Just like my shirts, sometimes I have a dress that shrinks up a bit. Even if I know I shouldn't dry it, sometimes it makes it way into the dryer accidentally. Whoops! Anyhow, that was the story with a little black dress I had. After taking matters into my own hands, now it looks like this.
I love maxi dresses and they are big right now. Why do I love them? Let's be honest. I can head out the door to church without shaving or lotioning my legs. Plus, no one has to shield their eyes from my glow-in-the-dark, pasty, white legs.
Here was the dress before.
I measured how much length I needed to add to the dress to make it floor length and then I divided it by two for the two layers. I made sure each layer was wider than the previous one. It doesn't have to be by a ton, just enough to let you gather it a bit. (The new layers have a back and front and are sewn into a loop. The seams are on the edges to match the dress.)
I stitched the top of each new layer using a basting stitch and gathered the fabric until it matched the width of the previous layer. Then I pinned it on, stitched it on, and removed the basting stitch. I didn't hem the bottom because it's knit and it was rolling up anyhow, which I liked.
So, did I shave my legs today? Now nobody knows. (Though it's a 80% chance that I didn't.)
What? You want to see my hairstyle? (Just pretend you asked, okay?)
I've been doing some hair homework to prepare for HAIR WEEK! That's right. Hair week is back by popular demand. It'll be at the end of this month. Stay tuned.
Thanks for stopping by.
Linking to Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello, Someday Crafts
64 comments:
Cute dress :)
Wow! Anything you don't have to hem gets my vote every time. Love your hair, it looks amazing.
Love your hair. Love maxis for the same reason as you. Yours turned out beautiful like all of your creations. And love your necklace too!
oh very cute! and very well done! (goes to rummage in closet for short dress to makeover...) :)
Very nice! Well done.
love the dress!!! HAIR WEEK IS BACK?!?!?! YAY!!!!! I am really excited. You gave me some great tips last year!!! i need help getting out of my ponytail rut :)
Great dress - and can I just say - you have a rockin' bod! Looking forward tp hair week!
So cooool! And I love your hairstyle!
I generally don't like Maxi dresses but I think yours is pretty darn cute!
Cute dress and I really love your hair!
Шикарно!!!!
I am so loving the maxi dress trend right now myself...and for the same reasons as you :) It came out awesome...love the fabric colors you choose with the black. And your hair is even more gorgeous!! How in the heck do you do that on your on head?? Can't wait to see what you have for hair week :)
LOVE LOVE LOVE the hair, I need to learn how to do that!
Looks good. I did this to one of my daughter's tank tops earlier this spring. Basically I added a couple of layers following your Upcycled Tee Dress directions.
Loved the dress and the do! I hope you share how to do the do as well!
Love that dress! You did a great job! I am sososososo excited for hair week!
Ummm...loving the hair. Loving another way to make a kinda short dress longer. And I love that you mixed colors! It looks fabulous! :)
Beautiful dress, what a wonderful idea. Freaking LOVE LOVE LOVE your hair! Can't wait for hair week.
So cute, I love how the dress turned out! I gotta try this
Oh my gosh you look BEAUTIFUL!! Love the dress and love the hair! So excited for Hair week! :0)
Love the dress! and so glad you shared the hair love it!
GREAT job!!!
What a great idea, good job. I do have to say I LOVE your hair, I would love to know how you did it.
you have some mad skills girl. i wish you were my neighbor. i have two superhero boys too. i know we would be great friends.
Awesome! Seriously, great job!
how perfect! Love that idea! That cute hair of yours is making me second guess my hair appointment for a cut tonight!
Cheri, this rocks and I love the hair style!
That's a really great idea! Nice job... The hair is beautiful too!
Love it! So excited for hair week! Now that my hair is getting long I need some new ideas! :)
Super cute!
So cute! I love the double braid also! How did you do that? It looks like you need a third hand to do it.
Nice dress....love the hair.....looking forward to hair week.
I love it, Cheri. Terrific up/recycle idea. Ah, the bodice of the dress makes, ah, your 'girls' look great. Gee, that felt odd to type. :)
Love the hair - eager for hair week!
awesome! I am totally in love with maxi dresses for the summer...even though I am a very petite one lol
Wow! Love this! I love maxis too!
You should get the girl from My Yellow Sandbox to be a guest poster for your hair week. If you haven't seen her hair tutorials- they are amazing!
Love the dress remake and the hair is gorgeous!
Nicely done! Any tips on how to make a knee length dress slightly longer? The fabric is silk and I'm stuck! :0/
So awesome! And I LOVED the comment about the shaved legs....amen sista! Anything to hide those legs :) Xcited bout Hair Week!! whoohoo!
Cheri!! You look gorgeous!!! Love, love, love it!!! And so looking forward to hair week! Can you do something for chin length, blond, straight hair? I'm always at a loss. xoxo
This dress is gorgeous! I love the colors that you added! I really want to make a dress like this!
ooooooo, I am so excited for hair week!! Your dress looks great. I think I might have to copy you!
Love this idea! I need to try this! Your hair is super cute too!
o i love it! i am very excited for hair week!!!
xoxo
ash
http://jaysonandashley.blogspot.com/
great idea. I am in dresses a lot during the summer so I might have to try this!!
Awesome dress! YES!! Hair week! :) That was so awesome!
Wow your hair looks so pretty! And great job with the dress it looks amazing. :)
Super cute! I totally can't wait for hair week...I've been pinning all kinds of new ideas to try instead of my normal straightened-to-death look lol. I'm loving the braids! :)
What an amazing idea. So, whenever I fall in love with a shorter dress but hate how short it is, I will have to remember there is a solution! Thanks.
Awesome rescue!! I linked to your tutorial on Craft Gossip Sewing:
http://sewing.craftgossip.com/tutorial-short-dress-to-maxi-dress/2011/06/10/
--Anne
Fabulous!!! I love maxi dresses for exactly the same reason. I, too, have glow-in-the-dark white legs. ;)
Love this Cheri! You are so beautiful. :) I can't wait for hair week. I really don't do ANYTHING with my hair except a bun, scrunch or flat iron...but usually just a bun everyday.
And your faux beading idea is genius! Your blog is always chock full of inspiration.
This is beautiful. i love the addition of the grey and purple! I can't wait for hair week!
Love the dress & the hair!
ooo i love it
Love the dress- might have to see what I can rustle up! All I need in my life now is a tutorial on the hair! It loos awesome :)
Love this! I'll be featuring it, along with your simple summer skirt, on my blog tomorrow.
http://sumossweetstuff.blogspot.com
Thanks!
Sumo:)
Where in the world did you take these photos? That rock wall is stunning!
This is so easy! I love this because I'm really tall so most dresses are too short for me. I never though to add fabric to make it a maxi dress! Thank you!
I did a little maxi dress series and would love if you linked up your dress!
http://www.feathersflights.com/2012/04/maxi-dress-week-day-5-results-and-link.html
I really love what you have done with this dress! It has given me inspiration for a few of my dresses I haven't worn it awhile because they are now too short...
Helen
Blue Eyed Beauty Blog
Oh I'm SO glad I found this!! I need to make me one!!!
I love this idea! I have a couple dresses that are a hair too short for my taste, so adding a couple tiers is the perfect answer to my concerns! Thank you!
I LOVE this dress! Those cute, shorter dresses at the store may have a purpose after all. :)
I give thousands thumbs for your blog!
Keep posting :D
Wonderful idea ....thanks for sharing :)
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