Old Dress to New Top

Hello Readers. I love dresses and I love to wear dresses. But every once in a while a dress comes along that is just an awful mess. Today's dress is one of those disasters. 

This dress had the shoulder pads that were mandatory in the 80's. It also had some elasticized shirring that had seen better days. It was misshapen and made my chest seem....asymmetrical. It wasn't good.  Other than that, the material was a nice rayon. It also had a sash that tied in the back. The sash came in handy later.

    

I decided the best thing to do was cut the top of the dress off and say goodbye to it.That top was stretched in a crazy way.

I turned the skirt piece upside down and cut out a boxy shirt shape. The top of the shirt is actually the hem of the dress

I used my machine and connected the side seams and the seams under the sleeves. I left the shoulders open. The edges are finished because that is the finished hem of the skirt.

I ironed the sash and cut it into 6 pieces. I am going to use these little pieces to connect the front and back together.

I attached the little pieces along the back of the shirt. (It looks like a curtain.)

Next, I attached the little shoulder straps to the front of the shirt. It is sort of an off-the-shoulder shirt and sort of a cold-shoulder shirt. It's a hybrid shirt!

I also made some cutoff shorts. I figured out the length I wanted and after I cut off the first leg, I used it as a guide for the second leg. I would have trouble getting them the same exact length.

I really wanted a pair of denim shorts with a frayed hem. Nothing says relaxed summer like frayed denim.

This is a great outfit for the heat and humidity of August. 

Thanks for reading this post, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- This shirt was so much fun. It was great on a hot day, and the shorts were worn all summer.