Who doesn’t love a good denim dress?
Well not this one.
Eddie, Eddie, Eddie! What were you thinking? No wonder someone dropped it off at the thrift store. They probably laid it on the doorstep, rang the doorbell and ran. Really Eddie, you need to get out more!
Should I go for the J Lo look?
Hmmmmm. Maybe…….
So I channeled my inner Edward Scissorhands and got right to work.
First determine where you’d like your new waistline.
Cut your new bodice length leaving enough for a seam.
Cut off the sleeves then pin and sew new side seams to fit.
Cut extra fabric from the top of the skirt leaving enough for a seam at the top.
Pin and sew new side seams.
Sew skirt to bodice, adding pleats or darts in the front and easing the back to fit.
To make the flounce ruffle, first measure from the shoulder seam, across the neckline and down to the new waistline. Mine measured sixteen inches. This will become the circumference of the inner circle. The width of the pattern will be how wide you’d like your ruffle. I made mine three inches which allowed for a small rolled hem. (If I had a serger, I would’ve serged the edge instead of hemming.)
I used the fabric that I cut off from the middle of the dress to make the flounce ruffle.
After cutting out your circle piece of fabric, cut a straight line from the outer to the inner circle to open it up.
Place the inner circle along your neckline, fold it under, pin and topstitch. I ended up tacking my ruffle in a few places but I think if the edge was serged tacking might not be necessary.
Next put the sleeves back in place and hem the bottom of each sleeve.
I thought it would be fun to add a decorative gather at the bottom of each sleeve so I cut two small pieces of quarter inch elastic.
Place the elastic on the inside of your sleeve and stretch slightly while sewing.
This added a nice detail to each sleeve.
And here’s your new denim dress:
Ok, so I don’t look EXACTLY like J Lo. But it was fun to think about!
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