Hand-me-down Makeover ~ A Little Girl's Dress

My girls love dresses of all kinds so I'm always game for hand-me-downs in the frill department.  We received this dress from a cousin but since it was a size 10 and my oldest is a size 6 at most, I thought a makeover might be in order!

Doing what I affectionately refer to as distracted daytime scrappy sewing involving seam ripping in the yard, standing at the machine instead of sitting, and forgoing the iron, I was able to eek out a smaller tiered dress for my smaller girlies.

First I chopped the bodice off and made it smaller by taking in the side seams.

Then, I cut out the elastic and old casing.

I sized the middle tier down to match the circumference of the bodice and sewed the two together.

** I left an extra inch in the seam of the second tier in order to fold it back up (and under)

to create a new casing for the elastic.  **

Then, I gathered the bottom section of the dress and sewed it onto the middle tier.

To add a finishing touch, I grabbed a ribbon that had come with the dress and put a bow front and center.

Done!

Now just pretend it's pressed mmmm-k?

Of course both my three and five-year-old have claimed it as their own and say it fits perfectly even though the neckline is still on the gappy side.

Due to the chill today, this is the best shot I could get.   Aren't those ruffles deeeelightful?

There is something crazy satisfying about a successful sewing makeover!