Dress to Duster Refashion

Before and after.

This dress was pretty. I loved the floral but it was very sheer chiffon fabric. It needed a lot of clothes under it to make it wearable/not see through. It was also really long on me. I didn't think it was very flattering. It needed to be shorter and because it was super sheer, it would be a perfect light weight duster.

I started by cutting the length. I measured carefully before and during my cutting to get the right length. I used my cutting mat to measure the dress. You can use a tape measure, yard stick, ruler... whatever you have. You just want to measure your cutting carefully so the duster is even in length all the way around. You might be taller than me and want a floor length duster but I am short and I wanted mine knee length.

I used sharp scissors to cut about 10 inches off the length. I wanted it to be just below the knee when I was done hemming. I folded the dress on itself to make sure I was cutting the same amount of length off the dress all the way around.

I also cut the sleeves to get an elbow length. I didn't want the button cuffs at the wrists. I wanted a shorter simpler sleeve.

I did a lot of hemming around the bottom of the dress and at the ends of the sleeves. I tried to take my time because the chiffon fabric was very slippery. I stitched slowly and held the fabric firmly so it wouldn't slide around while I was sewing. To hem the dress and finish the sleeves, I turned the edge under twice and stitched it down so it would look nice and neat, inside and out.

I wore the duster over this pink dress. It helped break up all that solid pink of the dress I was wearing under it. And wearing the sheer duster over something else made the see through fabric a non-issue. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

Chickie