My Easter Best

Easter was a couple of weeks ago and I had nothing to wear! A quick trip to the thrift store brought me back with this dress (among others):

The socks really complete the look.

The dress really isn't bad at all. The colors are fun and it's definitely Easter-y. Unfortunately, it's a size 14 and just a tad long for my taste. So after throwing it in the wash (I'm always nervous with dry-clean-only, but it turned out okay!) I flipped it on inside out and pinned it at my bust waist and hips:

Still rockin' the socks.

After that, I made sure that the seams would be even on both sides, and got to sewing it in. At this point, I had to make a crucial decision. The dress had a separate lining. I decided to just sew the two together rather than sewing twice.

Sew it up!

After sewing in the sides, I threw the dress back on. Bleh. The darts in the bust were still way off -- about 2 inches too low:

See that bust bulge?

At that point, I decide to change the neckline in order to pull up the bust. I wasn't in love with the thick straps, so I changed it into a flattering boat neck. To do that, I simply sewed across the top like so:

Anchors away!

After that, it was time to snip of the extra material, fix up a couple of loose ends (no pictures, but the slit in the back just needed to be reinforced) and voila! A new Easter dress. Changing the neckline was a perfect way to hike up the length and I think it turned out quite well:

Time for Easter!

Well, not quite ready. It's still below 50 degrees in Michigan, so a sweater was going to be necessary -- though let me tell you, 50 is a welcome relief to the snow this year! Here's my final look:

Happy Easter!