Mad for Plaid

I've been having some fun with refashioning over the last couple of weeks (having time off regular work lends itself to more creative work!) I went shopping at the Goodwill to score a couple of dresses that I thought I might be able to do something with.

Exhibit A: this plaid beauty. I liked the fabric of this one -- it's a light, silky polyester blend of some sort -- but look at that 80's styling! I knew I'd have to chop this one up a bit, but thought there was definite potential.

First things first: get rid of the monstrous shoulder pads!

Just chop that whole collar off -- then turn the raw edge
under in a narrow hem and stitch down into a V neck. The
facings were a bit recalcitrant and needed some trimming
 and very definite pressing to stay put.

Then chop off 7 inches of puffy sleeve... you'll notice the close up
view of the black and gold buttons on cuff. Definitely
needed to replace those on the front of the dress,
with plain black shank buttons.

I also shortened it by an extra two inches. After all that chopping up and resewing -- with careful pinning and pressing, as the fabric is quite slippery and I wanted to keep those lines straight! -- I ended up with a much more modern look.You might notice that this dress has a self belt (and pockets! I love pockets). I wore the dress this week with a regular black skinny belt that wasn't so slippery, and also to break up the pattern a bit. I think it turned out fairly nicely!