DIY: with a little work and a dollop of confidence, a $10 dress can turn heads
A few weeks ago, I found this amazing Grecian-style vintage dress at Hala Vintage in Jersey City. It was on the $10 rack because the previous owner had done some sleeve shredding and it was going to take some time to get those babies into wearable shape. I debated: was I, Queen of the half-finished project, actually going to find the time to fix the sleeves or was this gorgeous mint green dream going to end up in my ever-growing pile of to-dos? Well, with two weddings on the horizon and no real outfits in mind, I decided to buy it and challenge myself to fix it up before the first wedding.
Deadline: Saturday, October 10, 5PM
On Tuesday night, I whipped out the sewing box (yes, that’s a Caboodle) and found a matching thread color. This was the easy part; I tied a knot and started sewing round and round and round the sleeves, tucking the shredded part underneath. After about an hour or maybe an hour and a half, I was done. I tried the dress on but even though the shredded portion was tucked under, the sleeves were loose enough that the shredded portion was flapping up and about, this way and that. Sigh of despair; I was going to have to sew that portion down as well.
Thursday night: the more difficult part, annoying because it’s the part nobody can actually see. I cut the shredded portion so it was about one inch from the seam all around. Then, I started sewing it very loosely to ONLY the bottom layer of fabric. Many a time, I sewed both layers and had to undo my stitching. This is why it took FOREVER. But, by 11PM or so, I was finished. Only thing left to do was iron.
Saturday, 4PM: ironing scares me. I rarely do it and in fact, prefer to steam up the whole bathroom with hot running water to smooth out an outfit rather than take out the iron. In this case, an iron was definitely necessary, but I was afraid of ruining the dress. But, I put it on the silk setting, tested a few small sections first and quickly got the hang of it.
Saturday, 6:15PM – post church – pre-reception. Victory! I successfully completed my DIY project in time for the wedding. And who else could say they got their incredibly unique (and beautiful) dress for only $10?
My roommates came in handy with styling the whole outfit; both the clutch (vintage) and shoes (Payless) are borrowed! I chose this scarf (gift from my mom)because of its fall tones with the purples and golds. Another great thing aout this dress is the fact that it could totally be worn in spring, summer or fall, depending on the accessories!
Look at how awesome the back of the dress is; it’s a slight bit longer and gathered so you can only imagine the effect of Jay spinning me around the dance floor all night. I felt like a princess!
And here’s the finished sleeve. Not bad, eh?
So, was is worth spending a few hours on mending these sleeves? Absolutely.
