I’ve had this dress for at least 8 years now, maybe more. I was working in a dress shop in my home town when I bought it, and I don’t remember it fitting as badly then as it does now. It may look like it fits, but I promise you, it flattens my boobs to the point that it’s almost painful to wear.

Yes, adorable, I agree, but I can’t wear it for more than a few minutes at a time. Why do I still have it then? I always thought I could cut it up into something new, but clearly never got around to it. Then I came across the sewing challenge “Alter It August” hosted by SewNorth.

The challenge is quite simple; look in your wardrobe for something that doesn’t get worn, that you can change/mend/up-cycle into something that you will wear. This dress was the perfect candidate.

Initially I had hoped to get a skirt, a cami and a hair tie out of this dress, but once I started cutting it apart I quickly realised that was not going to happen.

The skirt is very basic, gathered onto a straight waistband, with an invisible zipper at the back. I used the mighty long ties from the original dress and cut them down to be a bit shorter. I sewed these into the waistband side seams so I can tie them together at the front or back of the skirt.

With the last scrappy bits of the ties, I pieced them together and made a headscarf. It isn’t very straight (or neat), but you can’t tell when it’s tied up in my hair. It gives me major Minnie Mouse vibes.

I’m very happy with the end result, and I promise that this skirt will get much more wear than the original dress ever did. What to alter next?!

Mitty x