My latest project was this beauty I found shopping with Michelle and Tobi at Black Market on Queen Street in Toronto.
I loved the button-down front and the stitching of the high-waist. My friends also told me it was somewhat of a departure from my usual colourful/printed palette. I wouldn't have minded it if it was maxi-length, but cutting me off mid-calf made it reallyyyy unflattering. One of my favourite things about thrifting is being able to modify clothing to my body. Having hips and thighs means every skirt/dress I own rides up a few inches, making dressing for summer an uncomfortable affair. Now I get to customize the skirt length and style.
The first step was to put the dress on and decide where I wanted it to fall - just below the last button. Next, I took the dress off and lay it on a flat surface. Using my measuring tape, I lay out an approximately straight line. Since I didn't have a fabric pen, I used a concealer pencil to draw a line to cut above.
The hem came out like I hoped - with the back slightly longer than the front. The messy lines weren't an issue since hemming came next. I folded the edges of the hem to create a smooth, even line and used pins to hold it in place.
Then came the fun part. Since I'm still learning to use my sewing machine, I thought it best to hem the skirt by hand. I use a really simple method my Mom taught me. Turning the dress inside out, I cut a long piece of thread, and tie a knot at one end. I then move the needle under the fabric about 2cm and pull the thread through. Then, I pull the needle back, into the fabric where I entered the first time, only to pull the needle out about 4cm after, ultimately creating a loop. I guess a good analogy would be two steps forward, one step back. After watching a few hours of TLC, it was finally done.
You can see how it looked here.
-A
(P.S. You can follow me on Tumblr here.)
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