

   
   

8. July 17 2007 at 1:12 am

   Lala

   OMG!! I freakin love it, it’s so amazingly cute/adorable/wonderful (all good adjectives here). You are such a creative lady with a great eye for finding things at thrift stores and turning someone’s junk into your own treasure!

   
   

9. July 17 2007 at 2:29 am

   Jenny

   Love it! Am curious to see the “before.”

   
   

10. July 17 2007 at 8:19 am

    Erica

    great work! i know just what you mean about a garment calling out to be renewed. the way you’ve done this here will make this dress live on for even longer.

    
    

11. July 17 2007 at 9:55 am

    tricia

    jenny: there’s no before photo…i usually don’t bother taking them, as i am typically chomping at the bit to get started. suffice it to say, it was basically as described above…the main part of the dress (the dark blue) was the dress…it merely had some ribbon trim at the places i mentioned. so the original part was the dark blue plain body…all the light/medium blue you see is my additions, which are mostly surface/trim.

    
    

12. July 17 2007 at 10:00 am

    laura / fraeulein_2eck

    hi tricia,
    as you know, i love your blog and entries, so i added it to the linklist of my new blog http://blog.tagtraeumerin.de. i would be really happy if you could link me back!
    thanks a lot,
    laura

    
    

13. July 17 2007 at 10:02 am

    sarah

    holy crap, tricial this seriously kicks ass! I adore the bib with contrasting buttons, the button placket is really neat, and that bit on the sleeves really just pulls it together. You really do have such a great eye for these diamonds in the rough, and your stitching skills are impeccable!

    
    

14. July 17 2007 at 11:42 am

    ambika

    This is an amazing transformation. I love it.

    
    

15. July 17 2007 at 12:20 pm

    Carol

    Wow, that is super cute! It’s a great look. Love the detailing and the bib front.

    
    

16. July 17 2007 at 11:24 pm

    PaperDollyGirl

    Love it! What a great job, from the vision to the execution.

    
    

17. July 17 2007 at 11:54 pm

    Nadia Lewis

    I’ve never seen a bib-front I’ve liked, but you made it so anime-cute that I’m converted!

    
    

18. July 18 2007 at 10:45 am

    Cajsa

    It turned out very very lovely! I adore the front of it, bibs rule ; )

    
    

19. July 19 2007 at 9:31 am

    samantha (gray animal)

    too dern cute!

    
    

20. July 24 2007 at 3:30 pm

    Kristi

    That dress is adorable, great job.

    
    

21. July 25 2007 at 3:38 pm

    Beth

    What a great transformation!

    
    

22. July 26 2007 at 1:37 am

    Rhiannon

    This is absolutely wonderful. You should really do this for a living and come up with your own line! Taking vintage dresses and reworking them .. . I would buy one for sure.

    
    

23. July 28 2007 at 10:53 pm

    gigicaron, jeweler

    Cute!