Breathe New Life Into an Old Dress With This Thrift Flip Dress
On my latest thrifting excursion, I had found a maxi denim dress in great shape that just wasn’t quite my style. I didn’t want to pass up such a good deal, so I knew that my only option was a thrift flip! If you haven’t heard of it yet, a thrift flip is when you take a piece of clothing from the thrift store and give it a makeover to fit your style. This dress was perfect for a thrift flip because it had so much fabric! Follow along as I turn this shirred tube top dress into a button-down V-neck dress perfect for a night on the town!
Tools and Materials:
- Loose-fitting shirt
- Maxi dress
- Butcher paper
- Pins
- Fabric scissors
- Chalk
- Sewing machine
- Twill tape
- Buttons
I used a loose-fitting shirt to create my pattern. Using butcher paper, I traced an outline of the shirt. I wanted a v-neck so I altered that part.
I also added 1 ½” to the pieces for the front to accommodate the extra space needed for the buttons.
And I created patterns from the back of the shirt as well. I only cut one piece but I’m going to cut it on the fold, making the entire back one piece.
Now I was ready for the fun start, taking the dress apart! I removed the shirred top, leaving me with a lot of beautiful fabric to work with from the rest of the dress.
I turned the fabric inside out, with the wrong side facing me, and lay the pattern along the edge of the dress.
Then I traced the pattern and extended the waistline at an angle to the end of the dress, creating an a-line dress.
Next, I cut out the front panel. This pattern is super simple but the result will blow you away!
I used the front panel I had cut as a template for the other front panel that I needed.
The front of the dress needed to be in two pieces because I was adding buttons, but the back of the dress only needed one piece. I lay my pattern piece on the fold of the dress and traced it. As you can see, I gave it an extra ½” allowance along the fold, just in case I mess up and need a bit of extra material. I also extended the waistline to the bottom of the dress as I had for the front panels.
To create a space for the buttons and buttonholes, I serged the raw edge of the fabric, folded it over, and pressed it so that it would lie flat.
Then I topstitched from the top to the hemline of the dress. I repeated this process with the other front panel of the dress.
Now I was ready to join the shoulder and side seams. I pinned the panels together, with the right sides of the fabric facing each other. Then I sewed them together.
To make the sleeves, I used some of the material I had left from cutting out the dress. I folded it in half along the hem, lay the shoulder of the dress on top, and traced the shape I wanted for my sleeve.
I added about half an inch for a seam allowance, and cut out my sleeve. Then I used this sleeve as a template to cut out the other sleeve.
I baste stitched the center of the sleeve to make it easy to fit in into the armhole. Then I matched the underarm seams and pinned the sleeve to the armhole along the raw edge.
I sewed along the edges and now my dress had sleeves!
I like to finish my edges with a double-fold, but this fabric was a little too thick for that so I used ¼ inch twill tape instead. I understitched the twill tape to the right side of the fabric along the neckline and the bottom of the dress.
Then I folded it under and topstitched it.
I lay out my buttons on the dress and used a crayon to mark where I needed to add buttonholes. I marked the top and bottom of the buttons, which I used as a guide for how large I needed to make the buttonholes. Then I used my sewing machine to make the buttonholes and used a seam ripper to create the hole itself.
Once I had created all the buttonholes, I lay the dress out again and used the buttonholes as a guide for where to sew the button onto the other panel of the front of the dress.
I finished the hemlines of the sleeves and created a cute belt from some of the remaining fabric.
This dress is super cute and a great addition to my wardrobe for those warmer months of the year! How have you restyled your own clothing? Let me know in the comments below!
Enjoyed the project?
Suggested materials:
- Loose-fitting shirt
- Maxi dress
- Butcher paper
- Pins
- Fabric scissors
- Chalk
- Sewing machine
- Twill tape
- Buttons
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You did a fabulous job on the dress.....who knew!?
Thank you!