Jan 24, 2017

Black and White

I love black and white stripes, prints, geometric shapes, etc!  I always seem to be drawn to them when I visit the thrift shops.  Check out these fun retro black and white numbers from the 60's.  I love them!


Well, the other day at the thrift shop, I noticed a 2XL dress that was really speaking to me.  It was saying, "Come on, for only $2.50 you can pick me up and make a retro-inspired mod dress!"  I couldn't ignore the voice, so I purchased it!



I loved the black and white striped pattern.  I didn't love, however, the fit, the bulky gathered skirt, and the uneven sewing on the waistband.  I put my 60's playlist on and dedicated the evening to sewing.  After a fair amount of tweaking, I was happy with the results.

It was little cold outside, so I wore it with boots and my black wool jacket.




See what I meant about the waistband?  It was completely uneven before.


I was able to cut a new one from the extra skirt fabric.  I think it's much better now!



Every mod dress needs some big, white, mod sunglasses!


Here's a brief tutorial of what I did.

I began by detaching the sleeves, the waistband, the skirt, and since the shoulders needed to be raised, I unpicked part of the neckline.

I put the bodice on my dress form and began pinning where it needed to be taken in, which was the sides and the shoulders.  I also took in the front and back bodice seams.




Once the shoulders were taken in, I restitched the neckline and facing.

Once the bodice fit the way I wanted it to, I recut the sleeve openings for a better fit.

I placed a gathering stitch along the top of the sleeves to give it some wearing ease.


After taking in the sleeves, I reattached them to the bodice.


I cut a new waistband, added interfacing, and then attached it to my bodice.



Next step was to cut the new skirt which was also sewn to the waistband.


Once I was happy with the fit, I finished the inside by lining the waistband.

All that was left was reattaching the bottom half of the invisible zipper in the back.

I'm happy with my new retro-inspired mod dress!


Thanks for looking!
I like to link to these great parties!


21 comments:

  1. You have the skills to tackle any project and the finished dress looks great. Your post also shows that making something smaller is not always a simple matter if you are going to do it properly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the compliment, and for noticing the extra effort that was taken!

      Delete
  2. That would be way too much work for me, but I have to admire the results when someone puts in the right effort! Congrats on a great job. (I am drawn to black and white geometrics too.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Rochelle! I would much rather do a refashion that is simple and quick (that process it better for my short attention span!) But, sometimes you just need to put in the extra effort to make it happen. Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  3. You have done a great job. So nice😊

    ReplyDelete
  4. That dress turned out groovy! You are lucky to be small, as it is way easier to take something large and reduce its size than take something small and try to make it larger; doesn't work so nicely. Keep up the good work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So true...it is easier to reduce! Thanks for the compliment!

      Delete
  5. Nice job, as always. I was especially glad to see the part on taking up the shoulders. I frequently find my clothing too long in the body and wasn't sure if there was any alternative to taking out the neckline, making a deeper shoulder seam, and re-doing the neckline afterward. I'm comforted to know that even though it's a lot of work, it IS the right way :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, re-doing the neckline can be a lot of work, but sometimes it the only way!

      Delete
  6. What a great find and an easy mod. Nice work! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. "She's a mod. She's a mod. She's a mod. Yeah Yeah Yeah!" Very 60s, Susan, especially with the glasses. I had a pair like that in the 60s, but with pink lenses. A great refashion!

    ReplyDelete
  8. You look amazing in your new mod dress, Susan!!

    ReplyDelete

  9. Thanks for sharing, nice post! Post really provice useful information!

    An Thái Sơn chia sẻ trẻ sơ sinh nằm nôi điện có tốt không hay võng điện có tốt không và giải đáp cục điện đưa võng giá bao nhiêu cũng như mua máy đưa võng ở tphcm địa chỉ ở đâu uy tín.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I appreciate the feedback and always look forward to reading what you have to say! Susan